He was seen as the number-one threat on the island, but it wasn’t until watching the show unfold on TV from the comfort of his own couch that Eric Murray realised how many contestants were plotting to get him off Celebrity Treasure Island.
The Olympic rower chuckles, “I knew I was super, super competitive on the show, but then to see that the other team threw challenges because of me as a person, I don’t know whether to feel humbled or what!”
Watch: Eric takes charcoal tooth brushing to an Olympic level. Article continues below.
When he was finally knocked out, there were no hard feelings.
“I’m not a big fan of reality TV shows where you really screw with people’s emotions,” tells the 37-year-old. “But with this show, there’s a bit of drama but it’s all pinned around somebody winning $100,000 for charity. It’s light-hearted and not malicious.”
After being put up for elimination by Sam Wallace, Eric lost to Shannon.
And Eric certainly didn’t walk away empty-handed, pocketing $10,000 for his charity Autism New Zealand after winning two challenges. It’s a cause close to his heart with his eight-year-old son Zac having autism. Following his success on the show, the sports star has now been made a patron of the charity.
“I’m lucky because I’ve got good people around me and I’ve got time and flexibility to help Zac, but autism is a really interesting thing because everyone is completely different,” he explains.
Doing it for his son – Eric was thrilled to win cash for Autism NZ.
“Some people have big issues and they need a lot more resources than others.”
When asked if his son’s been enjoying watching him on TV, Eric says, “He managed to sit down and watch it a couple of times, but he doesn’t have a big attention span to sit there and watch it for a long time. But he has had a good couple of watches and it’s been cool to see it with him – it’s been fun.”
