by Thinus Ferreira
The year's first reality TV winner - and the winner of the first season of the bridge-building in the outback reality show on kykNET (DStv 144) - is Robert Kruger (35) who got to walk over it and decided to keep what was left of the R1 million prize money, telling me that "a thousand emotions coursed through my being".
I sat down with Rob to talk about his win, his time in the bungalow next to a lake, building a bridge and how the whole experience has changed him.
After 14 contestants built a bridge over 20 days at a lake near Swellendam, DStv subscribers on Thursday night watched as the former rugby player Robert Kruger from Midstream in Midrand was voted to be the remaining player to walk over the bridge in Die Brug to claim the treasure.
Of the money from the R1 million that was left, the married father of two - who has played for the Lions, Leopards, the Shining Arcs in Japan and had spent a season with the Toyota Shuttles - gave commercial diver William Walters R50 000 but said no to all of the other remaining contestants.
Since Rob won R50 000 in an earlier episode, it means his total prize money is R800 000 in Die Brug's first season.
But how was his time in the bungalow and how does he feel about his win? Now Rob shares how difficult it was to tell the other contestants that he won't be sharing the winnings with them and how the experience has changed him.
At the start, you said to the camera that you have faith that at the end of this, there awaits a new version of yourself that will be a deeper person.
I would definitely say I'm living in the moment more. Life can be so rushed. I'm spending more time with my kids. I'm trying to be more in the moment.
Before the vote on who gets to walk over the bridge to the treasure, you became emotional when William motivated why he should be the one. Why were you so touched?
William made me think of myself a lot through what he said and did.
He was quite quiet and just did the work. I developed a soft spot for him as he started to open up about his life. When he said why he needed the money it became clear to me that he was someone who would get my vote.
He spoke so beautifully and it gave me clarity that he deserved to get the prize money.
What did you think about when you walked over the wooden bridge you all had built to the middle of the lake?
So much goes through your mind.
It was happiness but then also about the difficult decision to make - whether to keep the money or to share it, and share how much with whom. People I'm going to disappoint.
I'm someone who likes to avoid confrontation and now I have to look people in the eye and say I'm not going to share the money with you. A thousand emotions coursed through my being.
'Now I have to look people in the eye
and say I'm not going to share
the money with you'
When did you decide not to share the money with the remaining other contestants?
When I entered for Die Brug when it was advertised as an adventure competition show without a name and said the prize money is R1 million - so from since I entered it was my thought that I wanted to win the money.
When I saw I was one of 12 contestants I realised that it meant I had a one in 12 chance and now we have to build a bridge. One out of 12 isn't great odds so I've put the R1 million on the back-burner. It was no longer my biggest driving factor.
I wanted to do the journey and complete it and come back as a better person with personal growth.
As the contestants started talking you got a sense of whether would people share the money eventually or not and then it became quiet. Everybody shied away from saying anything about it until Larry brought it up towards the end.
Several of the contestants didn't really like the idea of sharing the prize money or they didn't want to talk about it. With the picnic, nobody said they would share the money, so all of those things are in your mind as you make a decision.
My family and my loyalty to them is what weighed the most in my decision in the end to keep the money.
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You did decide to give William R50 000. Why?
I have a soft spot for William.
Throughout the entire game he was quiet and he was always the same. Not that the others changed but initially when we had to say who we trusted the least I said him.
After that, he came to me and told me that I could really trust him and from there our relationship just grew. He's someone I thought: I really want to give him some of the money.
The show made it excruciatingly difficult since after you had walked over, each one of the remaining contestants also walked over and you had to tell them in their face whether you had money for them or not. How was that whole stressful situation?
It was definitely awkward.
It didn't get easier. In the whole show and out of all of the challenges there were I would say that was by far the worst to do.
The hard work and little food were a breeze compared to having to look people in the eye and saying sorry but I'm not going to be sharing the money with you. You don't want to disappoint people and each time I had to say that felt bad.
You also haven't played rugby for a year so you didn't have any income - I think people will feel you deserve to keep your prize money but what did you decide to do with the money you've won?
I said during the picnic episode I'd like to buy a property. It's still in the back of our brains. We're currently renting. Or to just invest it.
But you're right, I haven't played rugby for a year and it was a year ago when I went into the show since I last got a salary from rugby. So the prize money is definitely something we can use.
What did this gruelling, physical thing over 20 days do to you?
I've lost 4kg during my time there. I could see in my body I've worked hard there.
We were constantly busy and active but since I come from a rugby background the physical part wasn't really a challenge to me. It was more the mental and psychological aspect of it all.
For me it was more of a mental and spiritual journey to overcome challenges in my own life in the isolation of nature, with hard manual labour. Isolated in the unknown, things bubble out from you that are deep-seated. That was much more difficult for me to deal with.
'Isolated in the unknown,
things bubble out from you
that are deep-seated'
What's there that we didn't see because it doesn't fit into the format of the show?
At night around the fire there were some deeper discussions, or during the evening around the dinner table.
But nothing was left out and nobody was portrayed differently from how they really are and what really happened. If kykNET does another season I would really encourage anyone to do it and to enter.
Learn from our mistakes and take a blueprint on how to build a bridge! The whole experience of Die Brug was a pleasant experience. We definitely all grew as people.
We saw the remaining contestants vote on who they wanted to walk over the bridge.
There were two votes for both you and William and then a revote between just the two of you and you won. Then we saw you walk over the bridge but it seemed in the eyes of several contestants as if they still wanted to maybe talk to you before you had to leave.
It was all such a blur!
Until the winner was read I still really thought it was going to be William.
I was very thankful and happy that it turned out to be me but to be. It could look awkward and as if we still wanted to say something but it was all just more shock and everyone trying to process everything.
Maybe there were people who still wanted to say something, who knows.
