The Winner Of Celebrity Treasure Island Is JP Foliaki!
Actor, musician, and proud South Aucklander, JP Foliaki has taken out the ultimate treasure hunt, walking away from the golden shores of Te Whanganui-o-Hei in the Coromandel with the $100,000 prize for his chosen charity, Childfund.
After 18 gruelling days on the island, testing his physical, emotional, and mental endurance, the multi-talented 30-year-old outplayed 17 other Kiwi celebrities to take home the winning title.
JP marched into the game full of energy and humour, maintaining those good vibes from the moment he made his grand entrance falling out of a waka with his buddy Bubbah all the way through to what was one of the closest final treasure hunts in the history of Celebrity Treasure Island.
Battling it out against All Blacks legend Christian Cullen and actor James Rolleston, after a series of punishing challenges up and down a freezing riverbed, the determined three spent hours digging in the sand, with day turning to night before JP was the one to let out a shocked gasp to indicate his spade had struck the treasure.
“It was an honour to go head-to-head with Cully and James,” says JP. “They are both really strong, and we were on each other’s tail through the whole hunt, it could have been any one of us who dug up that treasure.”
Having managed to avoid the elimination arena for most of the game, JP always had the bigger picture clear in his head – that he was there for his community and for his chosen charity, Childfund.
“I feel extremely proud to win $100,000 for Childfund, who do such awesome mahi providing clean drinking water for people in the Pacific. This money will go so far for them and to know I’ve played a part in helping our people is really emotional for me” says JP.
Having also won $5K in a charity challenge along the way, JP is thrilled to donate a total of $105,000 to his worthy cause.