Jonathan LaPaglia on What Makes Someone a Great Australian Survivor Player

At long last, “Australian Survivor” is back, and this time, it’s with a fan favourite theme: Heroes Vs Villains.

First done by the US “Survivor” for Season 20 way back in 2010, the premise pits — you guessed it, heroic players against villainous ones. Now, “Australian Survivor” is adapting the theme, and according to host Jonathan LaPaglia, it’s set to be one of the shows best seasons yet.

Chatting to POPSUGAR Australia over the phone ahead of the January 30 premiere, Jonathan said: “You know, look. Every season we say ‘this is the best season ever!’ and normally, that’s the marketing department, not me. But this season, I’m actually gonna say it. It certainly felt that way when we were shooting it.

“I think they’re all good seasons,” he clarified, “but this one is a cracker. I don’t know whether it’s because of the theme, the cast or the returnees, but it really just has some big, inventive gameplay that doesn’t seem to let up. And we have a bunch of twists that land really well, and it just — overall, it’s just a great, great season and it certainly felt that way on the ground, and I’m hoping it comes together that way.”

As someone who not only hosts the series, but is a big fan of the game and has insight into the production side of things, we thought there would be no better person to ask for insight on what makes someone a great “Australian Survivor” player.

“If I could boil it down to one thing, I think the best players are those people who are willing to take risks,” he said.

Jonathan said that it’s not just about being willing to make big moves in the game, but that it “has to be part of your personality” to begin with. When casting the show, he said, they “should be looking for people who are willing to take risks in their own life”.

“In a weird way, ‘Survivor’ is like this exaggerated version of society, right? You know, a group of people being thrown together to figure things out so they can survive,” he explained. “And so within that framework, you need to find people who are willing to take risks, and that’s the only way to navigate this game — make big plays, and get to the end with a resume that will afford you to win in the eyes of the jury.”

He added: “There’s no point getting to the end if you don’t have anything to show for it”.

Asked whether he feels like there are players in the past who have made it to the end without having anything to show for it, JLP said, “Oh, sure”.

Treading carefully, Jonathan added: “You know, that’s one of the, ah … I probably shouldn’t call it a fault but it’s one of the, um, what’s the word I wanna look I’m looking for?”

He laughed. “I don’t wanna say something that you’ll print like, oh, ‘Jonathan LaPaglia thinks that the game sucks!’”

“I think the game’s brilliant!” he stressed, “but one of the um, pitfalls, I think, is that you want to sit next to someone who you think hasn’t made any moves, right? So there is this tendency to drag someone along through the game that’s not a real risk taker, so you look better in the eyes of the jury.

“So yeah, there are definitely players that have made it to the end without making, you know, significant moves.”

Will any of our Heroes or Villains be dragged to the end without making any significant moves? There’s only one way to find out!