Lily McManus was struck ill and faced being deemed "medically unfit" to continue the show. Video / TVNZ
Tonight on Celebrity Treasure Island, reality star Lily McManus leaves camp due to illness.
It's not life-threatening like 15 years ago on the same show, when contestant Lana Coc-Kroft became very ill due to a coral cut.
But McManus is wiped out enough to majorly disrupt her already diminishing team Kahu.
A week out from flying to Fiji the former Bachelorette had a very bad flu, but she shook it off and went to the island thinking she was right as rain.
"Everything was fine on the island up until the morning of the water challenge. I woke up that morning super-sleepy and just low. I went into the challenge and the adrenalin of the win made me feel okay," McManus tells Spy.
Celebrity Treasure Island contestant Lily McManus. Photo / Supplied
"By the time the adrenalin wore off I started to notice that something a bit more serious was up. I wanted to ignore it, mind over matter, 'she'll be right' kind of mentality is my cure for everything. That only held up so long until my head started aching, then it spread to my neck, then my back, then down into my hips.
"That's when I really knew I was in for a pounding. A producer checked on me and that's when I think we all knew that I was in for a shambles; you'll have to wait and see how that works out for me."
After travelling since she last temporarily lived in Auckland for The Bachelor NZ, Aussie native McManus says she is now living in Auckland, but wouldn't tell us what she was up to.
TVNZ 2's The Bachelorette looks likely we reckon. The network loves her and a former runner-up from a previous season has usually taken the main role internationally in the franchise.
McManus, also famous for poking out her tongue, did however give advice for possible suitors on the show.
"The Bachelor for me was one of the weirdest and wildest experiences I've ever taken on board. It was never something I wanted to do. It was never something I voluntarily signed myself up for, but looking back at it now, I am still so glad I said yes.
"I learnt so much about what I want from a man and from myself in a relationship. I treasure the whole experience and if I could encourage someone like me who doesn't think that the show is a good idea and they take away even half of the good things from the experience that I did, then my work here is done."
Celebrity Treasure Island is the third reality show for McManus. The Bachelor NZ was followed by a stint in the United States on The Bachelor Winter Games and McManus has certainly come into her own.
"I think the thing I have learnt most from reality television is how to have a strong sense of self. I've always been very confident in who I am and what I have to offer. I'd rather be hated for who I am than hated for who I'm not.
"Judgment doesn't really bother me anymore because I'm quite content with the woman I am and the values I possess. My advice to my cast family goes beyond Fiji, I think after the show is when the help is most crucial. Not reading into too much is key."
The 22-year-old's favourite member of her Treasure Island family is veteran actress Jodie Rimmer. The pair have become firm friends and enjoy watching the show together and joking about pawpaws.
"She is amazing because she challenges what it is to be a woman, without having to be wholesome, conventional or boring. I love Jodie because, like her and many other women on the show, they're good role models, away from the usual stereotype."
Should McManus make it back to camp, we are sure Rimmer will take good care of her.
