‘Cold’: Survivor star Jonathan LaPaglia reportedly ‘fired over email’

Shocking fresh details have emerged about Jonathan LaPaglia being axed from his long-running role on Survivor.

New details about how longtime Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia was axed from the show have been revealed.

The Australian TV host, who has helmed the Channel 10 show since its revival in 2016, will not return as a presenter next year.

LaPaglia initially made a statement telling fans that he had been “blindsided” by the network, and now it’s been claimed that the long-running star was informed of his sacking via a “cold” email.

“He got an email first,” a source told Daily Mail. “That was the initial comms from EndemolShine.”

Logan Johannisen with Jonathan LaPaglia on Australian Survivor Brains v Brawn II in 2025. Picture Channel 10/Nigel Wright.

“Then a call came from Ten, but by then it was already done. It’s really not how you treat someone who’s been part of the show for almost a decade.”

To make matters worse, the source alleges that LaPaglia received the sudden email before he had finished filming Survivor: Australia vs. The World.

The insider claimed that the decision to fire LaPaglia was “locked in” for months, but in order to avoid any trouble during the filming of his latest season they wanted to wait until the show was complete.

Taking to Instagram to address earlier reports he’d been let go, LaPaglia confirmed to fans he’d been “blindsided” over being dropped.

“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 began a lengthy statement.

Jonathan LaPaglia Australian Survivor: Titans V Rebels

“I received a call from the Network thanking me for all my hard work and dedication to the show but for next season they are ‘going in a different direction’. Ratings had dipped a bit recently and they wanted to do something drastic to shake things up.

“So for the first time ever this is not a tribe swap, but a HOST SWAP¸ Yes, you read that right.”

LaPaglia went on to say the decision “hurt like a b***h”.

“I wish I could say, ‘Before we go to vote, tonight is a little different ….no one’s going home.’ But I can’t. None of that non-elim bulls**t tonight! Someone IS going home. And with no idol in my back pocket, that someone is me,” he wrote.

“I have loved and will dearly miss the immensely talented crew, all the crafty players and our loyal sassy audience. I’m a huge fan of this incredible game, always have been, always will be.”

Originally published as ‘Cold’: Survivor star Jonathan LaPaglia reportedly ‘fired over email’