Australian Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia appears to have delivered a telling message to his rumoured replacement, David Genat.
The 55-year-old took to Instagram earlier this week to express his hurt at being punted from the hit show, but it was the way he signed off that has set tongues wagging among fans.
At the end of the lengthy post, LaPaglia wrote: ‘Whoever said a blindside is the most humane way to put someone down is an idiot. It hurts like a bitch!’
While it appears innocuous on the surface, eagle-eyed fans have noted that Genat famously uttered those exact words during an episode in 2019.
They were quick to applaud the dig in the comments section.
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Australian Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia (pictured) appears to have delivered a telling message to his rumoured replacement, David Genat
The 55-year-old took to Instagram earlier this week to express his hurt at being punted from the hit show, but it was the way he signed off that has set tongues wagging with fans. Pictured: David Genat
‘Oooh he ate that,’ one person remarked.
‘He’s the master of one-liners. What a f**king icon,’ added another.
LaPaglia’s sign-off all but confirms Genat, a former model turned professional reality TV game player, is stepping into his role.
It is no surprise LaPaglia is furious after he was sacked via an email from producers at EndemolShine Australia, the company behind Survivor.
This was before anyone from Ten had the chance to pick up the phone.
The message pinged in his inbox after he had wrapped filming on his last season of Survivor, Australia v The World, which is slated to air later this year.
‘He got an email first. That was the initial comms from EndemolShine,’ a source said.
‘Then a call came from Ten, but by then it was already done. It’s really not how you treat someone who’s been part of the show for almost a decade.’
The decision to break the news via email, described by insiders as ‘clinical’ and ‘cold’, has shocked those involved with the show.
At the end of the lengthy post, LaPaglia wrote: ‘Whoever said a blindside is the most humane way to put someone down is an idiot. It hurts like a bitch!’
While it appears innocuous on the surface, eagle-eyed fans have noted that Genat famously uttered those exact words during an episode in 2019
‘It wasn’t just a job to him,’ the source added.
‘Jonathan took this seriously – gym, set, repeat. If you’ve ever watched the man storm tribal council in head-to-toe linen, you know he gave it everything.
‘He was passionate, outspoken and protective over the format – especially when production barged in with changes.
‘I cannot stress this enough: JLP didn’t just show up to read lines. He lived it.’
According to multiple insiders, the decision to replace LaPaglia was made well before Australia v The World began filming in September last year, but was kept tightly under wraps to avoid overshadowing the season.
‘It was locked in for months,’ one spy said.
‘They wanted to avoid a backlash during filming and post-production – but now the torches have been lit, and not just in Samoa.’
Soon after Daily Mail Australia broke the news of his axing, LaPaglia issued a statement confirming he had been dropped – describing his exit as the one blindside he didn’t see coming.
‘Australian Survivor has seen some of the most epic blindsides over the last 10 years, but this one might just be the craziest of them all… because it happened to me,’ he wrote on Instagram.
‘I received a call from the network thanking me for all my hard work and dedication to the show but for next season they are “going in a different direction”. Ratings had dipped a bit recently and they wanted to do something drastic to shake things up.
‘So for the first time ever this is not a tribe swap, but a host swap. Yes, you read that right.’
‘I wish I could say, “Before we go to vote, tonight is a little different… no one’s going home.” But I can’t. None of that non-elim bulls**t tonight! Someone IS going home. And with no idol in my back pocket, that someone is me.
‘It has been one of the greatest adventures of my career to helm Australian Survivor, so it is without a doubt the hardest challenge of all to snuff my own torch but here goes: “JLP… the tribe has spoken”.’
While no replacement has been officially announced, our sources say Survivor: All Stars winner David Genat will step into the role from 2026.
