No mucking round for Chris Parker, he was there to win. Photo / TVNZ
No mucking round for Chris Parker, he was there to win. Photo / TVNZ
Twenty-seven days later and we have our FINAL.
Who's excited?
On the toughest day of the competition, Lance Savali, Edna Swart and Chris Parker put their absolute all into it and one winner walked away with $100,000 for their chosen charity.
Let's get into it.
The three started off theirmorning looking over their clues, except for Savali "I'm not even gonna look at my clues yet, let me wake up."
But all jokes were put aside as they walked down the beach to meet host Matt Chisholm who explained their first challenge.
The three had to use slingshots to land balls in a hanging net, once they had six in their net they could grab a key and run off to the next challenge.
Swart took off and looked to be in first place, but of course, Savali, the guy who wins everything, took the lead and ran off to his next challenge.
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows because halfway along the beach, Savali collapsed.
"I need a medic." He whimpered.
It was a close call for Lance Savali who had to be checked by a medic when his heart suddenly started beating out of rhythm. Photo / TVNZ
Having earlier spoken about his heart condition the medics were close by and ran to his aid. Through uneven breaths, Savali told them "My heart is out of rhythm."
I was worried, you were worried, we were all worried. Not Savali!
He told the confession cam, "Sometimes when I feel like it's getting bad I'll call my mum and ask my mum to pray for me." Trust me Savali, we were all praying for you at that moment.
Thankfully the medic gave him the all-clear and Savali took off again, making sure to self-monitor. Phew.
Swart and Parker were close behind. Host Bree Tomasel explained challenge two, they would have to get three balls from start to finish of the obstacle course without dropping them.
Challenge two was all about balance. Photo / TVNZ
It looked tough on a normal day but even harder when the celebs were all pumped up on adrenaline.
"Can you guys challenge us anymore?" Swart frustratingly told the confession cam.
Savali was concentrating hard and Tomasel was ruining his vibe, "Bree is talking her ass off, I'm like Bree please, shh."
She couldn't help but laugh. Savali took out the lead yet again and Swart was close behind but Parker was a world away as he kept dropping the ball – literally.
"It's taken about 10 attempts but hey 10's not bad it could be 50." He positively said. Yes man, that is the energy I was looking for. It's all about staying positive in a game like this.
At the final challenge, there was a spade locked in a word puzzle, to get it out they had to solve the word.
No mucking round for Chris Parker, he was there to win. Photo / TVNZ
Savali started on his puzzle, Swart close behind. "There's a lot of pressure at this point," Savali said but once he saw B, U, R line up he knew it was 'buried' and unlocked his spade taking off to find the treasure. "Edna says she's fast but I'm fast"
Swart spelt "buried" wrong and had to try again while Parker was nowhere to be seen.
He showed up as Swart left and struggled to decode the word asking for help from the good lord above - Mariah Carey.
Swart and Savali rummaged through the pirate shack finding pieces of their map and located the area to start digging. They were struggling to find anything.
Despite Edna Swart and Lance Savali's time advantage earlier, they had no luck finding the treasure. Photo / TVNZ
Meanwhile, Parker finally solved his puzzle and ran to catch up. He found the map and started heading to the 'X' but got lost along the way. Swart couldn't help but laugh as she heard him say "Where the f*** is the house."
He finally found them and the competition got real.
They were all digging, finding nothing so Parker decided to get on the same level as nature. He knew the grass wouldn't be thick on top of the treasure and tried to find the barest place to dig.
Guy's I'm not lying when I say I gasped when his shovel hit something.
Savali whipped around. He knew Parker had just won Celebrity Treasure Island.
"I'm elated I know I've got it and Lance comes and helps me dig it," Parker told the confession cam.
Parker shortly burst into tears as the $100,000 is revealed. "I just know what this is going to do for this charity and I find it a little overwhelming."
Parker's chosen charity, Rainbow Youth are made for and led by youth supporting queer, gender diverse, intersex young people in Aotearoa, affirming and empowering them. As he realised he had won a staggering $100,000 for them he broke down in tears.
One final group hug as they collapse into exhaustion. Photo / TVNZ
"You deserve it, you totally deserve it." Swart reached out to him and it turned into a big soppy heart to heart with Parker telling Swart "I just have crazy respect for you, Edna." Along with a whole bunch of other nice stuff.
"Just sitting there and Chris turning to me and saying to me what I wish others could see that meant everything to me." Swart teared up.
