Applying for Australian Ninja Warrior was a no-brainer for Janet Smith.
The 37-year-old loves a challenge and her three daughters encouraged her to apply for the competition after falling in love with the American version of the show.
“We would watch the US version and they would always say ‘if this ever came to Australia mum you’ve got to do, you just must do it’. So I guess I really couldn’t escape it,” Janet laughs.
The mother-of-three from WA abruptly swapped careers from finance to health and fitness following a life changing tragedy 12 years ago.
Janet suffered a terrible loss when her first daughter was delivered stillborn. She describes the experience as her “epiphany moment”.
“I was young, I was only [in my] mid-twenties and you’re living in your own little bubble I guess and after that all happened it just seemed to be one of those things that just changes your direction, it just changes your outlook,” Janet tells TV WEEK.
The event changed Janet’s life forever and she made the decision to follow her passion into the fitness industry.
Janet flying high in Australian Ninja Warrior.
“I just didn’t want to sit behind a desk for the rest of my life, just doing the mundane things and I thought life’s too short, let’s do what you want to do,” she says.
Before the loss of her daughter, Janet had let her love of a healthy lifestyle fall by the wayside.
She describes her late teens and early twenties as a time of indulgence.
“When you’re finding yourself, you go into a little bit of an unhealthy lifestyle of extra drinking and the partying ways that most [people] seem to do,” Janet says.
Over 12 years on, Janet has three daughters – aged 11, nine and six – who have inherited her love of exercise but she still thanks her “darling girl everyday” for guiding her into the career of her dreams.
