Chamendran is sure to melt your heart with his charm, humour and dashing good looks. This young doctor has started realising his dreams since being chosen as part of the Top 10, but it's not all been fun and games.
“It’s been a lot of hard work. You’ve got to know how to take criticism, learn how to enhance your strengths and work on your weaknesses. If you can do this, you can achieve all your goals.”
As someone who is always trying to be the best person he can be and help his fellow man, Chamendran assists sick children after hours at the Red Cross children's hospital and has provided first aid for major sporting events such as the Super 12 and the Cape Argus Cycle Tour.
Originally from Durban, he couldn't resist the charm of the Cape and started work as a doctor for the South African Navy this year. In his spare time he takes French classes, to add to his impressive array of languages that include English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Portuguese and Mandarin.
Chamendran is in the competition for the long haul, armed with his wit, humour and debonair looks. Does this modern-day gentleman have what it takes to take it to the finish?
Sneak-Peek for Week 5:
Chamendran's Fashion Show experience:
Sneak-Peek for Week 4:
Week 3's Judges comments:
Chamendran's Celebrity Interview insert:
Sneak-Peek for Week 3:
Chamendran's travel insert:
Chamendran's link and judges comments for Task 2:
Chamendran says:
Week 1: On his makeover experience: “I felt like I was in the hands of experts where I didn't have to worry about how I looked, but I definitely learnt that I'm not as cool of a dresser as I thought I was. It also takes a lot more to look goo on camera that you first think. What looks good off of camera looks totally different to what it looks like on camera. For example, while shopping, I've never thought about stripes or colours that would compliment me on camera. It was a different experience.”
On the mock elimination: “The elimination was a rollercoaster of emotions. On the one hand you're happy that it's not you, but then reality hits that it will be somebody else. By the end of it, it was a huge relief that no one went home.”
Week 2: On the Knysna task: “My task was fishing, which I've never done before, as I'm a vegetarian, but I embraced it and did my research. They actually have a catch and release policy, so I was able to fully embrace the entire experience. What I learnt from it all is that a lot depends on the person you're interviewing. If they don't have the energy on camera, then you've got to bring it out.”
Week 3: On the celebrity interview challenge: "Initially I had a mixed bag of feelings when we were told we were going to interview the Isidingo stars. It started out as exciting and then the nerves kicked in. It was going to be 'little old me' interviewing 'big old them' - but in the end I embraced the challenge fully."
On the toughest part of the preparation for the challenge: "It was definitely difficult to decide which information would be more pertinant and also which questions to ask, because I didn't want to ask him something that he gets asked all the time."
On the toughest part of the challenge: "There was a little trick the crew played on me and which Vusi was in on. During the interview, he was not receptive at all; they had told him to stonewall me. I didn't quite understand, because I was chatting to him before the interview and he was a really nice guy and then the interview started and it was like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. But in the end I managed to salvage the interview and change my strategy on the spot. I'll take the lesson with me, that YOU don't dictate the terms in an interview, your interviewee does."
Week 4: On the fashion show: "The fashion show was as adrenaline-infused as any adventure sport out there. It required as much if not more concentration than other links as chaos ensued around us. I loved the reaction from the crowd which definitely spurred us on to perform!"
On the toughest part of the fashion show: "Definitely rocking the itsy bitsy twentieth weenie cozzi! But I tried to pull it off with confidence."
On what he learnt from the experience: "I learnt that the rigors of the fashion industry are far more danzig than originally expected which required a certain amount of finesse to pull off."
Week 5: On the adventure challenge: "Short answer? Death defying! We were really put through our paces during the challenge having to relate to camera while being physically tested. The best part of the challenge was getting to experience a sport that I had always wished to delve into albeit dismally. The toughest part of the challenge was remembering to break away from being totally engrossed in an extreme sport in order to relate the experience to the audience."