Matt Klitscher
She may have a royal-sounding name, but Katie Middleton is no princess. “I’m more of a bogan and I don’t think it should be a derogatory term,” she giggles. “I like Linkin Park and I’ve got that South Island working-class twang. Also, I’m of the Scottish Middletons, not the English ones!”
And the 30-year-old artist and nanny isn’t looking for her Prince Charming either, explaining she’s on a “man ban” after recently splitting from her boyfriend of six years, which was the toughest thing she’s ever been through.
“I didn’t just lose my partner, but also the family, friends and the future I thought we had,” she confides. “There’s a lot of letting go. It feels like a death. I wasn’t the one who called it off. He decided he didn’t want children any more and it wouldn’t be fair to continue. Our lives were going in different directions, but it was still quite hard. It hurts.”
Time on Island will hopefully help get Katie over her break-up blues.
However, when she was offered the chance to be on Treasure Island: Fans V Faves, Katie says it was “the adventure I needed” to get over her ex. She adds, “I’d never considered I could be on TV, but then I was watching Taskmaster and it dawned on me, like, ‘I could do this. That looks like fun.’ A month later, I got the call asking if I wanted to be on this show.”
A big fan of past winner Chris Parker, Katie reckons her personality will be her biggest strength. “I’m very easy to talk to and relatable. This is going to sound snaky, but the easiest way to manipulate people is to be very sincere – and I am. People know if you’re being fake.”
Her weakness? “People pleasing. I have a fear of rejection, so the hardest thing would be if my team was to turn on me and I became a lone wolf. That’d be a nightmare. I don’t want to look like a dick on TV.”
To prepare for going on the island, Katie has learnt a bit of Fijian and researched the local vegetation.
“I’m a fibre artist, and I work with native plants, doing sculpture, weaving and making my own tools, so I’ve always known New Zealand flora really well – I’d do really well if we were competing back home! But the skills are transferable and now I know a bit about the Pacific too. Hopefully, I can find us something to eat and make ropes out of!”
