After weeks of fighting the elements and one another Survivor SA: Santa Carolina’s contestants are down to the final two. It’s the battle of the blondes as TV presenter Ashley Hayden and strip-club owner GiGi square up for the R1-million prize money. How do they measure up to each other? We give you the lowdown and leave you to make up your mind about who will pocket the R500 000 cash and donate R500 000 to their favourite charity
ASHLEY HAYDEN (42)
Famous for: being the glamorous face of M-Net continuity for many years and one of the country’s first big-name celebs. She will have a short stint as 7de Laan’s Diana later this month.
Charity: The Homestead in Cape Town, which provides food, clothes and shelter for homeless children. “As a parent the idea of my kids going through any kind of hardship is unbearable,” Ashley says. “R500 000 will literally save lives.”
Controversial because: she’s Survivor’s sneaky snake. Ash schemed her way to the top and in doing so provided much of the drama in Survivor SA’s third season. “People think I’m a conniving, backstabbing bitch,” she says. “But it was hard to make those decisions.”
Why M-Net chose her: A highly placed source at the station says they knew she’d be perfect to be a contestant because she’d be “in it to win”. She was one of the channel’s first choices.
GIGI (42)
Famous for: Co-owning strip club Lollipop Lounge. She’s a former exotic dancer and occasional actress.
Charity: Hospice Houghton in Johannesburg which cares for the terminally ill and provides counselling for their loved ones.
Controversial because: of her job! “There are tannies out there who don’t like me because they don’t understand what I do. If those tannies can say, ‘I like GiGi’ I did the right thing.”
Why M-Net chose her: GiGi was Survivor’s wildcard - a seductive stripper who could have been a temptation to some contestants.
Read the full article in the YOU of 22 April 2010