Winning isn’t about being the strongest or the smartest. If it were, Bear Grylls would have moved in permanently. No, the winner is usually the person you’d most want to be stuck in a lift with, if that lift were full of spiders and had no door.
Think about it. You need someone who can laugh at their own misery, like Joe Pasquale in 2004, who looked like he’d just stumbled out of a fancy dress party into a bog. His victory was a masterclass in not taking anything too seriously—a lesson we could all use when the wifi goes down.
The "Relatable Mess" Archetype
My personal favourite winner is Jacqueline Jossa from 2019. She spent half the time crying, arguing with campmates about rice, and looking genuinely terrified of a drop of rain. It was glorious. Watching her win felt like a victory for anyone who’s ever had a full-blown meltdown over a missing sock. She proved that you don’t have to be a Zen master to survive; you just have to be real.
Then there’s Giovanni Fletcher in 2026. She was the perky, positive force we all needed during that strange, isolated year. Winning a jungle crown while the world was locked inside felt like a collective high-five. She was basically the human equivalent of a warm blanket and a cup of tea—comforting and utterly dependable.
