Dawn McAllister, a woman from Derry who is a mother and carer, took part in the new BBC reality game show called Destination X, where she had a chance to win £100,000.
Destination X features 13 players. They must guess where they are in the world because at the end of each episode, they have to put an X on a map.
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The player who guesses closest stays on the bus; the one who is furthest away is out of the game. In the end, one person wins the £100,000 prize.
Dawn, from Hillview Avenue in Prehen, joined the show because she enjoys other reality game shows like ‘The Traitors’ and ‘Race Across The World.’
When I saw Destination X advertised I thought that that sounds like something I would love to try. I sent in an application and I got a phone call shortly after from one of the casting team. It all kicked off from there. I was invited over to London then for a roleplay audition. It was crazy.
Dawn said
Before joining the show, Dawn couldn’t believe she had been chosen as one of the 13 participants.
I was more concerned about how I was going to pack for a month in one suitcase.
said Dawn
If you watched the show, you might have noticed that Dawn’s smooth Derry accent and fast way of speaking were hard for some of the other players to understand!
The producers were lovely, but they would be like, ‘Could you just slow down and not curse?’ I would curse a lot, but it was quite funny. I just had to slow everything down, but when I watched the show back, I realised I didn’t slow down at all. I would say you probably need subtitles for me.
When facing the show’s challenge of figuring out where the contestants were, Dawn used her own special strategies.
I was just winging it, I’m not going to lie. I’m not great with geography. I wouldn’t be good with working out clues and puzzles and I thought, ‘how am I going to manage?
said Dawn
Even so, Dawn was the only player in the first episode to correctly guess the destination.
I just followed all the clues and went with my gut. It was really good craic. It was hard but the people on the bus were the ones keeping me going. I became friends with them instantly and built up relationships and all the producers were so supportive.
said Dawn
During the filming of Destination X, Dawn was away for two weeks and missed her daughter Ella the most.
If she wins the £100,000 prize, she said she would use it to secure Ella’s future and maybe take the family on some holidays.
I wasn’t going in there with an idea that I am definitely going to win this money. I was just going in for the craic and for the mind blowing experience.
said Dawn
You can watch Dawn on Destination X, which airs on BBC One at 9 pm on Wednesdays and is also available on BBC iPlayer.
Source: DerryJournal