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Model doctor on Survivor?
06/06/2006 08:04 - (SA)
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| Archers Aqua hottie. (Die Burger) |
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Lucille Botha , Die Burger
Cape Town - Could the Archers Aqua man, doctor Gareth Tjasink, 26, be one of the contestants on Survivor South Africa: Panama?
Word is the blonde doctor, who studied at the University of Cape Town and who's working at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, is one of the 14 contestants taking part in the island reality series.
Tjasink, who is also appearing in M-Net soap Egoli, apparently entered the competition and is one of the contestants who left at the weekend to take part in this energy-sapping TV programme.
His voicemail on his cellphone says he will be unavailable for quite a while.
A spokesperson for M-Net says no information about contestants will be confirmed.
The Baragwanath Hospital also refuses to say anything about the star on their medical team.
A spokesperson for Marcus Brewster Publicity in Cape Town, which handles Tjasink's publicity, says he is unaware that Tjasink is one of the chosen 14.
A colleague of Tjasink at Baragwanath has told Die Burger that Tjasink ended his internship for the time being and has arranged with the personnel department to start working again at the end of the year. Tjasink also told her that he had entered the reality series.
The 14 competitors left Johannesburg on Sunday and landed in Panama after a long flight on Monday evening.
Only a select few know who the contestants are. Contestants were allowed to tell only those closest to them where they would be disappearing to for a month.
All 14 signed confidentiality agreements, which keep their identities secret for now.
M-Net publicity manager Lani Lombard says keeping the 14 contestants' identities under wraps is a vital part of the Survivor format.
"It's very difficult to keep a secret as big as the fact that you've been chosen as a Survivor South Africa contestant, but it's vital for the success of the show.
"Events that transpire on the island during and after the competition are also protected by the agreements they signed, which penalise them heavily should they not comply - all in the name of making Survivor South Africa the biggest show of the year!" she says.
According to Trevor Crighton, M-Net's head of local productions, the group comprise men and women with "different personalities from all over the country".
The competitors were chosen from about 18 000 entries after undergoing taxing tests.
They saw one another briefly before departure from the airport on Sunday, but contestants were not allowed to talk to each other during the flight.
Crighton says there were people accompanying them on the flight to ensure that they stick to the rules. "All interaction has to take place in front of the cameras on the island. I saw the competitors and they're going to make a wonderful programme."
Filming will start as soon as they arrive on the island.
The show is set to premiere on M-Net on September 3 at 18:00.
On the net:
www.mnet.co.za/
- Die Burger
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