TV

Four curious things we’ve learned about the stars on Celebrity Treasure Island

It didn't take long for the quirks and foibles to come out.
Loading the player...

For those of us who made it to the couch at 7pm on Sunday to watch the first episode of Celebrity Treasure Island, following a twelve year hiatus, we were not disappointed.

The reality TV show was fast, funny and furious – and the interactions between the celebrities are already shaping up to be highly entertaining.

For those not in the know, this series follows two teams of Kiwi celebrities marooned on a tropical island as they compete to solve a series of clues that will lead them to $100,000 in hidden treasure. The prize will go to the chosen charity of the celebrity who uncovers it.

The last time this game was played, Hayley Holt from Breakfast took out the prize.

But you can’t put a group of people on a deserted island with limited resources and not see their true colours come out. Here’s what we learned about some of the stars during the show’s first episode.

There’s no ‘I’ in team, Eric

Despite Eric Murray being one half of an Olympic gold winning team with rower Hamish Bond (the duo even won the team of the year award at the 2009 New Zealand Halberg Sports Awards), Eric proved anything but a team player with the celebs’ first challenge.

Set with the task of finding his other team mates in a certain order by following a series of clues, Eric attacked the challenge with gusto, flying across the island with barely a word to his team mates as he found each one then pushed on.

Leaving Karl Burnett tied to a stake while he tore a trail to the finish line, his team mates trailing behind, proved his ultimate undoing, with his team losing the challenge because they’d left one man behind.

“I don’t know what we’re going to learn about Eric Murray in these conditions,” he ponders at the beginning of the show, oddly referring to himself in third person.

But “I’m good with team work and good with working with people,” he assures.

Sam Wallace likes to win

“I want this competition to test us,” Sam declares in his first interview to camera. “I think everyone’s got something to prove, everyone likes to think they’re above average and if you go in the first week you’re not above average are you.”

So there’s no room for average.

After Sam’s team, Kahu, return to untie Karl they offer Karl first choice of the beds (at camp) to make up for abandoning him. But Sam still kind of feels that it’s Karl’s fault they lost because he didn’t untie himself from the stake.

So when Karl happens to want the bed that Sam’s just claimed as his own Sam refuses to give it up. And “I didn’t back down,” he says proudly to camera.

Karl Burnett was left behind in the first challenge.

Later, when Kahu taste their first victory Sam menacingly asks the blue team, Mako: “How do you like them apples?”

Host Matt Chisholm simply shakes his head: “It’s too early in the game for that.”

Shane Cameron’s mum can get you an ‘A’ in science

As team Mako settle in at its campsite, the stars start sharing stories and it’s here that we learn that Shane Cameron’s high school grades are actually all down to his mum.

“I spent 17 years as a boxer but before that I was a farm boy,” Shane tells the others. “I went to high school for the first term then persuaded Mum and Dad to put me on correspondence. But I didn’t do the correspondence… I loved farming and that’s all I wanted to do.

“I said, ‘Mum can you do my school work?’and she said okay, so mum did my school work… She’d come back every two or three weeks and say ‘hey look Shane I got an A in science’. I’d say ‘good on ya mum what’s for dinner?'”

Barbara Kendall’s still got it

“I’m hoping that age has a bit of an advantage in this game,” she confesses shyly in the show’s opening scenes. “When I was younger I just charged and didn’t really think so much and as you get older you just get that little bit wiser and it’s a matter of being a little bit more cunning and working out how to do things smarter.”

As it turned out Barb’s team worked together beautifully as she led them through the jungle to find one another, and then she also won the captaincy challenge.

“It feels really good to keep the captain’s title. I didn’t have it officially when we started but now I’ve got it officially and the nicest thing is the team’s stoked,” the Olympic gold medalist smiles.

Barb also beat Sam Wallace in a challenge between the two team captains, securing the first official clue of the game for her team.

“I am so happy I’ve got that first clue because there’s a bit of respect which is really nice to… it’s just good to cement that I’m a team player and I’m valuable,” she positively glows.

Celebrity Treasure Island continues tonight, Monday, and tomorrow, Tuesday, at 7.30pm on TVNZ 2.

Related stories