TO say Tegan was shocked when her Contenders tribe voted to send her to Exile Beach on last week’s episode of Australian Survivor: Champions Versus Contenders would be stating the obvious.
“I had no idea, which I think you could tell from my face,” Tegan said.
“It was pretty intense but I loved watching it back and seeing how Benji was able to switch it up on me and get everyone to vote the way he wanted. My downfall was that I didn’t have conversations with everybody, so I wasn’t able to get a good feel where everyone was voting.”
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWThe blind side resulted in Tegan spending three days and two nights at Exile Beach where next Contender voted out, Anita, joined her for a one-on-one battle.
“I literally got dumped in the middle of a beach and had no idea where anything was because it was pitch black,” she said.
“The beach was all shells and rocks and I could hear crabs everywhere; I thought I was going to lie down and have crabs crawling over me all night.
“And I was nervous that I was going to be competing against one of the champions.
“I really struggled at most challenges, which surprised me. I was always super scared because I never wanted to let the team down. So going into the challenge just for myself was exciting.”
Tegan, an accountant who grew up in Derby and boarded at Iona Presentation College, now lives in Broome with her husband Ben, two-year-old son Levi and one-year-old son Lenny.
Her Aboriginal father is one of 12 and she loves her huge extended family, including about 60 first cousins, despite them all thinking she was mad for going on Australian Survivor.
“My parents always encouraged us to do what we wanted and this was just another crazy Tegan idea I thought I’d run with, even though I was still breastfeeding and missed Lenny’s first birthday,” she said.
“Everyone rallied around and made it happen. They thought I was probably a bit more precious than my sister, so the fact I was the one going was hilarious to them.
“I can’t wait for everyone to see what comes next. It’s going to be good.”
Australian Survivor: Champions Versus Contenders continues on Channel 10.