Castaway Alara's island of dreams
She's competing for £70,000 prize on reality TV show
MEET Alara Gee, the stunning Leeds lass making waves tomorrow in the new series of reality TV show Shipwrecked.
The 23-year-old, from Scarcroft, enters the Channel 4 show during the opening episode and is the first of 20 'new arrivals' to decide which of two deserted islands to settle on.
The islands are already inhabited by two teams of five contestants – the Tigers and the Sharks – and Alara must spend three days with each team before deciding which to stay with for the remainder of the programme.
The team with the most contestants at the end of the weekly show wins a £70,000 prize.
Alara, who graduated from university last year with a degree in fashion marketing and PR, said: "It was an absolutely amazing experience, it was really tough but at the same time one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had.
"My parents were slightly sceptical at the beginning as they knew it would be one of the longest challenges I would ever have to face. However they knew it would be so beneficial in terms of life experience and were very proud."
The castaways have already returned from the two South Pacific islands where they have spent the last five months filming the show.
But Alara says she's not going to reveal who wins – and won't say whether she has reduced her staggering £30,000 student debt by taking home a share of the prize.
She added: "I missed some things about Leeds, like shopping and going out with my friends, but I wasn't that homesick. I knew I would be away for five months so I just set my mind to it, knowing everybody would be there for me when I got back."
Shipwrecked first aired in 1999 and made a star of TV presenter Jeff Brazier, who went on to date Big Brother's Jade Goody.
But Alara has no desire to follow in his footsteps – her next challenge, on UK soil, is to pass her driving test, which she has been putting off since she was 17.
She said: "I don't really want to be famous – I did Shipwrec
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