The filming of Sunday night's finale of TV4's survival soap opera was a long ordeal - over nine hours of filming time in Caramoan in the Philippines.
28-year-old Sonja Rudqvist competed for the "Robinson" statuette and prize money against Iki Gonzalez Magnusson and Caroline Järgren, and felt in the final phase of the finale that she was about to take home the whole competition.
"I actually enjoyed it to the fullest because it was so much fun. That's when I felt, 'Now I'm taking this home,'" she says.
The right mindset
During recorded interviews before the final, Rudqvist's self-confidence grew:
"As they were re-rigging the cameras, I asked the feature producer how it felt to interview this year's "Robinson" winner. They were completely stunned because the final was not decided - but if you have the right "mindset" you can go a long way," she says.
Many "Robinson" participants have suffered from severe homesickness, lack of food and being let down by their fellow competitors over the years. But when other participants sometimes rated high on a scale of 1-10 how much they wanted to pack their bags and go home, Sonja Rudqvist always stayed at zero.
"This is the absolute best thing I've ever done in my entire life. It was so much fun. There are so many people who think "Robinson" is the worst thing they've ever done, with hunger and homesickness - but not me! I enjoyed every second of it," she says.
The title carries the most weight
Keeping the victory a secret until the final episode aired has been difficult – but also fun, she says:
"You've gone to work and sat next to colleagues who had no idea they were sitting next to the "Robinson" winner. It's been a bit funny, actually."
The prize money, half a million kronor, will go towards a new home. But it's not the prize pool that weighs most heavily for Sonja Rudqvist:
"It's a great bonus that I'm super grateful for, but for me it's the title that's the absolute heaviest thing. I'll always be able to say that I won "Robinson" and that I have the statuette. No one can take that away from me."
Age: 28.
Lives: Karlstad.
Occupation: Broker.
Current: Winner of "Robinson" on TV4.
