Food, water and shelter will be limited on Great Barrier Island, 50 miles from Auckland in New Zealand and the toilets will be primitive.
But Francie Smee, a mother-of-three from Oxford, hopes it will be the perfect place to rebuild her life following a divorce from her husband of 20 years.
Mrs Smee has decided to take part in BBC reality TV show Castaway to cheer herself up following the split with her husband.
For the next three months, the 56-year-old will live with 12 other castaways on the island, where one viewer will be able to join them eight weeks into the show.
Declaring herself a "big bossy woman up for a challenge", Mrs Smee said: "I need to feel good about myself, to regain confidence after a divorce, to fulfil a dream of having an adventure."
Having trained as a nursery nurse when she was younger, Mrs Smee now works with a team of researchers in Oxford as an administrator at Oxford University's Department of Primary Health Care in Old Road, Headington.
advertisement
Thereza Olofsson, who is replacing Mrs Smee while she is away, said: "Everyone wishes her well - she was very well liked in the department, and I expect everyone will be watching the programme. I'm sure she will do well, as long as she takes lots of chocolate with her."
Mrs Smee describes herself as tall, bossy, fun and adventurous, with a passion for challenges and a love of outdoor life.
Francie Smee
Her skills include cooking, gardening, hiking, cycling, DIY, hunting and fishing.
Mrs Smee lists giving birth to her three daughters, who are now grown up, as one of her greatest achievements.
Fun and outgoing, she has a juvenile sense of humour, and enjoys embarrassing smutty jokes.
Mrs Smee said she was "slightly eccentric" and claimed she had the ability to get on with anyone, particularly young people. She admitted she was excited about being a castaway, seeing it as a "once-in-a-lifetime experience".
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
