Survivor Hannah has no regrets

Whangarei's Hannah Gough, centre, has been eliminated from Survivor NZ after losing the Redemption Island challenge on Sunday

Gutted but no regrets - Whangarei Kindergarten teacher Hannah Gough has been eliminated from TV's Survivor NZ show, but hopes the publicity she received will act as a springboard on her new quest to be known as the face of the country's plus-sized people.

Gough arrived in Nicaragua in a blue vintage halter dress with her pink hair tied in a bun. A stark contrast to the shorts and T-shirts other Survivor NZ competitors wore. The plus-size model says her teammates judged her before they knew her and axed her on the first episode of the show.

She won the subsequent challenge on Redemption Island, but couldn't take out the second challenge against ex-soldier Tony on Sunday's show.

Going head to head with Tony, the rules were simple: each competitor was to take turns throwing cannon balls at four tiles. The first to smash all four tiles would remain on Redemption Island for another chance to re-enter the game.

Both Hannah and Tony failed with their first attempts, but it was Tony who soon established a solid lead. With only one throw in it, Tony the military man from Gisborne secured his first win and Hannah's shot at redemption and $100,000 was over.

In her six days on the island, the professional powerlifter and roller derby enthusiast spent her entire time fighting to prove she deserved her place in the game.

Yesterday she told the Northern Advocate her teammates initially underestimated her because of her size, but she had proved them wrong and most now acknowledged they had made a mistake in judging her by how she looked.

Hannah said she entered Survivor to show that you can be fit and healthy no matter what your body size and she felt she'd proved her point.

Although surprised to have Tony join her at Redemption Island camp, Hannah said it gave them a chance to reconcile after her Tribal Council betrayal. This new bond became apparent when the two tightly embraced after Tony's victory in the challenge arena.
As Hannah reflected on her short time in the game, she admitted she had wanted to use her experience on Survivor as a platform to help promote body positivity but was still "gutted to the core" to be the one sent packing.

"I don't think I was given a fair shot to show what I could bring. But someone's gotta go," she said.

The body positive ambassador said she had learnt a lot about herself during her time in the game.

"Being on Redemption Island by myself was probably one of the toughest things I've done. I had a lot of time to reflect about my life, what I'm doing with my life, where I'm going forward."

Now she is looking at modelling agencies to take her on and she hopes to become the face of plus-sized people in New Zealand and around the world.

"That's not what I entered Survivor for, but to show that no matter how you look, whether you are smaller or larger, you can be fit and healthy and you can compete [in challenges such as survivor] and in life.

"Now I want to be the face for plus-sized people everywhere, showing that you can achieve, that you can be fit and strong...and I proved that on Survivor."

Hannah said while she was gutted to have been eliminated from the competition, she had no regrets about entering and encouraged anybody thinking about doing such a challenge to give it a go.