PROUD OF MY GAME!

Survivor's Marian opens up about her strategy and how she coped with her skin condition

- ROBYN LUCAS

SHE was known as a villain and rubbed fans the wrong way with her aggressive actions. But it was necessary to use every trick available, she believes and she has no qualms about doing it again.

In fact, Marian De Vos relishes being given another opportunity to show off her strategic skills in the new season of Survivor South Africa: Return of the Outcasts.

"It was an absolute no-brainer," Marian tells YOU of her decision to take part in this new season. "I'm a Survivor superfan."

Marian made her debut on Survivor SA: Champions in 2013 and this time around she's playing a game that's true to who she is "whether people like it or not".

The retail buyer from Kuils River in Cape Town says she did the same the first time she was on the hit show.

"I wore my heart on my sleeve," she says.

But the viewers didn't approve.

"I think fans didn't really understand the game," she says. "When I was lying or blindsiding or coming up with strategic plans, they felt a woman shouldn't behave that way, so I was vilified."

Long-time fans might recall Marian looking somewhat different to how she does today.

After her first Survivor stint, the 33-year-old developed vitiligo a condition in which the skin loses its pigment cells, resulting in discoloured patches over various parts of the body.

"When I was diagnosed it was incredibly hard, Marian says. "I saw a therapist for a very long time."

Now she doesn't shy away from the camera and she's having fun.

"I have an alliance within an alliance within an alliance," she says smiling. "That was one of my Survivor bucket-list items"

"THE vitiligo diagnosis in 2014 hit Marian hard. It came a year after she first noticed a tiny white spot on her lip. "We filmed Survivor in 2013 and I noticed it as soon as I got back.