Stamina, sneaky deals and a side of luck is what it took for Sam Wallace to take out this season of Celebrity Treasure Island in last night's finale - winning $100,000 for Auckland's Starship Hospital.
The former Breakfast weather presenter turned radio personality returned to the Breakfast studio this morning, where he admitted of the reality TV series: "I never thought I stood a chance".
He made some friends on the show, but he became known for having some frenemies as well. He was the last man standing from team Kahu in the final three who entered the finale. Wallace competed alongside boxer Shane Cameron and rugby league great Gary Freeman.
After taking over the weather segment from Erin Conroy earlier on Breakfast, Wallace sat down with Hayley Holt and Matty McLean -who was earlier eliminated from the show - this time wearing a shirt, to discuss what went down on Treasure Island.
He described the treasure hunt in the last episode as "every 12-year-old's dream".
When asked if he had any apologies for how he played the game, Wallace said, "I have nothing to be apologetic about, I mean, I played competitively, I said some things and the internet came down upon me, but I think people started to understand the way I was playing the game.
"I can't hide my competitiveness and I don't think you should have to. I think being competitive is a strength and not a weakness."
However, he said it was hard being cut off from friends and family at home, then being "the kid at school that no one really liked" when teams Mako and Kahu merged to play as individuals.
"That for me was a lesson in empathy and it was a lesson in how much I appreciate my family and friends and my baby and everything like that. You know what, it's just a reality show but it's amazing the learnings you can take away from it."
Feeling tired and hungry, Wallace said hitting that final treasure was great.
"To hit that, it was just the greatest thing and it's not lost on me just how much luck was involved in me being there."
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