‘On top of the world’: Welsh contestant’s reflections on ‘The Summit’ victory

Caitlin Thomas

After weeks of challenges, big decisions and life-changing experiences, one Welsh contestant has reached the peak of ITV’s ‘The Summit’ in New Zealand – and has come out on top.

Colleen O’Leary from Port Talbot took part in the show and said that when she finally reached the top the feeling was overwhelming: “At that point I was just like get me home.

“It was amazing… I couldn’t believe I’d made it, I couldn’t believe I’d hung on as long as I did and we had actually summitted. I was just like wow, this is going to completely change my world.”

For Colleen, winning alongside two of her fellow contestants was about more than just reaching the summit and taking home a third of the prize pot. It marked the end of an important personal journey marked by resilience and rediscovery.

But it took a little while for the scale of her achievement to sink in.

She explained: “To be honest, it has taken until now to sort of process everything, because we have had to keep everything to ourselves.

“We had half the prize money a few months ago, I have paid off all my bills, all my debts and that was an amazing moment.

“What this has done for me and my family is absolutely outstanding in how it has changed my life.”

“We got off the mountain, we went back to the hotel, we spoke to our families and it was just like ‘I did it. I did it’ and they were all saying ‘of course you did it’ and I was like no you don’t understand what I’ve been through.’

Carrying an injury

Colleen has watched the series back with her friends and family which has helped to bring back the memories of the experience into sharp focus.

“I can remember the feeling of everything,” she said.

She also discussed the physical toll that the competition took on her: “I remember the pain of the rope in one of the challenges, my arm pain was just horrific.

“On the helicopter race I ripped my meniscus in my knee. So I continued the journey with a torn meniscus, and the pain was absolutely horrendous, my leg was like a balloon, it was just terrible.”

But despite carrying an injury, Colleen told no one: “I wasn’t going to let anybody else know because there was no way I was going to let them see me as the weak one now. But I was. I was in so much pain.”

This was the determination that she used to go into the final challenge of the show, despite carrying an injury.

She said: “Crossing over the ice crevasses, in the final episode, because of my knee, I had no stability in my knee, due to the tear, I had to be so careful of where I placed my foot because my knee would just give way.

“I didn’t want to drop, and I didn’t want to fail. That was the hardest and the most painful part and I remember, as soon as I got across I just thought ‘I want to go home now’ I was in absolute agony.”

Friends made for life

As well as the more physical side of the challenge, Colleen found the social aspect of the show just as challenging.

“Getting on with other people and managing the people was the hardest for me,” she admitted.

But as well as some tensions, the experience also created lasting friendships: “I have made so many good friends.

“Sean was my buddy and we laughed so much. Tara – I know I had to vote her out at the helicopter, but she is coming with her sister to stay with me at the beginning of next month and Drew is coming the week after.

“Jenny will always be very dear to me. Warren has such a good outlook on life and is just wonderful. Joel has a very similar mindset to me, athletic mindset.”

When asked how her life had changed as a result of the show, Colleen said that it had changed “hugely” that it was her sense of self that had changed the most: “I had lost myself, who I was. I had no self-worth and I had so much before.

“I did such good work in the community and I love giving back, but I became so insular because bit by bit I lost myself, my job, my home, the gym, my self-respect.

“But I have completely renounced everything and am completely on top of the world right now and everything is going so well.

“I’ve got some brilliant people around me…but I have found myself in a happier place.”

One message that Colleen would give herself if she was to do a similar experience again is this: “You got this. I shouldn’t have doubted myself. When we originally got cast for this…I had no idea about anything.

“I was just a middle-aged woman from Port-Talbot who thought that she had the inner strength to do it when it came down to it.

“It has opened up my mind and my life and I am so happy.”

The final episode of ITV’s ‘The Summit’ aired on Tuesday 17 January at 9pm, and can be watched at any time on ITV X.