“Non-negotiable”: Why SBS pulled one survivalist from Alone Australia

Sia’s journey on Alone came to an end when the medics told her that she had a frostbitten toe, and if she chose to stay longer, the consequences could be dire.

Having dealt with frostbite in Antarctica, she hoped that she could stick it out. However, she discovered she had no feeling in it, and chose to leave after 28 days in isolation.

Speaking with New Idea, she says it was sad to walk away from the experience, when she felt like she had more to give.

“It was a decision based on what I believed was best for my girls,” she explains.

“In that moment, I was choosing the most important role I will ever have, being their mum. But there was also this worry in the back of my mind: had I stayed long enough? Had I done enough? Had I made the statement I went out there wanting to make?  But sometimes being strong isn’t about how long you can endure something, it’s knowing what matters most.”

Going into the experience, she wanted to approach it one day at a time and didn’t plan to focus on the competitive aspect.

“One of my biggest mental challenges was learning to control my own thoughts and trying not to think about food,” the ultramarathon runner reveals.

“During the day, I could keep myself busy, but nighttime was completely different. I would lie there and mentally go through almost every meal I had ever eaten in my life. Meals from my childhood, favourite dishes, restaurants, things I had cooked, even the most ordinary foods suddenly felt like the greatest meal on earth.”

Even though her time was cut short, she believes she thrived, despite fearing the aspect of being alone.

That said, she was surprised by her mental resilience.

Since coming back, she says she appreciates the smaller things more, and you don’t need much to be happy.

Arash was born in a rural village in Afghanistan and grew up in a warzone, where foraging, fishing and hunting limited materials became essential.

As each day passed during his time on Alone Australia, he said he was purely in survival mode.

The medics panicked when they did their regular welfare check on day 26, and found his site abandoned, and he left his satellite phone, emergency tracker, camera gear and safety supplies behind.

As part of the show, the contestants must keep their phones and trackers on them at all times in case of emergencies.

During the episode that aired on August 12, the show revealed that he was immediately pulled from the show because he ignored these rules.

“To walk away like this, it hurts,” he said after he left his patch of land. “But the only person that I can blame is myself.”

“It’s very hard to accept, to survive so many things in real life and to come and grab a beautiful opportunity like this and make a blunder.”

“Cause I grew up in a war zone, and I crossed seven countries with no documents. Got lost in the sea, slept in the jungle, and I think this experience activated a survival mode that I know the best.”

“And when I get in that mode, rules don’t matter.”

When asked for a comment on the matter, Alone’s Supervising Executive Producer, Riima Daher, tells New Idea it was “devastating” to remove him.

“Arash had an excellent shelter, and his survival systems were all coming together when this happened, so extracting him from Alone Australia was a devastating decision, but it was the only possible decision.”

“We have a critical responsibility for the safety of every participant and crew member, and our protocols are non-negotiable mandatory practice for everyone involved.”

“Arash’s achievements in his previous 26 days on the land were impressive, and we hold respect for that journey. Seeing his time cut short because of an avoidable mistake is devastating, but above all else, we were very relieved to find him safe and well.”

With plenty of trekking experience under her belt and a deep understanding of the land, Alyce was ready to give Alone everything she had.

In her early days in Finland, she injured her hip and almost called it quits. However, she decided to persevere.

But she hit another hurdle when she failed to catch any fish, and she decided to call it quits after 19 days.

As the avid coastal and freshwater fisher tried different techniques, the lack of success got the better of her.

She went into the wilderness with fluorescent streaks in her hair, which she planned to use to lure fish in, but that too was fruitless.

“It’s devastating to say that fishing is your best skill and you can’t manage to catch a single fish,” she vented in frustration.

The self-confessed “fishing queen” said it was “heartbreaking” that the skill she thought she could use to outlast the others wasn’t coming in handy.

Refusing to let herself go hungry, she chose to tap out.

“Right now, I feel ready to go,” she reflected as she got on the boat to leave the Arctic Circle.

“Nineteen days without a fish is really tough, but I love this land, and it’s been a huge privilege to be here on my little parcel of Sapmi.”

Having grown up in Sweden and acclimatised to harsh temperatures, Lillian was keen to attack the Arctic Circle.

However, as the days went on, she mentally struggled.

On her last day, she reflected on a time when she ventured to the top of Nepal’s Mera Peak with her partner, Holden, and held the photo she took of him there.

Looking back on it and comparing it to her time in isolation, she said she struggled with migraines and had low blood pressure, but still pushed through it to make it to the top by sunrise.

Even though she said she was proud of herself, she acknowledged that she could have been seriously hurt and put the other people present at risk.

With all of this in mind, she decided to tap out of Alone after 13 days.

“I’ve been a lot in my head during this time, and I think I need to know when it’s okay to take a step back,” she said, reflecting on her experience.

“I usually don’t do that; I usually keep going and going until I hurt myself, and I feel like I already have a little bit, and I just need to learn to just step back from that and actually take care of myself,” she continued, fighting through tears.

Even though she was walking away, she was “honoured” to do it.

“The Arctic Circle is a part of me,” she said.

Going into Alone, Misty knew she had a challenge ahead of herself, but she was determined to see how much she could push herself.

Throughout her time in the Arctic Circle, she looked back on her past. She reflected on taking drugs for the first time as a teen, and how nature helped her become clean.

She also touched on previously being homeless, and how at 29, she had a roof over her head for the first time.

The adventure tour guide tells New Idea that before she entered Finland, she wrote herself a $250,000 cheque to manifest her being the last one standing.

But that all changed when she saw a herd of reindeer, making her reflect on the loved ones she left behind at home.

“I tried to track them and couldn’t find them again,” she says about her encounter.

“When they returned, I was sitting in that mental suffering of ‘Do I stay or do I go?’ My whole life I’ve tried to find meaning in things and answers from nature; this felt like the answer I needed. That I don’t need to do this alone, that I need to return to my people.”

The emotional toll is then what led her to tap out after seven days.

Even though she left earlier than expected, she tells us that she’s proud of what she achieved.

“I have to honour the person out there who decided to tap out, because she isn’t the person at home with a belly full of food surrounded by loved ones making the decision,” she explains.

Due to past experiences, she tells us she was worried that she wouldn’t have support because she left earlier than expected.

But that wasn’t the case.

“The love has poured in like floodgates bursting,” she continues.

“Since returning home, I have found the courage to actually leave a place for the first time and build a home. Getting the keys and walking in the door was such an emotional experience,” she explains. “For the first time in a very long time, home feels safe and secure.”

Despite not winning the prize money, she’s still determined to create a sanctuary where troubled youth can access support.

In the meantime, she says she’s been invited to speak with Year 12 students about her life, which has been a rewarding experience.

“A few have already given me the opportunity to feel like the person I needed when I was 15,” she tells us.