If Shaun Hampson had his way, he and his supermodel fiancée Megan Gale and their two children would be living a much simpler lifestyle than they are now.
”I’ve told Megan and the kids before, if it was up to me, we’d be in a small shack in the middle of nowhere and camping every weekend,” the former AFL footballer tells TV WEEK.
”We’d be self-sufficient: solar panels, I’d have my woodworking equipment and build stuff all day, grow our own food…” Megan, however, is ”not exactly up for that”, he adds.
”She’ll need a bit of convincing, but I’m hoping I can get her across the line.”
At the tribe swap, Shaun, who started out as a Hero, ended up in the new Villains tribe.
(IMAGE: Ten)
That in mind, it’s no surprise to hear Shaun jumped at the chance to return to Australian Survivor, after first playing in 2019’s Champions V Contenders.
”If I could, I’d do it every year,” he says.
”There are absolutely some really tough aspects to it, like being away from the family, but the starvation, sleeping in the dirt – I actually really like it. And the gameplay, I love it.”
The sportsman had a strategy for staying strong as the game went on.
(IMAGE: Ten)To prepare for Survivor this time around, Shaun took the advice of last season’s winner Mark Wales to make sure he was ”really heavy” before filming started. That way, he knew he’d keep feeling good as the weeks went on.
”You’re hitting your usual weight, while everyone who goes in really lean is starving,” he points out.
The 34-year-old put on an extra five or six kilograms for Heroes V Villains, which he says was ”easy”.
”All I did was a lot of strength work in the gym, and then just ate like a pig for about two or three months,” he says.
Shaun confers with Hayley Leake, who won Brains vs Brawns in 2021.
(IMAGE: Ten)Another way Shaun prepared for Survivor was by talking strategy with Megan.
”Constantly, just out of the blue, she’d come up with, ‘Hey, if this happens, you’ve got to make sure of this,’ and I’d either disagree or agree,” he says.
”What she helped with most was clothing. She was really great with trying to prepare me to make sure I was as warm as possible.”
As for Shaun’s children – River, eight, and Rosie, five – they’re keen to sit on the couch and watch him on the show.
Shaun and Megan with their kids River and Rosie.
(IMAGE: Ten)”While I’m on the screen, Rosie will be like, ‘Oh, it’s Dada!’ and then go back to playing with dolls or whatever. But my little fella is really enjoying watching it, and it’s made it even more worthwhile this time.”
Shaun is now trying to talk Megan into going on Survivor, even though she says she couldn’t leave the kids.
”I’ll say, ‘I’ll look after them. You go and do it because you’ll be awesome,'” he says. “She’s so charming. Just on her charm alone she’d get so far.”
