The tribe has spoken: The truth about Survivor’s ‘ruthless’ villain David Genat

Supermodel David Genat is shaping up to be the villain of this season of Survivor Australia — but there’s something you don’t know.

OPINION

Survivor is the reality show that has it all.

It features the camping horrors of I’m A Celebrity, the physical challenges of Australian Ninja Warrior, the mind games of Big Brother, the semi-nudity of The Bachelor, the poignant backstories of The Voice, and a sexy male host with an epic catch phrase. The tribe has spoken!

This season of Survivor, Champions Vs Contenders, features some worthy and inspirational contestants. There is Janine Allis, superwoman entrepreneur; Abbey Holmes, female footy champion; Luke Toki, endearing dad of three children, two boys with autism and a little girl with cystic fibrosis; and John Eastoe, the gold miner making mullets sexy again.

And yet who do I find myself barracking for?

David Genat, brazen liar and supermodel.

Genat — who is really, really, really ridiculously good looking — is being painted as one of this season’s villains. He uses flirtation as a weapon, making women “fall in love” with him to win their trust.

He tricks an opponent into exchanging a real immunity idol for a fake. He pretends to weep about missing his children to win sympathy from his teammates. He ignores a precious home video of said children to focus instead on a vat of popcorn.

David Genat, the impossibly sexy villain of this season of Survivor Australia. Picture: Channel 10.

Now, to be clear, all the Survivor contestants are manipulative to a point. They need to be, to make it past the first few days. But three of the current batch, Genat, Harry Hills (the ice cream man), and Andy Meldrum (Survivor superfan) have taken ruthlessness to new heights.

Hills has alienated his entire tribe with insults and lies. Meldrum is utterly obsessed with winning and switches alliances daily. The three would likely step over Jonathan LaPaglia’s dead body to get to the final tribal council.

Now, when you’re ruthless and ordinary looking, you quickly become unlikeable. Hills’ team has been assiduously trying to kick him out, and Meldrum is unlikely to make it to the final three.

But when you’re ruthless and really, really, really ridiculously good looking, you can remain popular. Despite Genat’s outrageous behaviour — despite him being every bit as self-serving as his fellow villains — he is a favourite of the women.

David Genat. Yes please. Picture: Channel 10

Three of his ex-teammates — Janine Allis, Abbey Holmes and actor Pia Miranda — deliberately lost their own challenge to keep Genat in the game. Daisy Richardson, who has an alliance with Genat’s nemesis, the also-excellent-looking Shaun Hampson, began openly and delightedly flirting with Genat when he switched teams.

Now, it’s possible they all would have been just as loyal to Genat had he been overweight and plain, and not a gorgeous supermodel. But, having seen the way they turned on Hills, I seriously doubt it. They have all fallen prey to the Halo Effect, otherwise known as the “physical attractiveness stereotype”, or the “beautiful is good” principle.

Survivor’s other ridiculously good looking male — Shaun Hampson. Picture: Nigel Wright.

Good looking people get away with bad behaviour far more than unattractive people. Good looking people are punished less than unattractive people, they can charm people more easily than unattractive people, and they are considered more likeable, intelligent, honest and kind than unattractive people.

It’s an unconscious bias, and we all fall for it. Even when we know it’s happening, we can’t necessarily resist.

I am well aware of the Halo Effect, and I still can’t help but barrack for David Genat. I want him to brazenly flirt with me by the Survivor campfire. I would form a close alliance with him in a second. I want him to play with my immunity idol.

Now, it seems unfair that good looking people gain an unearned advantage, in life, as well as in Survivor. But intelligent people gain an unearned advantage too, just by virtue of being born with superior brains.

Talented people gain an advantage by having abilities other people don’t. Tall people gain an advantage, by being able to pick coconuts more readily off trees. (This is less important in daily life but quite significant in Survivor.)

And so I shall try not to feel too guilty about liking a show’s villain, just because he is so marvellous to look at. I will forgive myself for falling victim to the Halo Effect, and hope the women of Survivor can forgive themselves in time.

It is not our fault. The tribe has spoken. He is just really, really, really ridiculously good looking.

Australian Survivor airs 7:30pm Sundays to Tuesdays on Ten.

Kerri Sackville is a freelance writer and author of Out There: A Survival Guide for Dating in Midlife. Continue the conversation @KerriSackville