Survival skills
Back in Samoa for Australian Survivor: Titans V Rebels, host Jonathan LaPaglia reveals what it takes to get an explosive tribal council and which tribe he would best fit into, writes
THERE are arguably no greater Survivors on the reality show juggernaut than its hosts
Jeff Probst has been there through 45 American seasons, while Jonathan LaPaglia has been snuffing torches in the Australian spin-off for almost a decade.
Understandably, LaPaglia sought Probst’s advice before taking on the role, only to be told there’s no playbook for successfully hosting.
“When I first got the job, I organised to meet him and he kindly [agreed],” LaPaglia explains.
“Obviously I wanted some advice on [hosting] because I had never done anything like this before. And he said: ‘Look,
I’d like to I’d like to tell you how it’s done, but I don’t even know myself’.”
LaPaglia now understands why it’s hard to quantify what’s involved in hosting a show like Survivor. That is because it’s always evolving and, just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the unexpected happens and turns the entire game on its head.
Plus, Survivor is that rare beast of a reality show that actually celebrates those who play dirty and invites its contestants to scheme their way to victory.
Some of the most explosive moments often come at tribal council – the ceremony where contestants vote one another out.
LaPaglia says those meetings can be quite a feat of logistics (and stamina) for the host.
Before the group comes together by the fire to oust someone, LaPaglia will spend hours prepping his questions, using intel on camp politics gathered by producers.
Confessing “it is both exciting and daunting” to host those council meetings because “often when you get there, it’s not what you think it is.”
“You’ve really got to be ready to pivot and go with what’s in front of you and follow the ball,” he explains.
“So, you’ve really got to be on your toes to keep up. At the same time as you are trying to elicit information from everyone, you don’t want to blow up people’s games.”
Now a veteran of tribal councils, LaPaglia has developed a skill for reading the room.
“I love it when I ask the right question and I scratch the right scab and it blows up,” he says.
“And that’s when it becomes really fun because I can just sit back and watch them tear each other apart.”
While more recent seasons of Australian Survivor have featured celebrity contestants and a swag of returning players, this latest incarnation
goes back to basics with an entirely new group of castaways competing to outwit, outplay and outlast.
The group has been divided into two tribes, the Titans and the Rebels.
The Titans are comprised of people deemed “leaders in their field” while the Rebels are folk who prefer to march to the beat of their own drum.
“Basically, they are rule makers and rule breakers,” LaPaglia explains.
“But as with a lot of these themes, there’s often an overlap. And the truth is, you need qualities from both of those titles to win the game.
“The names of the tribes are really just a device to start the narrative for the season.
“But as it goes on, I feel like that starts to fade away and it becomes less important. It helps to define people at the start of the show so the audience can latch on to something.”
As for himself, LaPaglia laughs: “Well I wouldn’t say I am at the top of my field, so I guess that makes me a rebel.”
A fan of the show before he began hosting it, LaPaglia says he never had any ambition to compete himself,
laughing that “I would be pretty c---!”
“I don’t think my social skills are good enough. I would say something stupid early on and piss people off and they would vote me out.”
While he may not be sleeping rough and competing in the gruelling challenges, simply being on location in Samoa for the duration of the shoot is a test of endurance for LaPaglia.
Not only does it mean being separated from his family for more than two months, but the weather takes its toll.
“It was extra hot this year, to the point where the locals were complaining,” he recalls.
“Five minutes into heat like that and your brain just turns to mush, which makes hosting quite difficult because I have a lot to remember and say.
“So, personally I find that really hard and it’s difficult conditions for the crew as
well. We have lots of people dropping from heatstroke. It’s tough and we’re shooting every day… It’s not like we have a weekend off. Once the game starts, it’s a locomotive and if you’re not on the train, you’re going to be left behind.”
With a game as physically testing as Survivor, there’s inevitably times where people get injured or sick. Luckily for them, in addition to the
Jonathan LaPaglia: “As with a lot of these themes, there’s often an overlap. And the truth is, you need qualities from both of those titles to win the game.”
first aid crew they have LaPaglia, who trained as a doctor before deciding to follow his older brother, Anthony, into acting.
“By the sheer nature of the challenges and things, even though [there’s first aid teams], I am the first one at the scene, so I am there assisting initially,” he explains.
Although both the LaPaglia brothers have starred in some Australian classics – Anthony in films such as Looking for Alibrandi, Lantana and Nitram
Jonathan in TV series such as The Slap, Underbelly and Love Child – they are yet to do any projects together.
“We have talked about it, but it hasn’t happened,” he says.
He is always looking for projects that will bring him back home though – including last year’s Strife, starring Asher Keddie, which will soon go into production for a second series.
Now a veteran at hosting duties, LaPaglia will also front a new series of Top Gear later this year, along with Beau Ryan and YouTube star Blair Joscelyne.
You could argue that petrol is in LaPaglia’s blood, given his father was a mechanic and car dealer.
But LaPaglia shrugs: “It wasn’t until I came to the US, and I got my first V8 and then I became drunk on power and became a complete idiot and it snowballed from there.
“I got into American muscle cars, and I built my own car. I’ve really gone down that rabbit hole.”