The full cast of Survivor New Zealand season two. Photo / Scott McAulay
Age: 28
Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Self-employed
Toughest thing I've ever done: I did a marathon without training, and I was pretty much screwed for the next
year. I gained heaps of weight cause I didn't move for so long.
Preparation for Survivor New Zealand: I filled my head with Botox... I got 36 (units) just to intensify the relaxed feel. I do have quite an expressive forehead... so I'm just going to hide that from everyone.
Age: 30
Hometown: Hamilton
Occupation: Dairy Farmer
Toughest thing I've ever done: I used to row quite a bit, and getting up to the level of fitness and pushing yourself through a lot of trainings every day was quite a mind-boggle.
Age: 27
Hometown: Nelson
Occupation: High School Teacher
Preparation for Survivor: I though the best move (would be) to put a bit of weight on, because when you're deprived of food... you're gonna need that fat for the body to burn. I was eating pretty unhealthy stuff for the last two or three weeks. At one stage I had six pies in six days.
Age: 26
Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Clinical Pharmacist
Biggest fear: Bugs. Well, Clowns are my biggest fear, but I don't think I'll have to worry about that here. So spiders and cockroaches are probably my two biggest fears.
Age: 26
Hometown: Whangarei
Occupation: etail Manager
Biggest fear: Outside of the game, clowns are my biggest fear. But in a game sense, probably getting voted out first.
Why Survivor: I'm a huge fan of Survivor, I've watched for 18 years now... For the entirety of season one I was the second person on a podcast about New Zealand Survivor, so (it's) a relatively big part of my life.
Age: 26
Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Hiking Guide
Toughest thing I've ever done: Probably hiking in Nepal. That was the first hike that i've ever done, (and) it was three weeks. It was on that trip that I caught the travel bug.
Age: 24
Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Journalist
Toughest thing I've ever done: I have a disease called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and endometriosis, and that's really defined me since I was about 14. I thought that Survivor for me was a way to break away from the shackles of the disease.
Biggest fear: I'm not fond of snakes, and this situation is very snakey, so it's going to be very interesting.
What I'm going to miss most: Red wine. Central Otago pinot. That's it. And my partner and my dog, but red wine, oh god.
Age: 23
Hometown: Blenheim
Occupation: Audio Post Producer
Toughest thing I've ever done: Beyond just existing as a millennial in this day and age, probably just the basic answer of finishing my degree, when I knew I wasn't going to use it.
Biggest fear: Turning into someone I don't want to be, or turning into someone I know my friends and family don't recognise.
Age: 28
Hometown: New Plymouth
Occupation: Chartered Accountant
Toughest thing I've ever done: Beat cancer. That's probably up there. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster year, and then to be here... it's quite a defining year. I got through it relatively unscathed.
Age: 32
Hometown: Ashhurst, Manawatū
Occupation: Project Manager
Toughest thing I've ever done: I have had a very sheltered life in a cocoon of comfort, so in the sort of outdoors sense, nothing. I've moved from one side of the world to the other, so that was logistically difficult.
Biggest fear: Surviving with 17 other people in such close confines.
Preparation for Survivor: I went to one spin class, but the music was too loud, and I just couldn't concentrate on the exercise. I just kept perseverating on why the music was so loud.
Why Survivor: Mainly it's so that no one ever has to make me do anything ever again.
Age: 37
Hometown: Palmerston North
Occupation: Journalist
Toughest thing I've ever done: For around ten years I was a single mum to my two awesome kids. It was certainly a challenge, and I like to equate it a little bit to Survivor because you're limited in resources, you're judged a lot by society, and there's a lot of challenges in being that. But I also like to think that I overcame a lot of those things. I spent that time getting my bachelor's degree because I thought, 'I'm not going to be a product of my circumstances, I'm going to create my own'.
Age: 24
Hometown: Shannon, Horowhenua
Occupation: Social Worker
Toughest thing I've ever done: My job. As a social worker I'm dealing with different types of people from different situations, usually in unfortunate situations, and I have to somehow keep a straight face and be able to help these families improve.
On being The Hits Wildcard: It's a privilege, and something I don't take for granted. I'm a Māori female, (so) I've got lots of people I'm representing; I'm representing all females, I'm representing all Māori, and all social workers, so I've got a lot on my plate. While it's an honour, it's also quite scary.
Age: 23
Hometown: Tauranga
Occupation: Videographer
Toughest thing I've ever done: Learning to skydive. It was something I always wanted to do, but I get really nervous sometimes, so my first jump going up with my own parachute, knowing I have to open it myself, (it was) terrifying, absolutely terrifying.
Biggest fear: My biggest fear is probably spiders, I'd say. I hear there's some around the Thailand jungle so I'm going to have to watch out.
Age: 38
Hometown: Christchurch
Occupation: School Librarian
Toughest thing I've ever done: Probably having my son. That was really hard. Ow.
Biggest fear: I'm not great with heights. That's probably the only thing really, apart from the existential stuff like death, sickness, anything happening to the people you love. I think those are universal.
Age: 25
Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Rocket Technician
Toughest thing I've ever done: I walked the length of Spain with my partner. We walked 1000 km in 47 days. I actually proposed at the end of the walk. I planned it ten minutes before I did it... we made it to the end, in the square outside the big church, and I asked her and she said yes.
Age: 28
Hometown: Auckland
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Toughest thing I've ever done: Hiking Machu Picchu for four days. I got extremely sick on the last day, and it was really really tough. I just soldiered on - every step that I took, tears were streaming down my face, I was in so much pain... I learnt that I was stronger than what I thought I was.
Age: 44
Hometown: Hamilton
Occupation: Full-time Mum
Toughest thing I've ever done: Emotionally the hardest thing [I've experienced] is both my mother and father have passed away. My mother died of breast cancer about eight years ago, and my dad died five weeks before I came here.
Why Survivor: I have been a mum 15 years. I thought it was time to do something just for me, and this is just solely for me. I just want to see what I can do, push myself to the limit.
Age: 24
Hometown: Christchurch
Occupation: Office Manager
Toughest thing I've ever done: I backpacked through Europe and Thailand by myself and got into a few sketchy situations... (In Paris), we were just trying to walk home after a few drinks and got jumped by three guys. We managed to keep our passports and nothing got stolen in the end. Just a few belts to the head and they got scared off and ran away, somehow.
Biggest fear: Spiders, I don't trust them. I don't like their eight legs and their eyes. I'd prefer cockroaches or rats absolutely.
• Survivor New Zealand season two premieres 7pm, Sunday April 22 on TVNZ2.
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