“It was dumb luck such a great season would be my last (for now)…”

Australian Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia has teased a return to the franchise following his shock axing.

The TV presenter, 56, was let go from his hosting duties after 10 years because they were “going in a different direction”.

Jonathan made no secret of the fact that he thought his Channel 10 axing was “disappointing”, but he has proved there are no hard feelings.

Taking to Instagram on September 16, Jonathan didn’t rule out returning to the Survivor franchise despite the turbulent time.

Signing off after hosting his final series, Australian Survivor: Australia v The World, Jonathan cheekily said it was his last “for now”.
Jonathan LaPaglia has teased a return to the Survivor franchise. (Credit: Instagram)
In a telling caption, he wrote: “And just like that! The ride is finally over. But it’s been a helluva ride! After a decade at the helm of #SurvivorAU it feels weird to be signing off, but here we are.

“Hope you all enjoyed this season of Australia v The World. I think it turned out to be a cracker! I guess it was dumb luck such a great season would be my last (for now).

“To that end I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave comments and write such kind words of praise and positivity (I read all of them!). I assumed over the years that people were, at the very least, not unhappy with what I was doing out there, but I totally underestimated the depth of support! I am truly humbled and appreciate each and every one of you.

“And with that, I grab my (bat and) balls….JLP out.”

His cryptic post comes after Deuxmoi sparked speculation that Jonathan could be signed on as a host for Survivor‘s international series.
Jonathan has been at the centre of rumours that he could host an international version of the show. (Credit: Channel 10)
A blind item, which was re-shared on Reddit, claimed that Paramount was restructuring Survivor to include an international version.

The submission claimed that the backlash to Jonathan’s axing had “very much been noted” and was “priority number one” once the new series was confirmed.

It sent fans into a frenzy as they shared their hopes that Jonathan would be back at the helm of the popular reality TV series.

Jonathan’s final episode aired on September 9 and saw him crown Parvati Shallow as the winner of Australian Survivor: Australia v The World.

There was a public outcry following Jonathan’s axing and he personally described it as a “blindside”.

“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 in a lengthy caption on Instagram at the time.

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In an interview with Stellar, Jonathan then explained that he heard of his exit through a phone call to his manager.

“The speculation online was that I received an email. But no, it was a call to my manager in Australia,” he told the publication.

“I didn’t get a direct call, which, I’ll be honest with you, was disappointing.

“After 10 years of helming their flagship show, it would have been nice to get a direct call from the people at the top, but I didn’t.”

Jonathan previously said he was told by the network that for the next season of Survivor, they were “going in a different direction”.

“Ratings had dipped a bit recently, and they wanted to do something drastic to shake things up,” the star said.

But Jonathan told Stellar that he didn’t know at the time of filming that this season would be his last.
David Genat will host the upcoming 12th season of Australian Survivor. (Credit: Instagram)
“I didn’t actually get to say goodbye to Australian Survivor. Australian Survivor said goodbye to me,” he said.

“I’m going to be perfectly honest. I am going to miss it. I’m going to miss the incredibly talented crew because we spent 10 years in the trenches together and became this tight, dysfunctional family.

“I’m really going to miss all of them, and I’m going to miss the players. That was the favourite part of my job, and it was a difficult job.”

On August 18, Channel 10 confirmed that three-time player and winner of All Stars, David ‘the Golden God’ Genat, would host the upcoming 12th season of the show titled Australian Survivor: Redemption.