Alex King's secret tears 'MY DAD SAVED ME'

The singer and actress reveals how her famous father rescued her from dark thoughts

When Mike King spectacularly eliminated himself from Celebrity Treasure Island last year, he accidentally threw his daughter and fellow contestant Alex under the bus, exposing her alliances and reducing her to tears.

"I was furious," the 25-yearold former Mai FM radio presenter recalls. "In his mind, it was a throwaway line, but it was the downfall of my game and him leaving really brought up so many inner traumas for me.

"As a kid, growing up, I was privileged to have everything I needed, but it came at a cost - my dad was always working to put bread and butter on the table. I'm so grateful for that, but I never really got to spend time with dad. He was too busy for my birthdays and netball games."

Fun dad Mike was away a lot during her childhood.

Alex was eliminated hot on her father's heels and, soon after, the pair enjoyed a couple of days together on a daddy daughter trip to Tauranga. But remarkably, they didn't have a proper conversation about what happened on Treasure Island for another six months, when the TVNZ 2 reality series screened.

"It's really hard to talk to Dad when I'm hurt because, a lot of the time, he just thinks I'm criticising his parenting," explains Alex. "And we're very good at tiptoeing around each other because I'm sensitive as well."