Mark Austin

Mark Austin was the host of the first series of the British version of Survivor in 2001. A successful journalist with ITV, Austin previously turned down the show but was persuaded to do it after the intended host, Benedict Allen, refused.
Austin quit after the first series, and was replaced by Mark Nicholas for the 2002 series.
== Profile ==
Retrieved from ITV:
Presenter Mark Austin will be our guide through the forty days and nights of the challenge, as we uncover the fate of our 16 Survivors on Pulau Tiga in the South China Sea.
Mark, 42, is no stranger to far-flung corners of the globe, having worked with ITN since 1986. His job as an award-winning news journalist has taken him to the war zones of Kosovo, Rwanda, and Kuwait. He has also been on hand to witness major events like the handing over of Hong Kong in 1997, and the floods in Mozambique last year, for which he was awarded an International Emmy.
He is, first and foremost a news journalist by profession, and continues to work with ITN as a Senior Correspondent. Who better, then, to host the ultimate reality challenge? He comments, "It was fascinating to work on a television project as exciting as this. It was a really tough and rigorous challenge for the survivors."https://web.archive.org/web/20020209230103/http://itv-survivor.co.uk/tribes/profiles/general/interview.jhtml
== Hosting Survivor ==
Austin had previously turned down the show, and was persuaded by producers to take the job when survival expert Benedict Allen turned it down due to filming in Siberia at the time. Austin was criticised by some fans for his newsreader-like commentary, however was considered to have loosened up and improved as the 2001 series went on.
== References ==
Category:Personnel
Category:Survivor (U.K.)
Category:Survivor: Pulau Tiga (U.K.)
Category:Hosts
Category:Living people