They say it never rains, but it pours.
And for Australian Survivor star Lee Carseldine, the past 12 months has been a drenching.
In February 2019, he split from partner, and fellow Australian Survivor contestant, El Rowland.
Then, in September, Lee’s mother Elizabeth had a stroke and passed away.
“It was the worst year of my life”, the 44-year-old former professional cricketer tells TV WEEK.
“Sometimes you get thrown curve balls, and life threw a lot of them at me last year.”
Lee pictured with his former partner, El Rowland.
(Credit: Instagram)Lee and El’s break-up surprised fans, who had followed their relationship since the pair fell in love in season one in 2016.
“We met in the weirdest of circumstances,” Lee reflects.
“That first season will always be special to me – meeting El and spending every day with her.
“I’ll remember the best parts of our relationship; we travelled and did charity work and just tried to navigate the real world together.”
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Lee with his late mother.
(Credit: Instagram)Ultimately, the pressure proved too much and El has since moved on, tying the knot in December.
“We don’t talk [anymore], but we’ve both always wanted the best for each other and I’m so happy she’s found that now,” Lee says.
WATCH BELOW: Survivor power couple Lee and El’s love story. Story continues after video
While signing up to a demanding reality show like Survivor: All Stars might seem like a misstep after a tough year, for Lee it proved the perfect distraction.
“It allowed me to switch off from the problems I’d been having in the real world,” he says.
“I also wanted to see how I would survive without El. It became a kind of closure for me; to do it again – on my own.”
