SURVIVAL instinct

JOEL DOMMETT on reviving TV's toughest reality show...

- VICTORIA WILSON

SURVIVOR

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Joel Dommett is like the cat that got the cream when TV Times catches up with him for an exclusive video interview. Survivor, a complex game of strategy and skill as well as one of the most successful reality-show formats in the world (a 45th run is currently airing in America), is returning to UK screens this week – and the popular presenter will be at the helm.

‘Survivor is the king of reality TV!’ enthuses Joel, 38, who in September welcomed his first child, son Wilde, with his wife, model Hannah Cooper. ‘There’s a reason why it’s in so many territories around the world – it’s so pure and so addictive.

‘Once I’d started watching the Australian version [which has 10 seasons], I just couldn’t stop. Hannah continued to binge-watch it while I was away filming and became more of a mega-fan than I was!’

Originally running for two series on ITV between 2001 and 2002, the show is being rebooted by BBC1 and will see 18 castaways marooned on a tropical island in the Dominican Republic, where they must outwit and outlast their rivals.

Split into two tribes, the competitors will fend for themselves while competing in physical and psychological challenges to win rewards or immunity from elimination. One by one, they’ll be voted off at Tribal Council until the teams merge and it turns into a battle to be crowned Sole Survivor, with the winner walking away with £100,000.

Here, Joel tells us why it’s set to have us hooked, and how he wouldn’t make it as a contestant…