03 November 2023 , 20:01
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Fearless Pegleg Bennett insists walking with a prosthetic limb has not held him back on new BBC reality show Survivor
The 54-year-old surfer changed his name by deed poll to Pegleg and went into the reality series as the oldest contestant, but has proved his worth in the opening episodes and competes again this weekend to try to win the £100,000 prize.
He said: "I wanted to be pushed physically, mentally and emotionally. I wanted to see if I had what it takes to be the sole survivor. I wanted to go up against younger contestants to push my own boundaries. £100,000 in the mix was a massive draw as well, that's a massive chunk of money towards my dream of a log cabin overlooking the beach. Running on sand was definitely a challenge for me with a prosthetic leg but I was determined not to hold my tribe back. As a 54-year-old amputee, it was always going to be a challenge but I upped my game and brought it to every shift.
Pegleg has opened up about his time on BBC's Survivor (instapegleg/Instagram)
He became the oldest contestant on the show (BBC/Remarkable)"I think assumptions were made from the start because of my leg (or lack of) and my age. I knew from the start I would have to prove myself a valuable member of Le Nena and make early alliances to protect myself from being the first voted out. By the time we had won the first three challenges I had done that and then some."
Survivor, which kicked off last weekend with a peak audience of 6.2 million, sees two tribes try to win their own food, build their own shelter from scratch and compete against each other in epic challenges for reward or immunity. Those who win immunity are safe from being voted out of the game at the iconic Tribal Council but one contestant is voted out each week. Pegleg, from St Agnes, is one of 18 candidates who took part in the show filmed in the Dominican Republic earlier this Summer.
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On his name change, he said: "Locally and in the surf world I had answered to the nickname Pegleg for years and was comfortable with it. Then a couple of things happened pretty close to each other. The first was someone reported me to Facebook for not using my real name and I wasn't happy about it. The second was when I was training for the 2016 London Marathon. I ran past the local surf shop and a friend was in the doorway, he shouted out 'Morning Pegleg' after I responded and had run past a complete stranger who took it on herself to have a go at him and tell him how rude, disrespectful and how out of order it was. He tried to explain that I call myself it but she wouldn't listen. After he told me I went straight online and did the deed poll name change."
Asked if the show had changed him, he added: "I'm too old to change. I'm still up checking the surf at daybreak, still training, still living my life in the ocean, still loving my family. I'm getting loads of support from the village and everyone is being super positive about the show and my performance."
Survivor continues this weekend on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer