When collecting the best Australia has to offer to take on global superstars, it was no surprise that King George Mladenov was part of the home team for Survivor: Australia V The World.

First appearing in the 2021 season of Brains V Brawn, George cemented himself as a strategic mastermind and force to be reckoned with. Returning a few years later for Heroes V Villains, George became a global sensation, turning the game on its head every chance he got.

"I don't have anything to prove in the Survivor world," George told 10. "People think the end result and the finishing position is the be-all and end-all, but things like that aren't a motivating factor for me.

"When I had the chance to play in the first-ever global showdown, it was an opportunity I couldn't refuse."

While George's impact on the franchise has felt across the world, he's also marked the occasions with tattoos. After appearing on Brains V Brawn, he tattooed emoji symbols of the Brains and Fire tribes, as well as an immunity necklace tattooed around his neck. After Heroes V Villains, he tattooed another idol onto his hand.

Continuing the tradition, George said he had his tribute to Australia V The World completed already after a chance encounter with a tattoo artist in a bar who recognised his voice and offered to ink the Australia tribe logo on his forearm.

But with a big personality and an even bigger reputation in the game, George knew he was walking into the season with a huge target on his back.

"When I saw the final makeup of my tribe when we were picked up on that truck on 'day one', I knew I was in big, big trouble," he added.

From the get-go, George knew the Golden God already had preexisting relationships with Janine, Luke and Sarah. He was aware that Kirby would want to course-correct from her original season by pulling the trigger on "big, strong, alpha characters", and then there was Shonnee, whom George had blindsided in Heroes V Villains.

"I had a lot of problems to solve and fires to put out. I could do it in a very, very narrow path with an ultra-defensive game where I'd pull levers at a certain point, explore all options, and cause as much acute friction where it was needed to take votes off me."

Before he had his first look at the World tribe, George admitted that he had done his research to try and plan for who might appear on the beach.

"I'm very lucky that Survivor South Africa is on 10.com.au, and I told myself that if there was going to be a player from New Zealand, it would probably be one of the two winners."

Reading Wikipedia summaries on Lisa's season and listening to podcasts she had done in the past, George was aware of her and Rob from South Africa, and recognised Parvati, Cirie and Tony, but Tommi and Kass were free agents.

"Playing with those kinds of players is where I thrive, where it's a clean slate. There are no pre-existing relationships... It's an opportunity to play some very exciting Survivor and one that I didn't get the chance to do," he said.

As the game got underway, George was immediately, and unsurprisingly, a target in many people's eyes. And George was aware that his biggest problem was that "the majority was always a Shonee away from voting me off".

With too many permutations of the tribe gathering just four people to vote against him when they went to their first Tribal Council, George managed to employ an "ultra-defensive, counter-attacking" strategy to stir up chaos in the tribe and shake the votes off him and onto David.

But when the tribe had to return to see JLP the next night, George said his one mistake was not realising that Sarah was gunning for Shonee.

"It was that failure, despite all the levers I was pulling defensively, to have that clear conversation with Sarah that cost me the game," he admitted.

Despite hoping to make it deep into the game, George was realistic that he would cop votes whenever he found himself at Tribal.

"What people always seem to fail to grasp about Survivor is: doing nothing is not something that can get you ahead when you've got the opportunity to be proactive about a situation," George continued.

"If I went out to Samoa with my legacy and my reputation and just sat around camp and did nothing and just said yes to people, I get voted off first. Nothing changes.

"You’ve got to be able, not just in Survivor but in life, to maximise the opportunity to the best of your ability by working out what people’s motivating factors are, what their priorities are, and their intentions are. Whether they’re good or bad intentions."

Attempting once again to put the pressure on Janine and Luke, George managed to shake some of the votes off him, but Shonee's thirst for revenge was too strong, and the King was the second Aussie voted off.

Despite his game coming to an end so soon, George still has his legacy and a global reputation. But whether he'll return for a future attempt at the title that has eluded him in the past remains to be seen.

"I'm very proud of what I've contributed to the game of Survivor," George said. "In terms of winning, I got very close the first time... the second time I played I was 'Liz not winning one final immunity challenge' away from winning.

"Will I play again in the future? Who knows. But I'd like to see Australia V The World continue as a format. I think it's exciting, I think the short and condensed version of the game makes it a lot more appealing for big-name past players, throughout the world and Australia, to come back.

"I also hope other countries around the world pick up the format as well, to test their wits against Aussie players. If that's something that this season has birthed, that would be fantastic!"

Survivor: Australia V The World continues Sundays at 7pm and Monday - Tuesday at 7.30pm on 10