Sally Foord with her beloved late brother Jackson “Jacko” Foord, who tragically died by suicide in 2020. Photos: Sally Foord.
Wollongong’s Sally Foord is set to show the nation what Illawarriors are made of as she pushes herself “to the absolute limit, and then a bit further”, on the latest season of Survivor Australia.
A self-described Survivor superfan, Sally is hoping her years of binge-watching the show will help her in the jungle. But more than that, this is personal.
She used to watch the series with her younger brother, Jackson “Jacko” Foord, and now competes in his memory.
“It feels like yesterday we were wagging school, dragging a mattress from our bedroom into the lounge room and binge-watching it in our school uniforms,” she says. “When mum got home, we’d race to drag the mattress back and pretend we’d just gotten home.”
Sally was only 31 when, at the height of COVID, she tragically lost her then 27-year-old brother to suicide.
One night last year, while watching Survivor, Sally told her partner Cal, who was one of Jacko’s best buds, about their shared passion for the show.
Cal told her to apply.
“He said, ‘You’d probably get in’, and I said ‘I would, wouldn’t I?”
“I must have meant it because I did apply. But when do you ever seriously think to yourself, ‘My wildest dream will come true’? You hope and try to manifest, but it was a pipe dream that turned into a reality.
“I really wanted to do it for my family, myself, anyone struggling with their mental health and for Jacko. Having him as my guardian angel is what gave me the strength to go for it.
“This one’s for you, Jacko.”
The 12th season, Australian Survivor: Redemption, marks a new era for the show, featuring 24 new and returning castaways in Samoa, hosted by former winner David Genat.
Every player has something to prove or rectify. Among them is a source of inspiration for Sally — Brooke Emily Jowett, a contestant from Australian Survivor 2016 and Australian Survivor: All Stars, and one of Jacko’s all-time favourite players.
“Playing alongside her was pretty unreal. It brings back all these memories of Jacko jumping up and screaming ‘Go Brooke!’ at the screen,” she says.
“For my part, I’m in it to redeem the Foord family name, and change our narrative from victimhood to victory.”
Sally, a Jill of all trades and a familiar face at Finbox in Thirroul and the Cactus Talk Nursery in Bulli where she works, did plenty of prep, including upping her ante as a seasoned yogi.
“You can’t hold a balance pose without being self-aware, present and grounded in the moment,” she says.
She also completed a wide range of daily puzzles to challenge her cognitive and mental acuities, and took a somewhat unorthodox approach to prepping for the social aspects.
“Survivor is a physical challenge, a mental challenge but more than anything, it is a social challenge. So I asked the people who knew me best to tell me the most annoying things about me, what I am not aware of about myself, what might get me into trouble out there. It was confronting,” she laughs.
“I also went back and watched every season, and analysed the game. What to do when you find an idol, how the tribe swap works, how a merge works, and how game play changes with those shifts. I know from watching, those transitions can trip a contestant up.
“I did a lot of strength training as well. It’s not my favourite, but I knew it was important. When I got to the point I wanted to quit, I told myself ‘You need to treat this as though it’s an actual Survivor challenge.”
Whether it paid off remains to be seen, and Sally says viewers are in for one heck of a season.
“All I can say is, as a superfan, I’ve seen some good challenges over the past 11 seasons of Survivor Australia and the US show, but the challenges this season were the most awe-inspiring I have seen,” she says.
Stream Australian Survivor: Redemption now on Channel 10.
If this story has raised any issues for you, you can call Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis support line on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, Kids Helpline 1800 551 800 or MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978.
