Dame in distress 'IT WAS SO HUMILIATING!'

Menopause and meltdowns got in the way of her TV dream

- Rebekah Hebenton

For the past five months, Dame Susan Devoy has had time to reflect after once again walking away from Treasure Island emptyhanded. So, when the 59-year-old chats with the Weekly ahead of the Fans v Faves finale, she is at peace.

Though she has replayed that final day in her head many times, analysing everything she could have done differently, each time she comes back to the fact that she can’t conquer her fear of the water in one day.

“You only get one chance, but if I had to do it all again, I don’t know if it would be different,” she says. “I would still have to be in the water and I’d still be scared.”

Going into the final treasure hunt, the former world squash champion knew she had just as much chance of winning the $50,000 charity prize as Matty McLean or Lana Cochrane-Searle. But the second she saw their first challenge was in the ocean, all her confidence slipped away.

Susan almost drowned when she was young and only really got back in the water again in preparation for her 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. So, having to dive for sacks of puzzle pieces in the ocean was way outside her comfort zone.

“I was petrified in that water,” recalls Susan. “It wasn’t just swimming, I had to dive underneath the water and swim back with bags that had pétanque balls to weigh them down. It was so bad, I thought they were going to come and pick me up on the boat. Instead, they threw me a life ring, and I lay on my back and kicked while I tried not to cry. It was so humiliating.