Australian Survivor's Peter shares just how bad the hygiene situation really got while in the jungle.

My biggest reservation about participating in Australian Survivor would have to be approximately everything.

You’re stranded in the jungle, everyone’s forming alliances, there are bugs, Jonathan LaPaglia is only there some of the time, and most importantly, there’s not even a KFC anywhere nearby.

Real disturbing conditions.

Because I, personally, could never willingly live in the jungle with other humans (who you’re not even allowed to ignore, because #strategy), I’m fascinated by those who can – and what their experience is like. So I spoke to Australian Survivor contestant Peter Conte about the reality of it all.

Was he terrified… always? How do you pass the time? And does everyone just… smell?

Listen to Clare Stephens’ interview with Survivor’s Peter on The Binge. Post continues after audio.

The 22-year-old has a severe peanut allergy, as well as other food allergies, and I needed to know how you navigate those issues in an environment you have no control over.

“Before you go in you do get a crash course in like, survival,” he said. “They’re like ‘don’t eat this… you will get sick’. So you kind of know what’s around in a very basic sense… but for the most part, it’s on the individual.”

There was, however, one scary experience. “I remember the Italian feast that I went on… I’m, like, deathly allergic to nuts and they had pesto pasta there, and I was like ‘alright guys, DON’T mix the utensils,’ but everyone was pretty good with that.”

Peter also said the challenges could be unsettling. “Some of the challenges freaked me out,” he said. “I was like ‘damn, someone could seriously get injured on these’.”

But the part that fascinated me the most was Peter's description of the smell. "OK, so my theory is that everyone just smells so bad that your nose just gets used to it and then you stop smelling people," he said. "But I'm assuming we all smelt horrible."

So I asked for more details (obviously), and discovered something... huge.

There. Are. No. TOOTHBRUSHES.

Or. TOOTHPASTE.

"In terms of brushing your teeth you don't get anything," he said. "Sometimes you can get charcoal from the fire and brush your teeth and your mouth just looks like an absolute disaster for a while and then you're like 'oh my teeth are slightly cleaner, I hope this did something, but I'm not really sure'."

"But yeah, no toothbrush, no hygiene, they don't really give you anything for hygiene, you just stink. It's not glamorous at all."

How about... how about soap?

"No soap, I wish there was soap. I think the only time anyone really got clean was that waterfall challenge... but for the most part, you just go in the salt water in the ocean, thinking, 'I'm hoping this is doing something', when really it's not."

And... I'm done.

These contestants all deserve to be millionaires.

You can listen to the full episode of The Binge, Mamamia's TV podcast, here. 

READ:

Peter Conte asked all his Australian Survivor cast mates for their thoughts on marriage equality.

‘Do female contestants have access to tampons?’ The reality behind Australian Survivor.

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