‘Once the game starts, it doesn’t stop. There are no weekends’: Jonathan LaPaglia on surviving Survivor

Jonathan LaPaglia is back for his 12th season of Australian Survivor. This time around, it’s Brains V Brawn, a tried and tested format that never fails to throw up surprise black sheep, unforeseeable alliances, and grabs for power, both graceful – and hilariously otherwise.

The mental and physical wear and tear the show has on the contestants is evident to anyone who has watched past day ten, but what about the reliable, ever chirpy host? Surely it takes its toll on LaPaglia, even if he isn’t the one balancing on wooden torture instruments after three days of a white-rice-only diet.

After all, as LaPaglia tells Mumbrella, “once the game starts, it doesn’t stop”. He speaks to Mumbrella ahead of the upcoming season of Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn, which premieres next Monday, February 17.