When stories started appearing in the media about Australian Survivor: Titans v Rebels, Kirby got some surprised reactions from her castmates. That’s because when the series was being filmed in Samoa, she hadn’t mentioned she was a former professional netballer and AFLW star.
“Charles sent me a WhatsApp, sent me the article with netball and footy and everything else,” Kirby tells TV WEEK with a laugh. “He goes, ‘I had no idea!’”
(Image: Supplied)
It was all part of Kirby’s strategy to not be seen as a threat – and, being “probably 12 kilos over my ideal playing weight”, she thought no-one would guess she had a sporting background.
“When I was peak fitness, I was probably sitting around 69, 70kg of lean muscle strength,” she explains.
The 37-year-old signed with Perth Orioles (now West Coast Fever) when she was 16. Years later, after a devastating loss in her family, she switched to football to get to know her sister Ashleigh better.
(Image: Supplied)
“In 2009, my mum’s sister was murdered – domestic violence,” Kirby says. “My middle sister and my younger sister, we’d all grown apart because I was so consumed in myself to play netball. Ashleigh was playing footy and I wanted to step into her world.”
As for Survivor, Kirby signed up for the show without ever really having watched it.
“I was at a stage in my life where I was pretty stagnant,” she says. “I went on purely for the challenge and to be able to see how strategic my mind is.”
Kirby’s game has been all about strategy. It’s the reason she’s kept the “high-energy” Kelli close.
“She’s a huge distraction,” she explains. “It was an advantage if I was making a move.”
Kirby also made a strategic decision to “go to war” with Feras, even though she connects with him.
“I’m an Aboriginal woman in Australia and he’s an Arab man in Australia – we have things we can relate to. But we’re also very, very aware that we’re playing this game and we’re going for half a million, so it was game on.”
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