Laura Daniel found herself with no allies after the elimination of her best friend Eli Matthewson. Photo / TVNZ
Laura Daniel found herself with no allies after the elimination of her best friend Eli Matthewson. Photo / TVNZ
OPINION
We’re at Camp Weka and Laura Daniel and Nick Afoa are living their best musical theatre life, jamming around the fireplace, everyone’s thriving, everyone’s loving it especially James Mustapic who tells the confession cam, “that was the worst song I’ve heard in my life”.
Maybe not, but it’s the exact energy that sums up finals week. Kind of fun, kind of not, kind of just want our lives back but too intrigued to quit now.
Speaking of intrigued, Daniel sits down with Courtney Dawson and proposes an all female finale which most definitely throws off our work sweepstake.
“I’m going to be straight up with both of you,” she says in a no BS kind of way. “If you wanted to have a guaranteed female winner this could easily be done in the next two days.”
Scheming with a side of picturesque views. Photo / TVNZ
Personally, I’m listening but the women who matter feel like a slice of this cake could throw off their whole diet and hot girl summer is coming. They can’t quit now!
“The idea of it is mean,” Dawson tells the comedian further explaining to the confession cam she is quite closely aligned with Mustapic and doesn’t want to let him down. “It’s just hard to navigate the relationships at this point in the game.”
As for Schmidt-Peke she sees the cake, she smells it but she has more restraint than a bride two weeks out from her wedding and says no to that delicious idea. It’s not all bad news for Daniel though as the producers hand her over recently departed Eli Matthewson’s scrolls igniting her desire for more so it’s back to camp where she goes on a scroll hunt.
Spotting one in the roof, she notices Dawson and Scmidt-Peke are watching but decides to grab it anyway and it’s safe to say it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Laura Daniel grabbing a clue or me looking in Mum's top cupboard for my Christmas presents? Photo / TVNZ
Scouting around for more clues, Schmidt-Peke decides maybe she does want a slice of this cake and finds another clue taking it for herself, but before she can lick her fingers clean and head off into scroll coma heaven, Daniel makes her promise she will share the next one.
The three female finalists end up in a huddle where Daniel tells Schmidt-Peke she has to show the group her scroll but the actress hits back with more attitude than Bob being asked if he took the last Toffee Pop in the smoko room.
Asking “Why?” Daniel insists Schmidt-Peke wouldn’t have known to look for it if it weren’t for her, “That doesn’t mean anything, does it?” Schmidt-Peke says and it’s more awkward than trying to convince the Danny Doolans bouncer your mate is definitely sober enough to get in despite just falling up the stairs.
They’re just clumsy, I swear!
A persistent Daniel says she will offer up her own clue in exchange for seeing Schmidt-Peke’s and it kind of sounds like the pair agree but Daniel heads down to the lake for a sharing circle and realises the females in her female alliance are nowhere to be seen, “they don’t follow me down”, she tells the confession cam adding, “pretty gutting”.
Win some, lose most I guess. Photo / TVNZ
Back at camp, Schmidt-Peke and Dawson discuss their alliance options and decide their allegiance falls with Mustapic as he’s made the most decisions to keep them safe.
Arriving at the individual face-off, the castaways are told it’s yet another water-based challenge where they must swim, swim, swim, puzzle, puzzle, puzzle with the winner earning the chance to decide who goes up for elimination - but of course, there’s a twist. Whoever wins the elimination round gets to go straight through to the top three.
Finals week is final weeking.
It’s a game that proves to be incredibly difficult, especially for Mustapic who has fallen victim to the lake that’s stolen his shoe and made his hands so wet and cold he can’t undo the rope ties around his puzzle pieces.
“I know you’ll be watching at home going ‘ooh little gay boy who can’t undo the knots’. It is hard, get your a** down here and untie them for me okay,” he tells the confession cam before giving the producers a look that could actually kill them.
I’m just a girl, asking the audience, can this man be any more relatable?
Finally, Dawson takes out the win and feels “pretty good” but it doesn’t stay that way for long as Daniel confesses she believes she is going up for elimination, “if I am up there at least it’s a high-risk, high-reward scenario”.
Back at camp, the crickets are chirping, the emotions are higher than a G6 and Daniel is bargaining with Dawson yet again, “You know what I’ve got, I’ve got a s**t tonne of cards now, but if I’m out I’m just like ‘who do I give them to because I’m like well there was an agreement and I feel like I got cut out of it,” she says making a sad face.
It’s not the only pitch Dawson hears today, Afoa offers her his advantage which lets him slow other castaways down in the final treasure hunt. As for Mustapic, he offers a clue if she puts him up against Afoa.
And finally, Schmidt-Peke jumps in offering absolutely nothing instead saying that if it’s a puzzle, put her in against Daniel.
“I’m scattered, I’m feeling really crazy, I’m feeling the pressure of everyone’s expectations,” Dawson tells the confession cam but there’s no time to wallow. The castaways head off to the elimination round where Dawson shockingly reveals it will be herself battling it out for the Middlemore Foundation against Laura Daniel battling it out for Shine (Safer Homes in NZ).
Courtney Dawson, Laura Daniel. Photo / TVNZ
It’s a round of intense and I mean intense endurance, they literally have to hold on to a rope for however long they can without touching the ground. Bad day to be in the elimination round.
After eight minutes, Dawson proves she has been hanging out with Tarzan as she takes out the win, landing herself a spot in the final three. As for Daniel she says she’s “slightly embarrassed” as she earned no money for her charity but later tells the confession cam, “I’m not embarrassed about what I’ve done here”, and neither are we.
Daniel, you may not have won the game, but you’ve won our hearts, and with that, it’s one final week episode down, two more to go.
Celebrity Treasure Island airs weekly, Mon-Wed, at 7.30PM on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ +.
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
