An Australian reality TV star has pocketed more than $9 million in a history-making win on US television.

David Genat, best known to Australian viewers from Survivor,  Nine’s Celebrity Apprentice, Rush and Getaway, scooped the largest single cash prize in American television history in a Survivor spin-off.

Appearing in the final of NBC’s Deal or No Deal Island on Tuesday, Genat knew he was the winner early on. The real drama began when he faced the show’s banker, revealed to be Chrissy Teigen.

Genat appeared on Survivor Australia: Champions vs. Contenders in 2018 and won $500,000 on 2020’s Survivor Australia: All Stars, and is sometimes called the “Survivor golden god”.

During Tuesday’s high-pressure TV challenge, he channelled his late father.

“I was being held before the big final case game and I [was] really meditating and getting in the zone,” he told Us Weekly.

That connection filled Genat with confidence as he began an intense final round, beginning with 26 cases – one holding a jackpot of $12,232,001.

He had to eliminate the wrong ones as he held out for the top prize or considered buyout offers from Teigen.

Genat rejected seven offers, including four worth seven figures, until just two cases remained.

“I just gave it up and I was like, ‘All right, we’re either going to make one of the greatest television history moments or one of the worst’, and it was the greatest,” he said.

Then Teigen made a final offer of $US5.8 million ($A9.2 million), and Genat accepted it – a decision that paid off in seven figures. His chosen case held just $75, meaning if he had passed on Teigen’s offer, that’s all he would have won.

“At that point I was just kind of jumbled,” he said.

“I was like, ‘Well, look, $5.8 million is so much money, it’s life-changing money’. That’s when I decided to accept.”

Genat already has plans for some of his US TV spoils. He wants to buy a new motorcycle, luxury watch, and few cars for his four kids.

“I fully feel like I’m floating,” he said. “My frequency is on another level.”

He may also get the chance to add to his TV winninggs. Genat is a rumoured contestant on Survivor: Australia vs. the World, which will air later this year.