Jesse Tuke's true romace 'THE LOVE THAT GOT ME THROUGH'

The reality star reveals the secret to his Celebrity Treasure Island win

- Sebastian van der Zwan.

Before he won the phone call from home in his final days on Celebrity Treasure Island, Jesse Tuke admits he was struggling.

"I was definitely having a tough time at that point," the sports commentator confesses to Woman's Day. "I'd just lost my good mate Ron [Cribb] and I got thrown out of my alliances. I was on my own. I'd made my bed and I had to sleep in it. I felt very vulnerable!"

However, the opportunity to speak to his partner of 11 years, Julia Campbell, gave him the motivation he needed to continue in the competition and ultimately come out on top!

"Jules is pretty straight-up," says Jesse, 30. "She told me to go win this thing. She said, 'You've got everything you need to do it. You're so close. Just have fun and do it for your charity! It was a hard conversation and I got a little emotional, but it gave me some drive."

And Julia was the first person Jesse spoke to on the phone after digging up the buried treasure and winning $100,000 for Live Ocean. He recalls, "I told her I'd won and she said, 'Of course you did!' That's probably when the reality dawned on me. Before then, it was just a relief that it was over, but sharing the news was one of the most special things. That's when all those not-so secret tears came flooding out."

When he finally got home to Tauranga after a month on the remote beaches of the Far North, Julia picked him up from the airport for a romantic dinner.

Jesse laughs, "We almost got Mexican food, but then I realised the rice and beans might be a little too much like what we ate back at camp, so we got Italian instead - pizza, pasta, and red wine."