Survivor JT splits!
Survivor’ s tough exit
It wasn’t the brutal tropical climate, desperate hunger or game-ending health scare that challenged
SurvivorNZ contestant Jeremy Muirhead the most – it was not being able to share his Thailand experience with his wife Sophia.
Jeremy, aka JT, a public favourite due to his quirky humour and super-cunning calculations, says his hairdresser wife was never far from his thoughts as he roughed it on the Chani team for season two of the TVNZ 2 reality show.
“Sophia’s a big fan of the show, so it was hard not being able to give her a call to brag about something I knew she’d approve of!” the 32-year-old tells Woman’sDay. “One of the things we enjoyed doing most when we first got together was watching Survivor.”
Sophia, 29, who was introduced to JT through his cousin, moved from London to New Zealand three-and-a-half years ago to be with her beau. “We’d only known each other six months when JT had to leave,” she says. “I made the call to move over and it paid off!”
While JT was away in Northern Thailand’s Sangkhla Buri, Manchesterborn Sophia kept positive. “He was living a dream for both of us and as hard as it was with him being away, I was excited for him. I’m still so proud!”
But Sophia was also the voice of reason when selfdescribed “cantankerous nerd” JT surprised viewers and fellow castaways by volunteering to leave in episode seven because of a serious bacterial infection that needed hospital treatment in both Thailand and NZ.
“I had a deal with Sophia going into the game about taking no risks health-wise and always remembering what Survivor is – a game on TV,” says JT, who took a few weeks to come right upon his return. “I wasn’t getting any better and there were some risks associated with leaving it untreated. It was a hard decision in the sense that it’s dream-crushing, but in the end, Survivor is not my life.”
Sophia adds, “He had too much at home to risk being there an extra week or two with an illness. I was so glad g he returned because use when I saw him, he was totally tally not himself.”
JT tells, “A lot ot of my plan was more focused used around the second half of the game, so it was a frustrating ating time to leave. Survivor r is something that I’ve wanted ed to do for 18 years, s, but I had to keep things hings in perspective.” .”
The couple – who married last year ear in a laid-back lawn ceremony with h rugs, cushions and a pizza truck – will spend end the rest of the year ar planning trips around the he globe. But they insist, t, “This time it’ll it ll be together!” togetheer!”