Steve ‘Commando’ Willis shares personal battles as ambassador for mental health charity
STEVE “Commando” Willis found himself asking one question of his Survivor campmates every morning they woke up stranded on a Fijian beach.
Confidential
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STEVE “Commando” Willis found himself asking one question of his Survivor campmates every morning they woke up stranded on a Fijian beach — “R U OK?”
Willis, an ambassador for the suicide prevention charity which implores people to ask that same question of their friends, colleagues and loved ones, says mental health was top priority for the contestants while filming the Channel 10 reality show.
“We were always checking in with one another,” Willis told Confidential.
“In an environment like that our connections move beyond ego because there is this need to survive. Each day it became a common thing, each morning ‘how you doing, are you OK?’ reminding others that you’re there and are checking in.”
The 42-year-old father-of-four — who has been open about facing his own demons in the past — found his time on Survivor was good for his mental health despite the challenging and isolating conditions.
“It actually was a breath of fresh air, you were removed from a lot of those distractions of life, you had your space within you to just ‘be’,” he added.
“You didn’t have emails to be checking or phone calls to be taking, or having to get in a car and drive, you could just ‘be’ and allow that present moment to be what it was.
“You weren’t trying to take a photograph and post it on Instagram, you were able to exist and that for me was beautiful.
“There was a richness, a power and a substance to it.”
Willis said he has lent his name to R U OK? — which is celebrating its 10th national day of action today — in the hope that sharing his story might help “break down barriers around stigma and perception of what toughness is”.
“Having conversations about my own life and upbringing and my experiences that I’ve run from for many years helps others to go ‘oh wow, this guy is no different to me.”