Survivor presenter Jonathan LaPaglia reportedly axed after almost a decade as host

News.com.au

2 days ago

Longtime Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia has reportedly been axed ahead of the 2026 season.
News.com.au understands the TV host, who has helmed the Channel 10 show since its revival in 2016, will not return as a presenter next year.
LaPaglia, 55, has already filmed the upcoming 13th season of Survivor, titled Australia V The World, which was shot in Samoa and will hit screens in the coming months.
An insider previously told Daily Mail that Ten executives let go LaPaglia in a bid to shake up the franchise amid falling ratings.
The network is yet to announce plans for the 2026 season. News.com.au has contacted Ten for comment.
It comes amid a turbulent period of change at Channel 10, with current affairs program The Project airing its last show Friday night after 16 years.
Regular hosts Waleed Aly, Sarah Harris, Sam Taunton and Georgie Tunny bid farewell to viewers during an emotional final episode.
'Thanks to the people who built this from nothing,' Aly said in a teary address.
'The people who made this show 4,504 times, on camera and off. People long gone and here today. Every one of you is indispensable. Thank you to our guests over the years. To those who came to play, or persuade.
'To those who came on to be challenged, to meet us in the great public square of our lives, who disagreed with us in good faith over the years: thank you so much. You made us better. And thank you to you at home. Thanks for letting us into your hearts. Cliche thing to say is to let us in your living rooms, but that is inadequate. Instead, thank you for letting us into your hearts.'
Ten has since reshuffled its evening line-up, with game show Deal or No Deal moving to 7pm and 'the launch of a new national one-hour 6pm news, current affairs and insights program six days a week to complement 10's one-hour 5pm local news bulletins.'
Major broadcasters in Australia have been grappling with an unstable economy and a mass shift to streaming among viewers in recent years.
Over at Nine, the company let go up to 200 staff members, mostly from its print divisions, in July last year after Meta sensationally ceased commercial agreements with news outlets in Australia, which previously saw the tech giant pay news companies for their reporting.
Just two months later, it was reported Nine had a microscope on their big ticket stars, or rather, their jumbo pay packets, with stalwart Liz Hayes among those rumoured to be copping a pay cut at the time (Hayes quit the network earlier this year after 44 years).
More change came in January when the Nine Darwin bulletin was axed. Residents in the NT are now served the Queensland bulletin, while the Gold Coast-based bulletin scaled back from two newsreaders to one, with presenters Eva Milic and Paul Taylor splitting their duties across the week.
Elsewhere in entertainment, the network famously didn't renew the long-running game show Millionaire Hot Seat in 2023 (though that gamble has also paid off with Tipping Point dominating ratings), while Australian Ninja Warrior and My Mum, Your Dad were also put on ice.
It's been a similar story at Channel 7, with news boss Anthony De Ceglie departing the broadcaster in May after just 12 months at the helm, a stint which saw him make a raft of controversial changes.
In June last year, Seven tasked itself with cutting $100 million in costs, which led to 150 jobs being slashed and network stalwarts being tapped on the shoulder. Popular Queensland weatherman Paul Burt and veteran newsreader Sharyn Ghidella were among the high-profile departures.
More recently, its new reality show narrated by Jackie 'O' Henderson Stranded on Honeymoon Island failed to resonate among viewers following its debut last Monday, dropping drastically in ratings for the rest of the week, all but confirming it won't be renewed for another season.