Barbara Kendall on Celebrity Treasure Island. Photo / Supplied
Barbara Kendall on Celebrity Treasure Island. Photo / Supplied
Celebrity Treasure Island contestant Barbara Kendall said she knew it was time for her to go home.
The Olympic gold medalist lost out to fellow contestant Shannon Ryan in an elimination challenge on last night's episode but said she knew her time on the island was up before she evenstepped into the ring.
"I woke up in the morning and I just knew that I had to go home."
Kendall had been battling with a stomach bug for 13 days prior to her exit, which took a toll on her health and her strength going into the challenge.
Barbara and Shannon's elimination challenge. Photo / Supplied
It meant she couldn't quite summon the mental strength to beat Ryan.
She said the elimination challenges were all about personal strength, and the other contestant was almost irrelevant in comparison.
"I couldn't stop shaking, even though I tried to slow my heart rate down my adrenals and my arms didn't have any reserves," she said.
"I was already on the edge, and I knew that from the beginning of the day. I knew it was going to be really hard to put myself into the place I needed to compete."
Barbara said she was ready to leave the island. Photo / Supplied
Bidding a sad farewell to the contestants, Kendall had two passing words of wisdom for fellow contestant Sam Wallace: "Be nice".
"People are competitors, so that side will come out, and me Eric [Murray] and Sam were shown to be the most outwardly competitive in the first few episodes.
"That was really interesting to me because I didn't think I was like Eric or Sam."
Fifty-two-year-old Kendall was known as "the camp Mum" on the show to her Mako teammates, a persona she said expected, but didn't have control over.
"I knew that being one of the oldest competitors and the oldest females in the camp ... I knew that I'd kind of fall into that place because you just have that life experience - I'm used to running a house of teenagers!"
She was motivated on the show to boost team morale and tried her best to coach her teammates into presenting decent versions of themselves on the show.
"I knew that I was sort of coaching people and trying to keep them in as much of a good place as possible, so they can continue to be decent and proud about who they were when they came away from this whole experience."
She formed close relationships with remaining Mako teammates Shane, Gary and Athena - and even Shannon, who knocked her out of the competition.
"We actually had a really great vibe going down, it was a really fun time."
Barbara said she was closest with her Mako teammates Shane, Athena and Gary, and formed a bond with Shannon when the teams combined. Photo / Supplied
"I formed a really great relationship with Shannon when the teams combined because she has a really similar philosophy about life".
If she was able to do the experience over again, Kendall said she wouldn't change anything major about her time on the island but would be more careful about the information she chose to share with other contestants.
"The show was a great experience, but I don't need to do it again."
