Tina Wesson, the winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback, spoke about her experience on the show and her resulting fame in ICC Auditorium Wednesday night.
Wesson also offered advice to those who attended the speech, telling students “college is a blast … this is the greatest time of your life.”
Wesson described the original selection process to get onto the show as “grueling.”
“We [the 52 finalists] spent two weeks sequestered in Los Angeles hotel rooms,” she said. ” The only times we got to leave the room were for psychological testing, interviews with the producers and eating.”
Wesson said she originally received a call from the producers telling her that she had not made the final cut. A different woman from the Midwest was selected over Wesson, but she asked for time to think about the decision.
“The producers wanted someone with no reservations, so they called me back and asked me to do the show … and I ended up winning the darn thing,” Wesson exclaimed.
Wesson told the crowd that she needed three things to win the competition: luck, logistics and the ability to live with others. “You have to be willing to be flexible,” she said.
“The games are always changing, the alliances are always changing … it’s important to adjust to the circumstances and still get along with everyone,” Wesson added.
Life in the Outback was often slow and boring, said Wesson.
“I brought a backgammon board as my ‘luxury item,’ and we played hundreds of games on it,” she said.
Wesson’s sudden fame following the show was “such a change for my life,” said Wesson. “I totally lost my sense of being anonymous.
“Dealing with the fame taught me to grow, stretch, develop that side of me to become more comfortable with it,” she said. “It’s just so funny to me because I don’t feel like I’ve done anything. “All we really did was go on a bad camping trip,” Wesson said.
