Sole ‘Survivor’ wants to do good
No regrets for winning castaway
The sixth season of Survivor SA may have come to an end but it is only the beginning for sole survivor Tom Swartz, who has a string of goals after his win.
Swartz, 41, the Port Elizabeth Pine Lodge Resort adventure manager, said he was up for any challenge and was looking forward to using his platform for good.
“We have a saying in my family that ‘I did not come this far to only come this far’.
“I am very excited about the future for my family and I can’t wait to use my platform to mentor some young kids in an extremely difficult world.”
Swartz walked away with R1m after Thursday’s finale, a result which he believes surprised him more than anyone else as he was among the most disliked castaways on the show.
Not only was Swartz disliked by fellow contestants but he was often labelled annoying by viewers on social media.
While the show was filmed earlier this year in the Philippines, the second segment of the two-hour finale was filmed live at Silverline Studios in Cape Town, where Swartz found out for the first time that he had won the competition.
“I had no idea I had won. The first time I found out that I had R1m was [on Thursday] night. I thought that because I had irritated the jury that much, I wasn’t going to win.
“I was probably more surprised than the viewers because you guys watched an edited version of tribal council while I lived through the full length, and I thought there was no way I was going to win.”
When Swartz applied for the competition, winning was a less pressing motivation than proving his ability to survive on an island, a childhood dream.
However, managing to get as far as “merge” in the competition inspired hope and belief that he could actually win.
“I wanted that opportunity to be a castaway on the greatest show on Earth and just before merge, I thought to myself that I had proved whatever I wanted to prove so I decided it was time to realign my focus and aim to win this thing.”
At most, the castaways went without food for about five days – a significant contribution to Swartz’s 16.5kg weight loss while shooting the 39 episodes on the island.Despite the clashes on the island, Swartz said he would keep in contact with some of the other castaways.
He said he bore no grudges, even after having watched people he considered friends plot against him.
“It hurt to watch people I thought had my back say things about me ... but you have to take the emotion out of it and realise this is a game.”
Though he beat himself up about breaking his promise of allegiance to fellow contestant Werner by voting him out, Swartz believes he is still a man of honour and integrity.
“I feel less bad about it now. It’s still not a nice thing to do, but I look at R1m in my bank account and the title of sole survivor and realise I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t done that.”
Among his plans is buying a home for his family.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
FREE TO READ | Just register if you’re new, or sign in.
Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@heraldlive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.