I don’t watch much TV, but last week’s 2021 Celebrity Treasure Island finale was interesting!
The programme follows a bunch of Kiwi “celebrities” holed up in Whale Bay on the beautiful Tutukaka Coast. Daily strength, agility, and mental games test physical, emotional, and mental endurance.
Food is limited and accommodation basic. Players strategise and form alliances to further their chances of winning. One by one players are evicted, until the winner finds the treasure which is $100,000 for their chosen charity.
The celebrities are a mixed bag, but all are attractive and photogenic!
In the final episode three players vie for the treasure – the seriously beautiful and svelte Edna Swart; heavily tattooed, blue hair cool dude Lance Savali; and Chris Parker who is bespectacled, geeky, funny and likeable. All equally competitive and focused on winning.
The finale comprised three tests after which they had to find hidden clues to the buried treasure. The first person’s spade to hit the Treasure Box would win.
Lance quickly took the lead and was the first to start digging, followed shortly after by Edna. But Chris messed up all three tests, temporarily got lost, and only arrived at the digging area after the others had been digging unsuccessfully for quite a while. Chris took the time to suss out a likely spot and it was Chris’ spade that hit the Treasure Box first, winning $100,000 for his chosen charity.
So why was it interesting?
- All three finalists were focussed, talented, deserving, and had done the work – but there could only be one winner
- Chris was last in all three tests and lagging until the very end, but didn’t give up
- Lance should have won since he started digging first
- Once all three were digging they had equal chance of winning
- Chris applied his brain to identify a likely spot, rather than randomly digging
- Chris won even although he was last until the very end.
The finale mirrors how to win in real life – you must put in the work and play to win, you can’t win if you give up, taking time to think is vital.
“Thinking is the hardest thing a man (or woman) can do,
probably the reason so few of them do it.”
Henry Ford