Indy Thompson was voted off the mountain during the May 29 episode of The Summit and while it was Lulu Hawton who ultimately “pulled the trigger”, Thompson believes that she was “more of a threat” based on her “gender”.
In fact, it was Trekkers Hawton and Brooke Kilowsky’s friendship that sealed the deal, with Thompson saying that Kilowsky in particular was “quite a power player”.
“The two of them were so incredibly close,” Thompson admitted during an interview with Mediaweek prior to her elimination.
“Whatever Brooke said, Lulu went with and she flew under the radar sitting under Brooke’s wing. There’s no one to blame. That’s playing the game essentially numbers-wise. If you want to look at gender, they’ve got more of a chance getting rid of another female to get the two of them to the top.”
Indy Thompson. Nine
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As for her exit from the show, Thompson says she “wasn’t filled with sadness”.
“I believe in an old saying that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. So for me, although it’s devastating, being as close as I was, I was so grateful for the experience that I had. It wasn’t filled with sadness. I was just filled with happiness at the fact that I got to get as far as I did.”
Indy Thompson reveals she was terrified of heights
While scaling a mountain is the idea of fun for the likes of Sam Molineaux and Josh Waldhorn, for Thompson — who hails from a small town in Tasmania — it was a truly scary experience.
“I’m not used to hiking and like I always thought that was for a chairlift and choppers to get to where you wanted to go and I still don’t understand why people do it for fun. I never will,” she continued: “I’m petrified of heights, but you couldn’t let on about it. You had to put your head down, bum up, get the job done situation rather than taking in the views and the scenery because you’re so worried about keeping yourself on the mountain.”
By trade, Thompson is a marine scientist, teaching others about her industry where she works to conserve fish for the future, something that wasn’t shown on our screens.
“It’s the most important thing in my life,” she said. “It was actually having the show feature my everyday line of work or what inspires me basically my every day. So that was a big one [to not be shown] was the sustainability and conservation aspect of what I do.”
Nine
While her day job wasn’t featured on the show, Thompson was proud of the fact that the climbers used grit and determination to get to the pinnacle, rather than their personal stories.
“Now I hope Australia gets to see a little bit of the other side of the story, which I’m sure they will. Not only those who get to the top but also the people who have been shafted along the way.”
The Summit continues on Tuesday, May 30 at 7.30 pm on 9 and 9Now.