Almost Famous: Survivor`s Kelly Wiglesworth

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The naked guy r-nay have wcn the rnillicn on the original Survlvor
series but Kelly, the river guide, wcn the hearts cf the nnillicns of
viewers Kerrie-Lee Brcwn talked tc the islanC girl tc find cut if far-ne
has spciled heryet - and if the Survlvcrstarvatlon diet is all that lts
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nless you were visiting another planet last year, you
must be familiar with the Survivor television show, and
the woman, Kelly Wiglesworth, who outlasted every-
one except Richard. Thirty-eight million television viewers
witnessed the then 23-year-old river rafting guide outwit and outplay all but one of the 15 castaways, Kelly may not have won the
million dollar grand prize, but there have siill been rewards-aplenty for the outdoor adventuress. Of course, fame has its price.
life before survivor
"Wiggles" had no choice but to learn survival skills as a young girl
if she planned to keep up with her two older sisters. "We grew up
outside
running, catching bugs and fireflies, and making mud pies, We
in the country and had the run of the land. We were always
were definitely not indoor types." Kelly may have entered the
University of Nevada majoring in dance performance, but a broken
ankle changed everything. The country girl ended up working for
the university as an outdoor adventure guide, facilitating snowboarding, rafting, canoeing, backpacking, horseback riding and
many other activities for student organizations.
ln 1999, Kelly's mom ran across an ad for a new reality-based
television show
- Suryiyor. Kelly felt confident
she had the goods.
After all, she had just completed a21-day rafting trip through the
Grand Canyon, and graduated from guide school at White Water
Voyages on the American River. How tough could a TV show be?
We all know the answer to that. lt was tough
-
real tough. The
cast had to survive on little food while combatting biting insects
and outmaneuvering allies who switched allegiances more frequently than they changed shorts. Of course, there were physical
challenges, too
-
feats of strength, speed and determination that
totally robbed the islanders of what little energy they had
in
reserve. Yet, Kelly made it right to the end. Was it worth it? Good
question, considering the ups and downs Kelly has experienced
-
including on the weigh scale,
life after survivor
By the end of the six-week show, Kelly was rail thin. "My body
went through hell on the island
- from one
extreme to the other,"
Kelly claims. Before her island adventure, she weighed between
'I
35 and 140 pounds
-
a comfortable weight, During Survivor,
Kelly's starvation diet dropped her to 125 pounds, in probably the
most unhealthy way possible. When she reached the mainland following the show, her weight sunk even further, to 120 pounds. Her
body was malnourished and fighting off a parasite.
Once back on American soil, eating the usual fare, her weight
crept back up to 1 35 pounds - and kept on going, peaking at 1 54!
Kelly decided she better do something about her post-Survivor
pudge. "My body has gone through such a crazy cycle over the
past year. My priority now is to gain lean muscle, tone my flab and
feel good about myself again."
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training facjlity. I would love to do
that and a haye a few fitness videos
going and books in the works - tlings
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food, deal with the
people you're with, and go to challenges.
You faced some nasty challenges Down
Under. At one point, weren't you standing
Not even for a million dollars would I do that
again. I came down off that pole, and one
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all of that, you had to find
on a pole in a swamp for 10 hours?
Ten hours, I 7 minutes and 55 seconds.
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heat; never any relief from the cold; never
any relief from the rain. lt was so cold at
night that we couldn't sleep. And on top of
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OXYGEN: According to Jerri, you got
the boot from the show because you
e Valkyries-
intimidated everybody.
ALICIA: I come across that a lot. I think
the muscular vuoman
For her men.
maybe the women were [intimidated], and
that's just normal. But I didn't think that the
men were
-
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M, L, XL....$15.00 ectch
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right up to me and said, "You're my biggest
competition here." He was challenging me
right from day one. At that point I realized,
"there are three guys on my tribe standing
behind me, and he's still picking me out as
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the one that he wants to go up against."
So, I knew lwas in trouble.
Were you tempted
to tone it
shi( (U.S. tinds only)
AIL T-shirts have
"A Hard Woman is
Cood to Find" on the back
Made in the U.S.A.
Distributor inquiries welcome
down
physically to blend in?
That never even crossed my mind. I pride
myself on my strength. The only strong part
of me I wanted to tone down was mentally,
because
I am very
intense. I'm either
intensely happy or intensely sad or mad, you
of the first people I saw was Mark Burnett
[executive producer], and I started cussing
him out: "What the hell's wrong with you
know? There's no in-between for me. I knew
making us stand up there!?" He thought it
if I was a really strong competitor, that my
own tribe would never vote me off because
was the funniest thing.
they'd need me. But things happened that
were out of my control
-
Mike getting hurt;
Kucha [Alicia's tribe] losing the advantage;
Jeff getting voted off. That's what did me in.
That is a serious test of your mental
endurance. lt started to get really cold,
and my body began to tense up, That's
when I started to fade. lt got real dark and
it was windy. You could hear things swimming around the poles. And the only way
What's the toughest pan of surviving in
the outback?
to get down off the poles is to get in the
think the hardest part was probably braving the elements: never any relief from the
[the host] rowed out to me and said,
I
water or get in the boat. When Jeff Probst
"Listen, l'll give [continued on page 192]
VIXEN HILL EARM,
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PHOENXVILLE, PA 19460
(610) 827-tts0
FAX (610) 286-2099
www.thevalkyries.com
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For help, she turned to Steve Zim, owner of A Tighter U Fitness
Kelly, and co-host Art Mann, take celebrities on adventure
Studio (www.atighteru.com) in Culver City, Calif., and creator of a
vacations to exotic locations around the world. The hosts, and
their eight-man crew, tape three episodes in a row, moving to new
locations every week. What Kelly is particularly loving about her
diet and weight training program called Hot Point Fitness. "He's put
me on an intense five-day workout regimen, consisting of cardio as
a
new role is the fact that she's not expected to act. "l'm supposed
"lt's tough, but worth it. Even though l've never worked out with
to be myself and have fun on my adventures with celebrities. What
more could I ask for? lt's a dream job! lt'll be an entertaining pro-
warmup [usually the treadmill and bike], then weight training two
or three bodyparts each day, for two-hour sessions, " explains Kelly.
weights before, lfind my body is responding quickly."
The program focuses on mental training as well as physical.
"The first part of achieving your physical goals is actually mental,"
gram for a very large audience."
The episodes already filmed feature Michael Rappaport in
Belize, Wendy Mow in Arizona and Rachel Hunter in Costa Rica.
explains Steve Zim. "Kelly's morale and overall self-image were very
Next, Kelly is scheduled to take David Spade to Egypt and Jackie
low after she came back from the island, so l'm helping with that first
Chan to China. "Unfortunately, most celebrities can only book at the
and foremost, She's finally starting to feel good about herself again,
last minute because of their busy schedules," says Kelly. Which
stars can you expect to see on future shows? "We want people
which will help her achieve her physical goals more quickly. Once
you grasp the mental aspect of life, everything
else falls into place."
ln three weeks, Kelly dropped 10,pounds
and started noticing changes in her body and
attitude. "l've built muscle I never knew I had
before and finally feel in control of my body. lt
was difficult to keep the weight off when I got
back from the island, because my body craved
food so much and stored it in massive amounts.
My immune system was totally out of whack
with the starvation, exhaustion and parasite
draining me. But Steve's helped me develop my
self-confidence and self-esteem again. lwas so
drained mentally, emotionally and physically
after the island that I needed a boost. Now l'm
ready for my next big challenge."
life beyond survivor
Kelly became an instant celebrity following her stint on the show.
She made numerous radio, television and print appearances, and
was even nominated 'for Cosmopolitan magazine's Fun Fearless
Female of the Year Award, as the "Kick-Ass Castaway. "
Her newfound fame didn't prevent her from resuming her "normal" life, however. Kelly went back to work as a certified swift
water rescue guide on the Kern River in California. "My boss, Bill,
honestly believes that he's changing the world with rafting. l'm a lot
more outgoing and confident in my guiding skills since he took me
on. He says. whenever l'm home I can help guide." As it turns out,
her outdoorsy skills
- atong with her take-no-prisoners
attitude
-
caught the attention of producers at E! Entertainment. They invited
Kelly to go to France to surf with Kelly Slater and Dave Koloma at
the QuickSilver Masters Competition last September. "Can you
believe I was the celebrity for that segment? We had a blast." The
big-wigs had an alterior motive for the trip. They wanted to try out
Kelly's adventure skills and test her in front of the camera. Liking
what they saw, they chose the survivor to co-host a new TV show,
titled
C el eb
rity Adv e ntu res.
78 oxyoeNvec.cov
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who are for the most part low_mainienance,
adventurous and outgoing,,, Kelly
says,
"They cannot be afraid of
heights, and
shouldn't mind sleeping under the
stars.
Being physically fit is not a necessity,
but it
is a bonus when our adventures
include
biking, camping, hiking, rock ctimbing,
swimming, parasailing and even
skydiving.,,
Celebrity Adventures will premier
this
fall, with an episode every night
for seven
days, before it switches over to
its regular
weekly format. The first 15 programs
should be fun to watch. ,,Art and
I have a
great dynamic,,, Kelly claims.
lt sounds like
they're opposites, but it seems
to work.
"We complement each other.
He,s great
with celebrities - making them feel
fortable
-
com_
and he,s great on camera, l,m the
fearless one.,, According to
Kelly, Art is
extremely claustrophobic and prone
is
to
sea
sickness. While in France, Art
stayed on
the beach making conversation
while Keily
went surfing, She loves the adventure
and
hopes to bungee jump off the
Great Wall of
China when they visit that country,
The
show totally suits her style. ,,Not
having a
script or specific agenda on the
show is
great
fun. We're never at a loss for
words.,,
No big surprise for a woman
who considers
herself creative, confident and
definitely
outgoing.
While Kelly,s obviously thrilled
with her
television success, the accomplishment
she's still most proud of is navigating
her
own boat through the Grand Canyon _
a
21-day excursion that truly put
her to the
test. (She also likes to impress people
by
touching her tongue
to her nose.) This
castaway is certainly no publicity
hound.
She remembers from whence she
came,
and is determined to keep her
feet planted
solidly on the ground
-
or in a river raft,
"Life has changed for
me, but I like
:hat fame hasn,t really changed
me,,,says
(elly. "l'm not into the
fact thai some
teople want to pay more money
to have
ne as a guide, either. There
are plenty of
rther guides at the company
who are
retter than me. I just want
people to
njoy rafting, and I want people
to know
rat there is so much more to me
than
eing on Survivor.El
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