Do you still remember the very first Survivor Finland winner?

Jarkko Kortesoja is the father of three children. Jarkko Kortesoja’s home album

The first ever Survivors Finland program won in 2013 Jarkko Kortesoja. Iltalehti reached Kortesoja, 52, who describes a trip made almost 10 years ago as still insane.

– Time for gold memories of course. Hunger, misery, cold and 12 hours of darkness have been forgotten, Kortesoja tells Iltalehti.

Kortesoja, who lives in Turengi, is an entrepreneur and a father of three who would set off 50,000 euros for the programme’s winnings. He used the prize pool for the benefit of his family, as promised in the program.

– I said last time that I came to pick this up and bring it to you, Kortesoja says.

With winnings, Kortesoja bought a racehorse for his daughter, who had been riding from the age of three, and the rest of the pot went on a family holiday trip. Now the family belongs to the good.

– Everything is starting to fall into place. A couple of older children are adults and have reached the beginning of their own lives. The youngest is 16 years old and in high school.

Kortesoja is an entrepreneur whose summer has started with busy characters. Kortesoja has a packaging company, but as its operations slowed down, it moved to its subsidiary, the construction industry. He is currently working as a timper.

– I’ve trained for this side job. The side work became the main job, says Kortesoja, who answered the phone from the construction site.

A much-needed respite from work awaits soon as Kortesoja heads for a week-long dive trip to Norway with a group of six divers.

– Of course, it has been planned for the whole winter.

An active life has been a part of everyday life for as long as Kortesoja remembers. He says he has been an avid hiker all his life, and recently Kortesoja got excited about river hiking with his wife. The survivors were once driven by a desire to challenge themselves and a strong confidence in their own survival.

– I had watched the series on TV and thought that I would be able to do it for my character and the rest. The wife’s instruction was to enjoy every day, even those miserable, because there won’t be another similar opportunity.

To the end

Kortesoja also managed. Getting home from the trip, however, required a little getting used to at first. For two weeks after returning from the trip, Kortesoja imagined waking up from a Malaysian island, when in fact he was in his own bed.

– It was a tense feeling when you wake up and the first thought is that you have to make a fire and bring the water to a boil, Kortesoja recalls his first days at home.

– The trip went so subcutaneously that it lived and breathed the island all the time.

However, the family waiting at home quickly dragged the Survivors winner back into everyday life. For the first few nights, Kortesoja still slept on the floor, as at first the soft mattress felt creepy after island life.

– At home there is a busy good wife who keeps her feet on the ground pretty well. As such, there was no difficulty in returning to everyday life.

Kortesoja recalls spending a total of 41 days on Survivors Island. The children, already on the verge of adulthood, encouraged the father who had entered the competition and were sure of his victory. Towards the end, however, homesickness began to weigh, and Kortesoja recalls that the last days were a special time in the race.

– Towards the end, I realized that this is where we go to the end.

Kortesoja says that he enjoys watching new survivors. The series is one of the favorite programs for the whole family. Now, of course, the program can be viewed with new eyes, and according to Kortesoja, the experience cannot be fully explained unless you have experienced it yourself.

– Always entertain watching when you know the backgrounds. It really isn’t just sunshine when you have to fear being stabbed in the back.

There was also some feedback from the television appearance. As a competitor, Kortesoja was described as “odorless and tasteless”. However, according to Kortesoja, part of the tactic was to fly appropriately under the radar.

– At the end when I got bored Piaa, I heard about it later. I was too mean.

When Kortesoja is asked if he would start the race again, the answer comes from the pharmacy shelf.

– I would definitely leave!