SM: How difficult was your decision to go on Fresh Meat despite your health crisis?
Diem Brown: What’s crazy is I got on the show before I knew [I had cancer]. I would have been so mad at myself and at the disease if I was not allowed to do it, because I don’t want something hindering me. I wanted to continue my life as normal. I wanted to do what I would do regardless of what I had been diagnosed with. I had a checklist of things I wanted to before I died before [my diagnosis]. Seeing that I have cancer, that list becomes a little more pressing.

SM: Were there certain challenges you just couldn’t compete in because of your health?
Diem Brown: There were challenges that I thought I couldn’t do. Ones that dealt with a lot of strength and endurance really took a toll on me because chemo makes you tired. Although I tried to fight through it, I slept a lot. I would get mad and I would go, ‘No, I’m not tired, I’m going to do another run.’ Or the more tired I would get, the more things I would do to almost punish my body for getting tired. I was [also] nervous with anything to do with eating anything nasty because my immune system is low and I knew I would catch stuff a lot quicker. Also, things that had to with getting cut or any kind of blood loss [made me nervous] because your blood doesn’t clot as well when you are on chemo.