Australian Survivor contestant Joan Caballero reveals her life-changing moment

WHEN she was 16, Australian Survivor contestant Joan Caballero’s life changed forever, after she became a single mother.

WHEN she was 16, Sydney mother Joan Caballero’s life changed forever, after she became a single mother.

Now 29, Caballero has transformed her life and is one of six Australian Survivor contestants from New South Wales.

Her son that she had when she was 16, Jose, is now 13 — and one of Australia’s brightest gymnastic prospects.

Caballero hopes her survival instinct — finishing school as a single mother, living on her own as a teenager, and raising her son and running a successful escape room business in Auburn — will help her on the Channel 10 reality show.

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Joan Caballero with son Jose.

Looking back, she said she became a strong person after becoming a mother and doing it on her own, so young.

“It was definitely a tough time,” Caballero said of being a single mother so young.

“It wasn’t planned, but I just had to deal with it and that’s exactly what I did.”

Caballero now has two more children, Lily, 8, and Allegra, 6.

She said while it was tough being a single mother so young, she now wouldn’t have it anyway.
Her son Jose is in the high performance NSW gymnastics squad, and has hopes one day to make the Australian Olympic team.

The pair have gone through some times, and have grown together.

“He is such a great kid,” Caballero said.

“There is nothing more I can ask of him.

“He is a great friend, a great big brother.

“He knows how to have fun, but he is also so responsible.”

Caballero said going on Australian Survivor was a dream come true, but also daunting.

“I guess through my life I’ve had some tarrying situations and I’ve come out of the other side,” she said.

“This seems like the most crazy and terrifying thing I can think of doing.”

Originally published as Australian Survivor contestant Joan Caballero reveals her life-changing moment