Australian Survivor winner David Genat walked away with a whopping $9.2 million prize after winning Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 — the biggest cash sum in network reality TV history.
It’s a big jump from his prize money on Australian Survivor All-Stars where he walked away with $500,000.
David was the last person standing on Deal or No Deal Island Season 2, which saw him play the Banker, who was revealed to be Chrissy Teigen, in a classic game of Deal or No Deal.
The Survivor champ turned down $1 million, $2 million, and even $3 million Banker offers and held strong until there were just two cases remaining — one of them holding USD $12,232,001. That’s when he agreed to a deal of $5.8 million USD, which comes in at approximately AUD $9.2 million.
Throughout the Deal or No Deal game, David repeatedly spoke of his family and said he was playing for his wife, Pearl Christensen, and four kids. Now, he’s reflected on how he told his family he’d won the huge amount of money for them.
How did David tell his family about his massive Deal or No Deal Island win?
During a post-win interview on Sunrise, David told hosts Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington how it felt telling his family he’d won the “staggering” amount of money.
“There was so much joy in that moment,” he said. “I had the best call with all of them when I won. Their little faces were just beaming with light. They were so happy.”
“I think my daughter was like, ‘Dad, does that mean we’re rich?'”
The veteran Australian Survivor player explained that the show was filmed in late 2024, so he’s had to keep his win a secret since then.
“I had to threaten the kids,” he laughed. “I was like, ‘I have an FDA [Financial Disclosure Agreement], so if you tell people, we’re not getting that money.’
“But they’re really good; it’s not the first time they’ve had to keep a secret; when I won Survivor, it was the same thing,” he added.
Will David Genat still compete on Survivor: Australia v The World?
David will be back on our screens, alongside his Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 co-star Parvati Shallow, for Survivor: Australia V The World.
It will make his third time on the Survivor franchise, and clearly, the man is doing it for the love of the game because we all know he doesn’t need to prize money anymore!
Parvati and David headed off to film the new Survivor season straight after Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 finished filming.
Will Parvati use David’s huge win against him in Survivor? We sure hope not because we ship the David and Parvati alliance.
Bring on Survivor: Australia v The World!
Stream Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 on 10Play.
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