Analyse this

Breakfast weather presenter Matt McLean talks about his role as host of the TVNZ OnDemand show Little Survivor, which analyses events on Survivor New Zealand. Sarah Nealon reports.

Matt McLean is quite possibly the perfect person to co-host a post-show discussion series about Survivor New Zealand.

In Little Survivor, McLean and comedian Alice Snedden (above) chat about events that occurred on the New Zealand version of the reality show.

“I don’t know much about much, but Survivor is one topic that I know a lot about. I watched the first season 17 years ago,” says McLean.

“I was a 13 year old when the first season came out and I just fell in love with it. In fact, my whole family kind of did, as obviously a lot of people did at the time. It’s a massive juggernaut of a show and I’ve been obsessed ever since.

“I’ve seen every single US season, some more than once. I listen to podcasts and read blogs about it. I talk to anyone who will let me talk about it and then talk to people who won’t let me talk about it any more.”

Survivor New Zealand, hosted by Fair Go reporter Matt Chisholm, features a bunch of competitive Kiwis in Nicaragua who battle it out for the chance to win $100,000.

“The basic premise of the show is what happens when you put a diverse group of people on an island and they have to fend for themselves,” says McLean.

“What happens when you have to get those people to vote each other out systematically? It’s fascinating to see the different dynamics.”

Besides contestants who are voted off the show, Little Survivor will also feature various experts.

“A psychologist will talk to us about some of the moves that have been made and what it means from a psychological point of view,” says McLean. “That’s the thing about Survivor. There is a lot of manipulation and back-stabbing and a lot of game play which is fascinating to watch. It will be really cool to get a professional take on what that does to a person.”

New episodes of Little Survivor are available on Monday night.