Why actor and TV host Jonathan LaPaglia will never stop challenging his mind

Plus what's next for the TV star

He’s synonymous with Survivor and an expert in mental and physical resilience. So we asked the Aussie actor and TV host how he excels in both tribes.

Devastating wildfires have recently destroyed entire neighbourhoods in your adopted home of LA. How are you and the community coping?

It’s just mind-boggling to see all the destruction. We were a mile away at one point, but we were lucky when so many weren’t. We have a bunch of friends who have lost everything. The expanse of destruction and loss of life is devastating and difficult to wrap your head around. It’s like atomic fallout up there. It was a pretty stressful couple of weeks where we didn’t get a lot of sleep, that’s for sure. But we had a whole bunch of rain that’s really helped the situation, and so everything has settled down, which is a relief. 

This upcoming season of Australian Survivor will be your 10th as host. What are some of the biggest life lessons you’ve gleaned from the show?

One of the biggest things I’ve taken from it is that it’s human nature to want to belong. The show does reflect society; a bunch of strangers come together, they need to work together to survive the elements and survive challenges. But at the same time, the twist is they need to vote each other out every second night – and the best way to do that is with the blind side. Everyone understands that it’s a game coming in. But when you’re the one on the receiving end of that blind side, it really highlights how important that is to people – to belong to a group. We really want to feel part of a community.

Survivor is bringing back the Brains v Brawn concept this year. How do you maintain your own brains and brawn with such an intense work schedule?

I’m pretty old-school [when it comes to exercise]. I alternate between going to the gym, strength training and running. I’ll probably do three sessions in the gym a week and go for three runs. I’ll split my body into parts, but what I’ve learnt over the years is that you can easily overtrain. I might do a couple of different exercises, but not more than six sets. I’m better off doing less but at a higher intensity, so the workout isn’t longer than 45 minutes. It really clears my head and helps maintain a certain level of fitness, but I don’t want it to become my life. I also clear my head by reading and through hobbies. I have an interest in mechanical things. I’ve built my own car and taught myself how to do watchmaking. I like to challenge my mind, and that’s how I try to keep sane.

"I like to challenge my mind, and that’s how I try to keep sane."

You’ve had such a successful television career. What would you say have been some of the biggest highlights? And what’s up next? 

I’m proud of Survivor, obviously. We’ve managed to keep it going for 10 seasons and nine years now. I’m really excited to be part of Strife, another Aussie show. Equally with The Slap and Underbelly. One of the other highlights would be doing Top Gear: Australia. That’s always been a fantasy of mine. Coming up, we’re going to be doing Survivor again at the end of this year with Australia v World, and I’m waiting to hear if we’re going to do Top Gear again. I’m looking for other jobs in-between, but it’s quiet here in Hollywood right now after the fires.

With the Brains v Brawn concept, what do you think makes a better contender?

Even though we've artificially separated people into these tribes, and they may have attributes that better fit one or the other, at the end of the day, we all have both characteristics, both skill sets. And so I think because of that, you probably would get an even 50-50 split between a brain or a brawn winning if you ran it a hundred times.

People are complicated, there are different facets to everyone. Someone may have muscles or appear just a brawny person who's not that smart, but as you delve into it, they probably are pretty smart and you need to be, you need a little bit of both, to navigate life.

Originally published as Why actor and TV host Jonathan LaPaglia will never stop challenging his mind