Meet the Kiwi stars competing in the 2025 season of The Summit

Most famous as the sister of Kiss Kiss singer Holly, the actress followed in her sister’s footsteps by playing Paige Smith on Neighbours on and off from 2014 to 2020. But despite having a glamorous career, the 31-year-old from Melbourne wants people to know her life isn’t all red carpets and fancy frocks. She has suffered heartbreaking miscarriages and infertility. Even so, Olympia hopes the strength she’s built from the experiences will get her to the top. She says, “People always meet me and say, ‘Oh, I thought you’d be a bitch!’ and I get it because posing is my job. But hopefully people will actually see the real me out there.”

Having represented Australia in both rugby and league, as well as playing 200 games for the Cronulla Sharks and Gold Coast Titans in the NRL, Mat stepped away from sport in 2011 to focus on autistic son Max, who inspired him to start up a charity. The 48-year-old Queenslander has since appeared in two seasons of Australian Survivor. While Mat is confident about his physical strength, he adds, “I have a real fear of heights. I can’t even go on a Ferris wheel! But I’m hoping my competition mode will switch on and I can get through it.”

Alongside Love Island host Sophie Monk, Tiffani was part of the girl group Bardot, the Aussie answer to TrueBliss. The Sydneysider, 46, was devastated when the band split. However, it opened the door for her to start her own family. She now has six kids. “Seven if you include my partner,” she jokes. “But even though it’s what I’ve been doing for the past 16 years, I don’t just want to be a mum. I’ve lost a sense of self. I feel there’s a piece missing and I wanted to give myself a challenge. This will certainly be that!”

OK, she’s not famous, but she should be! The Sydney nurse, 35, was born with a congenital defect that gave her only half a left arm. However, it hasn’t stopped her from achieving great things… And it certainly won’t stop her from trying to reach the summit. Charlotte plans to use her wicked sense of humour to “disarm” her opponents and win the game. Of her disability, she laughs, “Most of the time, I’ll just tell a story like that I had frostbite while climbing Mt Everest as a child. I got into big trouble at school for telling that story at school. My folks got called in and thought it was hilarious!”

Simmone starred as Stevie Hall in McLeod’s Daughters and had a two-year engagement to her Baywatch Hawaii co-star Jason Momoa. However, since then, the solo mum’s being doing it tough. Her dad fell sick and her niece suffered an “horrific” accident. The stress caused the Coffs Harbour-based actress, 51, to lose all her hair – “even my eyelashes and eyebrows!” – but by using her 14-year-old son Madigan as her inspiration, Simmone thinks she just might win The Summit. She laughs, “If any of my teammates are die-hard McLeod’s fans, maybe they’ll keep me around!”