Island Fever Matty's Living The Dream

The Tv Star’s Got Something to Prove to the Nation

- Amy Prebble

Matty McLean is absolutely fizzing with excitement about getting the chance to pit himself against an Olympic gold medallist, a rugby league legend, a Bachelorette and various other famous faces in the rebooted series of Celebrity Treasure Island.

“It is fair to say that this is a dream come true!” exclaims the beloved Breakfast presenter. “Even talking about it now, it’s still surreal that I was able to live out this dream. A lot of people are fans of these kinds of shows, but not everyone gets the opportunity to participate and I’ve been waiting very patiently for my turn,” he says with a grin.

For Matty (32), the experience wasn’t just about being involved in a series he watched as a child.

“Growing up, I didn’t have the easiest time at school, especially with a lot of the guys, so I think I’ve always felt this need to prove I’m tough,” he says.

“I had a couple of times in the show where I had these amazing opportunities to prove it to the people watching, but mostly to prove it to myself and that was really awesome. I’m really excited to watch it back and relive it because there were a couple of times I thought, ‘This is one of the most proud moments I’ve had in my life.’”

He’s quick to admit that his call-up to compete on the series in Fiji didn’t happen by chance.