Here at home, we all know that Australian TV is pretty damn good, but we’ve finally got some global recognition!

Yup, The New York Times has released a list of the best TV episodes for 2023, and Survivor Australia made the cut.

There were 13 episodes mentioned in the article, and the Survivor ep was the only reality TV addition to the prestigious list.

Which Survivor Australia episode was it?

The episode in question was season 8, episode 7: Return of the King. Survivor fans will know that the king reference in the episode title is about supervillain George Mladenov.

Geroge originally appeared on Australian Survivor: Brains v Brawn where he came runner-up to Hayley Leake. He returned for Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains and created a whole lot of chaos before being voted out and coming in fourth. He has since competed on The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition.

What did the New York Times say about the episode?

The New York Times said that Australian Survivor “has been outplaying the U.S. version for a while now”.

“Nowhere was that more evident than in this jaw-dropping episode from the “Heroes vs. Villains” season,” the writer detailed.

“The episode’s final tribal council featured a masterstroke of psychological manipulation by George Mladenov, or “King George,” who emerged as one of the most telegenic antagonists of any version of the show. American Survivor is still a delight, but this iteration currently wears the crown.”

Did George Mladenov comment on the accomplishment?

Well, duh, of course, he did. George took to Instagram to share a screenshot of the article and gave himself a giant big pat on the back in his trademark style.

“All apps will now say: “Once described by the @nytimes as one of the ‘most telegenic antagonists’ ever,” he captioned the post.

Stream Survivor Australia season 8 on 10Play.

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