Mum-of-three Janelle Durso had no idea she would end up in the harsh Australian outback when she signed up for Australian Survivor.
WATCH BELOW: Australian Survivor 2021 comes to outback Queensland
Having watched past seasons of the show, Janelle was fully prepared for coconuts by the beach, hunting for fish in the crystal-clear waters, and to be completely surrounded by palm trees.
Much to her surprise, this season of Survivor dropped its castaways into a whole new location – the vast outback of northwest Queensland, landing in none other than Cloncurry.
“I was expecting to be on the beach – 100% expecting it to be on the beach,” Janelle tells us.
While the outback scenery is no doubt stunning, Janelle says it was completely different to what she was used to.
“I’m a beach girl, we holiday every year on the beach,” she says.
But, she adds that being able to experience something different was “all worth the while”.
“To experience that red dirt and the sun coming up in the morning and just being so quiet – it’s definitely something I will never ever forget.”
Despite the change in location, one would think that having watched the show previously, it would give Janelle an idea of what to expect, but she says nothing could have prepared her for what awaited ahead.
“Watching the show and playing in the show is totally different,” she says.
“I honestly thought there would’ve been a little bit of TV sparkle,” she explains. “I honestly thought they would’ve helped us a little bit or provided us with some umbrellas – just something – and there was just nothing.”
Janelle adds that she would wake up each morning in “so much pain” from the challenges, and even had bruises from her ankles all the way up to her hips.
“It was horrible – it’s just brutal – absolutely brutal,” she says.
However, Janelle proved to herself, and to her family watching at home, that she could do it: “I wanted to show that I’ve got a bit of grit and determination.”
Janelle also explains that it was her late step-dad, who sadly passed away just over two years ago, who she really wanted to make proud.
“We watched Survivor together,” she recalls. “He’s the one who gave me the strength to back myself.”
“We always had a little bit of a joke saying ‘if you’re not first you’re last’, so I was last,” she laughs.
Being the first to go from the Brawn tribe, Janelle says she had to completely change her initial game plan once she realised who she was up against.
“I did not want play the mum card – that was my strategy – I wanted to sort of play like a quiet game,” she says.
“But then when I went in there and realised I was up against world champions, I’m like ‘oh goodness – I’m going to have to play the mum card, I’m going to have to nurture and stroke egos’,” she says.
And while she can’t say she had a really close connection with any of her fellow tribe members – “they all voted me out!” – she says she’s looking forward to catching up with them outside of the show. (COVID permitting of course).
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