“You couldn’t even script such an exciting season.”

(Network Ten)

During his first two times competing on Australian Survivor, George Mladenov made quite the name for himself as a shrewd game player.

As a political operative in his everyday life, George, who’s affectionately known as the “King of Bankstown”, knows a thing or two about building alliances. Of course, he’s also ruthless and cutthroat, and not afraid to make burn bridges in an attempt to make big moves to advance.

As he returns for his third shot at the title with Survivor: Australia v The World, George sat down with WHO to talk strategy and open up about Survivor’s toughest season yet.

(Credit: Ten)

WHO: Australia v The World marks your third time playing Survivor. What keeps you coming back?

George: I’m very passionate about Australian Survivor, and nothing gave me more pride and delight of the fact that I helped and was instrumental to making Australian Survivor go global. And I think what Survivor: Australia v The World is going to show is Australian Survivor truly is the best version of the game right now.

We play smart, we play ruthless. And I think why everyone in Australia, in places like the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Scandinavia, where Survivor’s so huge, is so excited, is because now we get to test us Aussies against the best players in the world.

You’ve only competed with Shonee Bowtell previously. How was it coming in and bonding with the rest of Team Australia?

I always like to assess the political situation on the tribe. And one of the things when I get on the truck as we’re about to start the game is I’ve only ever played with Shonee. And I know that Shonee is going to have blood on her lips and is thirsty for revenge.

But if there’s anything that I enjoy, it’s pulling myself out of a difficult situation on Survivor, and nobody’s faced them more, I think, on the Aussie tribe, than me.

I think what makes me different on the Australian tribe is I always have had the experience when I played Survivor of needing to conjure up plans and work the numbers right to the last minute and right to the nth degree, because I’m always targeted, because I’m a threat. And I don’t think some of the other players on the Australia tribe have ever experienced that before.

(Credit: Ten)

You do have a bit of a reputation as being a tad untrustworthy, so was it difficult or easy to forge alliances? 

I don’t think that’s my reputation in the game of Survivor at all. I think what you’ve seen in Survivor is I get very close to people, and I get to the end with my people. And I think if you understand the nuance of the game, if you work with me, you get to the end of the game, and you’re actually probably more likely to win than I am based on the format of an endurance challenge.

I think what you’re getting to is people who challenge me in the game have all suffered the same destiny, which is, they try to vote me out, and then I come up with a plan that the majority of people in the tribe, or sometimes a minority people of the tribe, execute together. And I think that comes down to what I talk about in my book, How to Win Friends and Manipulate People, which is, if you work out people’s priorities, their intent and their motivations, you can come up with a deal where you all win.

And that’s been my superpower in the game of Survivor. That’s why I’m the master of manipulation when it comes to Survivor.

How did your strategy change going into this season based on the lessons you learnt from your previous experiences? Or did it stay the same?

I think what makes this season a little bit different is we don’t have first-time players on this tribe. You’ve got three-time players in myself, David [Genat] and Luke [Toki]. You’ve got two-time players in Janine [Allis], Kirby [Bentley] and Sarah [Tilleke] and, of course, Shonee is paying for her fourth time.

And I think the short, sharp and fast format of the game, really, with returning players, means there’s no time for fart-arsing around.

(Credit: Ten)

You quickly apologised to Shonee for double-crossing her in your previous season and tried to establish an alliance with her, but while she accepted your apology and said she would work with you to your face, she told the cameras she had no intention of doing any such thing. At what point did you realise she wasn’t working with you?

The real thing that I’m kind of debating in my mind is that there’s a very narrow path for me to survive the vote at Australia’s first Tribal Council. I’ve been in alliance with David and Luke, but if there’s one thing that I know about David, it’s there’s not enough beach on this tribe to survive with egos as big as both of ours.

So if I can contain Shonee and show to her that it’s in her best interest to work with me for now, rather than against me, then I can sneak my way through this game. If Shonee and I can work together, it’ll be great. But if she can’t settle the fact that I voted her out in a brutal blindside in Samoa last time, then both of us could be jeopardised on the tribe.

Can we talk about the Australian flag speedos you donned in camp? They were quite the bold fashion choice…

Well, I tell myself, I’m coming in hot with a dad bod. I’m coming in thicker and juicier than I’ve ever been. And I want to go out there and showcase just how proud I am of being both Australian and of my body when I’m going out there and playing Survivor. This, for me, it’s like representing the Socceroos – I’ve been called up to the Australian Survivor national team, representing Team Australia.

So, of course, I’m going to wear the most iconic piece of Australian clothing, which is budgie smugglers with an Australian flag flaunting my hot new dad bod – something I haven’t tried on Survivor my first two seasons.

(Credit: Ten)

This format is much quicker than the usual Survivor, being only 16 days. Did it make things more exciting being so fast-paced?

I think when you return to play Survivor multiple times, you really start to prioritise what does and doesn’t matter in the game.

And when it’s pile driving rain in a location like Samoa, where your clothes never dry and you’re hungry and you’re always uncomfortable and you’re bitten by bugs, you kind of tell yourself, “I think it’s a bit of a blessing in disguise that the game’s only 16 days long,” and when we get to Samoa, it’s torrential rain on night one.

So what do I think about a 16-day game where it’s going to go, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang? It’s fantastic, because it’s less days I have to spend in the torrential thunderstorm that you experience on a daily basis in wonderful, beautiful Samoa.

What was your highlight from filming?

You really have to go out there with nothing to lose on a season like this, and I’m going out there in my budgie smugglers, in my dad bod, telling myself I am playing here as a legend of Australian Survivor on a tribe of legends against a tribe of worldwide legends.

If you told 15-year-old George that you’re going to be an Australian Survivor legend playing up against the likes of Parvati [Shallow] and Cirie [Fields], I would never have imagined it in my wildest dreams. The whole experience of Australia v The World, it’s just kind of like fan fiction stuff. You couldn’t even script such an exciting season.

Survivor: Australia v The World airs Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays on 10.