'I took one last shot' - Tania’s fightback fails to save her on Survivor SA

After surviving two tribal councils and escaping a third that would certainly have sent her packing, 52-year-old Tania Copeland's luck finally ran out. She became the latest contestant to get voted off Survivor SA: Island of Secrets.

The colourful, strong-willed castaway knew her head was on the chopping block after her tribe, Laumei, was sent to tribal council, but fought tooth and nail until the very end.

Her fate seemed certain when her closest ally, Seipei, called a meeting and convinced  Jacques and Durāo to vote out Tania.

She nearly pulled off a shocking blindside when she made a presentation to Seipei and Durāo about Jacques being a strong contender to win the competition, saying it would be better to vote him off now, before it was too late.

But in the final vote, Seipei and Durāo stuck to the original plan and sent her home.

Despite this, Tania told TshisaLIVE that she would love it if Seipei went on to win the title of Sole Survivor and the R1m prize.

"Who I think will win and who I hope will win are two different things. I think Jacques is a very strong possibility. He doesn't have the brawn, but he has the brains. He will go under the radar. I want Queen Seipei to win. I would love that."

Tania said she had no regrets after playing the game of her life. She believes she did well to get as far as she did when there was a target on her back pretty much from day one.

"I took one last shot at staying in the game (by appealing to Seipei and Durāo to vote off Jacques). I am an eternal optimist. That one percent chance means a lot to me, where there is a chance there is always a way. I didn't think it was likely, but that doesn't mean you don't get up and fight. Whether I convinced them or not, I had to keep going."

Survivor has also changed Tania's outlook on life, giving her a new purpose.

"The biggest lesson I learnt was coming home and realising that we all work to live and that working to live is not where we need to be. We need to live to live. I put my businesses on the market and I want to spend the rest of my life doing something worthwhile. Work has suddenly become the least important thing in my life and I wish I had realised that 20 years ago."