Go toe to toe with 10 battle shows

Ready, steady, play! We'd do anything for a win this August – battle man and nature like South Africa’s Rob Bentele in Survivor: Australia V the World.

Play geography guessing games around Europe like the cast of Destination X, with host Jeffrey Dean Morgan. We’ll play social games with the BBNaija Season 10 Housemates, or show off our creative skills in pottery, cooking and baking shows. We’ll flex our trivia muscles or buff up for MMA tournaments, and more. If it’s about being the best by beating the best, we’re here for it!

We’ve picked out just 10 series to compete for your attention this August. Now it’s your turn to win the battle for the remote!

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10 top competitive series on DStv this August

Coming soon: Survivor: Australia V The World

15 days. 14 all-star contestants. 5 countries. 2 teams. Australian Survivor champions face off against international contenders from the USA, New Zealand, Finland and South Africa – including SA: Island of Secrets winner Rob Bentele, and USA Survivor legends Cirie Fields, Tony Vlachos, and Parvarti Shallow. Survivor: Australia host Jonathan LaPaglia will rule the challenges and Tribal Councils in Samoa. PS: If you’re not familiar with Rob’s game, binge Survivor SA Season 7 on Showmax.

Watch Survivor: Australia V the World Season 1 from Sunday, 31 August at 5:30PM on M-Net Channel 101. Binge Survivor USA Season 47 on DStv Stream. 

Coming Soon: Destination X

Travel reality competition series hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Ten strangers (although we know some of them, like Love Island US star JaNa Craig, from other reality shows), are split into teams and transported around Europe in a bus with blacked-out windows. Once they stop at a location and get off the bus, they have to figure out where they are. The one whose guess is the furthest from their location is sent home as a disgrace to the American education system. 

Watch Destination X Season 1 from Saturday, 23 August at 7PM on M-Net Channel 101.

Coming Soon: Die Liefde Is ’n Snaakse Ding

Schalk Bezuidenhout and Mandri Sutherland (Vroudrie) play comedy Cupid in this dating competition show with a difference. Singles meet at a comedy club where Schalk and Mandri are performing sets. They’ll match the singles who laugh the loudest at the same set. After that, they’ll pick their favourite new couple to go on a silly date that they’ve set up. And a month later, we’ll check back in to see whether the couples who laugh together, last together…and which comedy Cupid gets the last laugh.

Watch Die Liefde Is ’n Snaakse Ding Season 1 from Friday, 22 August at 8PM on M-Net Channel 101.

Chef Grudge Match

Retired boxer and two-time Chopped champion Laila Ali steps into the ring as host of this kitchen battle between pairs of elite chefs. In each episode, chefs with beef will settle the score – whether someone walked out of a restaurant at short notice, a former apprentice opened a rival restaurant, or a buddy kept stealing their kitchen crush. Judge Jet Tila and a guest play referee to determine which chef takes the cash prize, the honours, and the loser’s best knife. 

Watch Chef Grudge Match Season 1 from Tuesday, 19 August at 5PM on Food Network Channel 175.

Coming soon: Tipping Point

Long-time host Ben Shephard grills four players who’ve stepped up to take their chances with the special Tipping Point token-pushing machine. They’ll answer trivia questions in exchange for a chance to drop a token that might trigger the jackpot … or they could keep their token and nominate another player to take the chance. It’s a game of strategy, wit and patience. There are also mystery prizes to score, but as fans know, that’s the real gamble. 

Watch Tipping Point Season 14 Mondays-Fridays from Monday, 18 August at 6PM on BBC Brit Channel 120. 

BBNaija

Big Brother in the house! It’s the landmark 10th season and we’re at the start of 10 weeks of alliances, love, friendship, backstabbing, strategising and playing silly games in the deluxe, redesigned Big Brother House under the eye of 150 hidden cameras, mirrors on every wall, and hordes of eager fans. Ebuka Obi-Uchendu is back as host for the 24/7 feast of fun, filled with challenges from Biggie and dreaded tasks to do unless you want to face eviction. 

Watch BBNaija Season 10 live 24/7 on the Big Brother pop-up channel, DStv Channel 198, GOtv Channel 49, and on Showmax. Eviction shows air every Sunday at 8PM on Africa Magic Showcase Channel 151, GOtv Channel 8, Africa Magic Family Channel 154, GOtv Channel 7, and on Showmax. 

Moer ’n Boer

There’s no tough like farm tough! 28 South African farmers who’ve gotten buff slinging hay bales set out to conquer the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). UFC fighter Cameron Saaiman, and trainers Neil Geyser and Dwain Meredith, will guide their journey through a series of challenges that’ll get them fighting fit – including hosting a braai and facing the press! Meanwhile host Janneman van den Berg will visit each of their farms to show us what their daily lives are like.

Watch Moer ’n Boer Season 2 on Saturdays at 8PM on kykNET Channel 144. All previous episodes available on DStv Stream.

The Great Pottery Throw Down

Host Siobhan McSweeney and judges Keith Brymer Jones and Richard Miller welcome 12 home potters to the 2025 season of this creative British reality competition series. This season’s challenges include a blindfold build, a raku trial by fire, crafting storefront displays, making a Noah’s Ark child’s toy, and building a Hellmouth fireplace in the style of 1500s Italy. Mess up, and your creation goes into the bucket of doom while you’re asked to leave. 

Watch The Great Pottery Throw Down Season 8 on Mondays at 8PM on BBC Lifestyle Channel 174. All previous episodes available on DStv Stream.

MasterChef Australia

Cooking competition reality series. Twenty-four contestants from previous seasons return to face judges Andy Allen, Sofia Levin, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Poh Ling Yeow in a series of stress tests that’ll challenge their creativity. This season, chefs are asked to appease Gordon Ramsay during a busy dinner service, come up with dishes on the fly based on Mystery Box ingredients or leftovers from a judge’s fridge, identify ingredients while blindfolded, and even remake showstoppers like Steven He's Balloon Puppy Cake.

Watch MasterChef Australia Season 17 on Mondays-Fridays between 5:45PM and 6PM (episodes start times vary) on M-Net Channel 101. All previous episodes available on DStv Stream.

24 in 24: Last Chef Standing

Cooking competition reality show hosted by Michael Symon and Esther Choi. Twenty-four chefs compete in 24 challenges during eight three-hour shifts over the course of just 24 hours – if they can survive the first elimination speed round. And if you think that sounds insane, you’re right! They have to get a three-course meal to the table in just one hour, or create an art-inspired arrangement in 10 minutes. But no chef show is complete without surprise to spice things up.

Watch 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing Season 2 on Wednesdays at 5PM on Food Network Channel 175. All previous episodes available on DStv Stream.

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