EXCLUSIVE: Australian Survivor set to 'save' Channel Ten with two 'epic' seasons in 2025

An insider has exclusively revealed to Yahoo Lifestyle that Australian Survivor is "set to be Network Ten's new flagship program" and that there are "two massive seasons set to blanket the network in 2025."

The news comes after it was announced that The Masked Singer and The Bachelor would not be returning in 2024, while doubt was cast on the futures of some of the network's most well-known faces, such as Julia Morris and Osher Günsberg.

Survivor host Jonathan Lapaglia told Australian media that he hadn't been told what was happening with the next season of the popular franchise, saying, "They haven't told me yet, but if it is happening, they usually film in August, and we would normally know by now."

Two 'epic' seasons of Australian Survivor in 2025

However, our source tells us that "Network Ten is putting all of its coin into the Survivor franchise and has locked in two epic seasons - which will put Australian producers on the map globally once the series has been screened."

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They continued, "The last three seasons have been better than any other season of Survivor globally and Network Ten wants to be the biggest and the best franchise in the world."

The seasons will be filmed back to back, with one of the seasons being a play on the Brain's vs Brawn theme with a whole bunch of 'newbie players.'

"The casting is complete and there are no returning players or familiar faces," the source shares. "A few sports and former reality-TV personalities were in the mix but have been told they are out as Beverley McGarvey (President of Network Ten) had specified she wanted fresh faces."

The insider also revealed that while the idea of calling the new season something like Brains vs Brawn 2 has been floated, the new iteration of Survivor has not yet been officially titled, and there is still time to change it up." (Channel Ten has since announced it will indeed be titled Brains vs Brawn II).

Good news for Jonathan Lapaglia

It seems that both series will be filmed in Fiji, with the newbie season being shot over 48 days and then immediately followed by Australia vs USA which will be a shorter run of 28 days. The first series will finish filming in August and the second season will be filmed in September. Both will be screened on Network Ten in 2025 but in different quarters.

This is great news for JLP, who is also the host of Top Gear Australia along with The Amazing Race host Beau Ryan. The network is said to be working around his filming schedule for the motoring series.

"The network loves him and rightfully so," the source told Yahoo Lifestyle. "He is excellent talent and the production crews love working with him. This is a part of a multimillion-dollar deal he signed with the Ten Network last month."

As for the show's reach, our source says that the series will be "simultaneously screened in Australia and America and will be like Eurovision for Reality TV super-fans. It will be like what HBO did for Limited Series and become a super brand of high-quality global productions."

Which castaways are coming back to Survivor in 2025?

So, who might these super-fans expect to see in an Australia vs USA Survivor showdown?

"Fans can get excited about King George being on the same team as David Gannet," the insider revealed. "That would seem to be a lock with producers. Then you have (Jonny) Fairplay and Parvati (Shallow) signing up from the US to take them on. We know Sandra Diaz Twine has said 'no' and while Ten is keen on bringing back Luke Toki, there are a few problematic reasons for him not being asked back - which is a shame because he could win this for Australia."

They continued, "Shonee Bowtell has been on the list. It would seem Samantha Gash is being shortlisted without winner hubby Mark Wales who didn't make the cut due to already having a lot of bigger guys amongst the assigned cast. Expect to see Kirby Bentley and Simon Me from more recent series. However, while Feras Basal is missing from the list he is desperately hoping someone will drop out to get onto the hottest line up in Survivor history."

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The insider says that the casting is all but done for both Australia and the US, and the castaways are super excited to head back to Fiji and battle it out once more. "The ones who have been contacted feel have said it was like finding a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory," our source tells us, adding, "2025 will need to be huge for Network Ten and hopefully this will save the TV station from being unplugged altogether."

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