Tonight saw Charlie Robbins crowned the first ever Australian Ninja Warrior winner after tackling the famous obstacle course and going the furthest in the fastest time.
Here, the star, 20, opens up about his plans for the future – and reveals to TV WEEK whether he’ll be back to defend his crown next season…
Charlie Robbins is Australia’s first Ninja Warrior champion.
(Source: Nine Network)Congrats Charlie! How do you feel?
It’s pretty surreal. It won’t hit home for a while!
Did you ever imagine you’d be crowned the first Australian Ninja Warrior?
No, it didn’t cross my mind until it happened! Pretty much the whole way I had my money on Ashlin [Herbert]. As soon as Ashlin came off I was like, ‘Alright, Dan [Mason] is going to win it’. If Dan didn’t, I thought it’d be Bryson [Klein], or Josh [O’Sullivan] or Rob [Patterson]. Just everyone else – I thought I had no chance!
What was going through your mind in the lead up to your final run?
Not too much to be honest. It’s all a bit of a blur. Mentally you’re just trying to not get too far ahead of yourself. You just try to stay in the moment and focus on the obstacle you’re about to do.
Charlie tackles the Ninja course.
(Source: Nine Network)What are your plans for the prize money?
I’m going to Europe for a month – I leave Saturday – so I’ll use a little bit of it there. Then the rest I’ll probably just sit on it for a while, wait for the dust to settle and then I can think clearly about what’s going to happen because it’s all pretty exciting still at the moment. I don’t want to make any rash decisions.
How will you make sure you don’t spend it all?!
I’ll probably give it to my parents for a little bit and hope they don’t go buy anything! They’re a little more responsible than me.
Will you continue with your studies?
I did the first trimester of this year but it wasn’t working out too well for me, so I’ve taken a bit of a break at the moment. I’m still yet to sort out what I’m going to do with that. I’ve done a year and a bit but I’m taking a little bit of time off now.
What are your other options?
Ninja took priority over the golf a little bit and during university I ended up not playing as much golf as I would have liked, so I’ve gotten back into it a bit more and I’ll see how we go with that. I may look at a TAFE course or something in the same line as the uni course. I’m yet to figure it out.
Charlie Robbins celebrates his win with family.
(Source: Nine Network)Are you still single?
[laughs] Yes, I am!
Have you had had much female attention since starring on the show?
There have been a few Instagram messages. Just like, ‘Hey, what’s up. Wanna hang out?’ or ‘I wanna play some golf with you sometime’.
Has being on the show given you more confidence?
Not really. I’m still awkward as! It hasn’t changed that, I don’t think anything can change that.
Will you return next season to defend your crown?
I think I’ll give it another shot and go a bit further. I’ve put some pressure on myself now!
