reality tv

The sign that Shonee was way too confident about her chances of winning Survivor.

 

When Shonee Fairfax packed her bags for Australian Survivor, she didn’t put in any clothes to wear on the jury.

It wasn’t that she forgot – it was that she truly believed she would win the game and wouldn’t need them.

But uh, here we are.

“When I was packing I didn’t think ‘Oh I’m going to need some nice clothes to wear on the jury’,” she told Mamamia following her exit in fourth place.

“I just packed in a couple of old sundresses and I was good to go… I was looking pretty ratty.”

Her spot on the jury was sealed when former AFL legend Brian Lake won another immunity challenge and Champions alliance members Shane Gould and Sharn Coombes stuck together to eliminate Shonee, the last member of the Contender tribe standing.

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Shonee said the experience was tough, but she stood by her carefree approach to the game.

“I have a very carefree, relaxed, laid back personality,” she said. “Even the night where Benji went home and I thought I was going home, I wasn’t going to run around screaming and panicking, I was thinking ‘You know what, I’m going to make the most of my last day on the beach.’ And it actually wasn’t my last day, but that was my motto.

“You don’t want to have a really bad day and then go home. You want to enjoy your last day and then go home.”

As well as just being in her nature, Shonee said her laid back approach was a strategic move.

“I definitely did want people to like me. I never wanted to burn bridges. I wanted people to think ‘You know what, you haven’t burnt that bridge with Shonee’ because those are the people you want around. If you know that someone’s not going to work with you, you don’t want them there.”

Shonee went into Survivor with her eyes wide open, but still admitted the experience was “really hard”.

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“I knew that I was going to get minimal food, that I was going to be sleeping on the floor, that I was going to be doing these really strenuous activities and just being really cold in general. I went in expecting it to be really bad but I thought, ‘You know what Shonee, you can make half a mill in 50 days so suck it up’.”

The game also took a large mental toll, Shonee said. Contestants minds are constantly switched on to what their competitors are doing.

Even if it just involves rice.

“Someone will say ‘oh this rice is nice and fluffy’ and you’ll think ‘why are you complimenting their rice?’ ‘Does that person want to work with that person?’ You’re always wondering ‘where’s that person?’.

“Everyone’s always checking up on everyone, like ‘oh no they’re alone, they might be looking for an idol. These two people are talking, why are they talking?’.”

This is why when Shonee got home all she wanted to do was, well, nothing.

“I didn’t really feel like talking to people. I just wanted to sit by myself. I hadn’t had alone time for so long, you’re just constantly surrounded by people so I just wanted to sit by myself and relax and enjoy my own company.”

Though she didn’t expect it, Shonee now finds herself on the jury for tonight’s finale, so how will she vote?

“Sharn voted against me last night, so I would hope to see that plan come full circle for her.”