The seventh season of Dual Survival is now in full swing with its two new hosts, Grady Powell and Bill McConnell. While the new guys, who replaced Matt Graham and Joe Teti at the beginning of this season, have managed to win over some of the show’s fans, a lot of dedicated ‘Dual’ fans are still not thrilled with the new combination.
“These 2 new dudes are not for me. Bring back any of the older guys,” one fan tweeted recently.
“Bring back the original cast,” another posted. “The latest are unwatchable.”
Obviously, fans of the show are curious to learn more about what really happened to Matt and Joe, and to find out whether or not any of the former hosts are ever going to come back to the show. Late last month, the show’s executive producer, Christo Doyle, decided to answer some questions from fans on his Facebook page, in hopes that the video Q&A session would help shed some light on the present ‘Dual Survival’ team, and what he has planned for the future.
On why Joe and Matt are no longer on the show:
Christo’s first order of business was explaining what happened to Joe and Matt, since that was the most frequently asked question.
“I don’t think we made it that clear, [why they are off the show] and we probably should have and that’s kind of why I’m doing this chat,” Christo said. “This show, ‘Dual Survival,’ is insanely difficult on our talent. They are tasked with flying all over the world, in a very short amount of time, being in really rough conditions…we are rough on these guys.
“It’s brutal to make this show,” he continued. “These guys are in the middle of nowhere with almost nothing. So these guys get tired, they get stressed out. They decide that they want a change, and the network also decides that this is survival and we want to keep things fresh.
“I think it’s hard for everybody when we make a change,” he added. “I think there is a little period where people need to get used to the new talent but ultimately, I do think it’s a good thing for everyone involved.”
On why Grady and Bill were chosen:
There’s no doubt that the new guys– Bill in particular– have gotten off to a rocky start with fans.
“We’re seeing a pretty violent reaction to the new guys and I think people just don’t like change,” Christo said, adding that a lot of effort is put into finding suitable hosts for the show.
“When we look for talent for these shows, we make sure we find people with big character, and Bill definitely has a big personality,” he said. “That can sometimes be off-putting to people. Let’s be honest, Cody [Lundin] was a very unique individual as well. People got used to Cody, got to know Cody, and I think people are now just doing the same with Bill…I would say give Bill some time. I think everybody’s going to end up liking him in the long run. Same is true for Grady. He’s a military guy who can kind of rub people the wrong way with his approach, but that’s kind of the nature of this show. There’s something for everybody in this show.”
“We had a casting company go through this with us,” he said. “We went through a ton of people, 30 or 40 that we looked at, and then we got down to Grady and Bill.”
On whether any of the former hosts will ever come back to ‘Dual’:
If you’ve been holding your breath, hoping that Dave Canterbury, the popular ‘Dual’ host from Seasons 1 and 2, will ever come back, you should start exhaling now. According to Christo, that’s never going to happen.
“Dave Canterbury is not coming back, I’m sorry,” Christo said. “I wish I could tell you that he was.”
Christo did not mention the chances of Cody coming back to the show; however, given the very ugly split that occurred between Cody and the Discovery Network in 2014, it’s very unlikely. Christo also addressed the chances of Joe coming back to the show.
“Joe had had enough,” he said. “Basically we ran our course with Joe. Mutually, he was ready to be done and we were ready to make a change.”
Christo did seem more optimistic about having Matt return at some point.
“Everybody loves Matt,” he said. “I would never say never. Matt might come back.”
On what his plans are for casting future seasons:
Christo explained that he’d like to see the show have a small bullpen of hosts to choose from each season.
“You’ll continue to see those transitions come,” he said. “It’s just the nature of ‘Dual.’ It’s a very, very hard show. This show is going to continue to evolve whether people like it or not.
“What I’m trying to do is build a stable of folks that we can rotate in and out so that we can see different varieties of guys… getting mixed in together,” Christo added. “And if that works out, you will start to see different combos of people. I’m actively casting right now for other people. I think change is going to become the norm in ‘Dual’ and I think eventually you, the viewers, are going to like that.”
On whether we’ll ever see a female host on ‘Dual Survival’:
While all of the ‘Dual’ hosts we’ve seen thus far have been very different from each other, all of them had one common trait: they were all men. Fans wanted to know if a woman survivalist will ever be featured on ‘Dual.’ Christo gave a very honest answer to the question.
“Absolutely, we’d consider a woman,” he said. “We are a little bit worried that it would end up being more of a relationship show rather than hardcore survival. But we’re definitely open to a female, we just have to be careful how we do it.”
On the rumors that ‘Dual Survival’ is scripted:
“I wish! I wish we could script these shows,” Christo said. “It would be a lot easier for everybody. We have no clue what’s going to happen and we have no idea what these guys are going to want to do, or what they’ll say to each other, or how it’s going to go and that’s the beauty of the show.”
(Photos: Discovery)
16 Responses
You guys are way to hard on a show.
TV is not going to be 100% real, despite the category being na med after such.
The guys have skills, there approach conflict and if you have learnt something you can’t complain.
By the way Christo : superb judgement and courage shown in the most recent season, first episode by preserving a full-frame prayer.
Hope it was genuine – which it seemed like it was.
Joe Teti was a fake and he reeeeeally over did it, really exagerated everything. Every dialogue he’d be all ‘I got 20 years special ops’, ‘This is what you do in combat’. Then it turns out he wasnt even in combat or special ops. I guess thats what you do when you’re a fake. When I heard Cody was fired I thought, great, they’re gonna get another Joe and its gonna be called Dual Douches. But Matt was great. It was funny seing such a hippie paired with a total arsehole. Specially when he was talking about the sexy trees or wouldnt kill a snake because it was beautiful. But Cody is the best. You dont pick Fake Teti over Cody, no way. You need to bring back Cody and Matt. I wouldnt watch em together, that would be an overdose of nice, but yeah, they both should be part of the show. Picking Joe over Cody, thats ridiculous.
I tryed to watch it matt is a good guy buttttt they should of just cancel the show after losing Dave and Cody,with the new people its like wearing a Batman suit and calling it a Superman movie
Your Comment. i want to survive in jongol
I think it is time to get a new producer! Just from some of the comments and decisisions he’s made,it seems to me that, he is the one that is worn out with the show. I would like to know what kind of experience he has. As everyone knows in the survival circle there are plenty of people out there that could do a way better job than the two new guys. This show is not going to last very much longer, which is to bad. I’m not sad that Joe is gone, but Matt on the other hand I wouldn’t mind being stranded anywhere with him. I also liked Dave and Cody too. This producer is kidding himself if he thinks it is just going to take some time for these new guys to grow on us.
True some people don’t like change but the consensus of both these guys are all bad. At some point you need to listen to the viewers.
I do like the idea of rotating hosts, as long as they have some wit and skills. It wouldn’t even be a bad idea that one had the skill and the other was an apprentice. That too would still be better than the two newbies that make mistake after mistake whine after whine. Come on Discovery get it together and give us a show we can watch because I have deleted this show from my auto record.
I love this show, but I was particularly fond of watching Matt. I am soooo disappointed he isn’t going to be on it the next season. He is a true survivor. Every sequence with him in it reveals a new idea that I’ve not seen from anyone else. If I were going to be stranded somewhere I would definitely want Matt with me. He has such a positive, cheery attitude. I will give the new guys a chance, but to tell the truth, at this point, I’m just not excited about the new season at all……Just saying–when something works, leave it alone!
i WANT JOE AND MATT BACK THESE LAST TWO OR NOT TO REAL THEY ARE TWO WINNEY AND JUST PLANE BORING GET JOE AND MATT BACK THEY ARE THE REAL THING IF NOT I WONT WATCH ANYMORE
DON’T DON’T LET CODE COME BACK
IF HE KNEW WHAT SHOES ARE IT
WOULD BE ONE THING. ( OVER ALL
THE GUY IS A JERK!!!!!)
ti
It is very difficult for me to understand why or how you pick folks for this show. You throw folks out because they are purest, yet you keep folks for the same reason. Us, the viewer, would like to know that what they are watching is actual skills that could be used. You want a dynamic duo that would have the skills and personality to educate us? Bring back Cody and pair him with Matt. Your ratings will increase.
Please explain to me the relevance of bringing military people in just to hear them say over and over again, just like the non military people, “l’ve never done this before.” There are more types of survival skills than you seem to want to show, if we are left with the military guy, and the guy who cries when he makes fire. Please!
Recall that rediculous stunt we saw when Joe is sitting on top of the pig he has just killed and looking both ways as if in war. “This is how I was trained,” he says, in the middles of nowhere (oh, except for the camera.) Maybe we just didn’t see the sniper pigs. Or the insane gesture he made with the knife after killing the snake. All of America laughed with Cody when he laughed at this redicoluos spectacle. I grew up in Oklahoma. I’ve met up with more snakes than most and not only have l never danced like that, I’ve never even seen anyone do that. What a ham. He endangered both of them, and educated America to do the same.
Now you have clowns braiding palms and praying to the Woods God when they could be doing things that might actually save lives. It is The Discovery Channel, not ‘Fake Man vs Fake Wild.” You should want viewers to be able to put into practice what they are watching. What is next? Paris Hilton goes crabbing in the Bering Sea?
IMO Joe and Matt made a really team that was able to draw on each other’s strengths while making up for the other’s not-so-strong traits.
I can understand the point about getting burned-out with all the travel and living in not-so-nice conditions. That would explain why Joe may have wanted to get away from the show (which he has never said on social media) but Matt had been on far fewer shows and surely could have roughed out another season!
Doyle seems like a nicest enough guy from what I seen of him on Gold Rush: Real Dirt or whatever it was called. Perhaps his best casting decision ever was to remove himself from that show and inversely his worst decision ever was ever putting himself on it! Again, he seems nice enough but doesn’t have a good on screen demeanor IMO.
The new season of Dual Survival is OK. Grady is fun to watch but what were they thinking when they hired Bill? He speaks like Hillary Clinton does when she panders to African American (AA) audiences by adding her irritating and insulting inflection in her voice — why does Bill do that all the time? I’m part AA, mostly American Indian (NA) and it insults me to here people speaking with that inflection.
Additionally Bill, for such a tiny little man is always ordering Grady around — not something he should be doing to any veteran let-alone and Green Beret.
If Bill can get more real, perhaps the season is savable. If he continues to act like he has to prove his manhood instead of passing on survival skills, it will continue to be a flop. I’d like to see Grady back next season with another partner.
A show with Grady and Joe together would be great! Perhaps that’s just because I am a ‘regular’ old vet that honorable served for eight years but never went to any of the amazing schools that Joe and Grady did to get their HARD EARNED Green Berets. I’ve always looked up to the American Badazz’es in the Green Berets and Rangers for that matter. Not a lot of NA like myself in the service, I never met one that was in the Special Forces. I don’t regret going one bit but I do regret not challenging myself further through Airborne School etc.
Joe and Matt were awesome I don’t give a rats about Joes service or such disputed details, the man has legitimate high level skills which make him a suitable presenter for the show. Matt was just awesome, a spiritual hippy type, with serious legitimate skill. Great chemistry between the two blokes, I’ll miss their work and I’ll be looking out for Matt’s new show. Also don’t lie about why you axed Joe we aren’t that stupid.
What is Matt’s new show? Where can I find info on it? Thanks! Grace Pignatare
Cody and Dave are dual survival period. The show was great and on point. Polar opposites that really kept our family’s interest. I was pissed when Dave was replaced but I gave the show a chance with Joe. The show never had the same spark. Then your dumbest move ever, fire Cody. Cody is the heart and soul of Duel Survival. I watch almost all Discovery Programming but not Duel Survival,and gold rush is heading in the same direction. Duel Survival is Cody and Dave, Cristo just maybe you should be fired.
You obviously are not going to let any of the original hosts come back. So why lie and say you are? Just to get people to watch. No one I know watches your show any more because your new people try to copy the old ones to much and they don’t do a good job. So it’s Bye bye Dual Survival for us also. These new guys are just lame. Bring back Dave and Cody and you’ll get your audience again. Who cares if he lied about part of his military training. The guy KNOWS HOW TO SURVIVE!!
Please quit changing hosts. I loved Matt and joe.They worked hard to get along, and ended up respecting each other. Joe has taken alot of negative presss, but he still fought for our country and risked his life for us. I didnt like him at first but he mellowed out with help from Matt. Matt has alot of class and integrity. The new hosts, well Grady is ok but that other guy is just plain weird!! Matt and Grady would be great. Whats funny is I think Grady thinks hes nuts also. I tead Matt has a new show in the works. If so, Im watching his show, not dual survival.
Same here. What’s Matt’s new show?