SM: What kind of treatment regimen did you follow while you were doing Fresh Meat?
Diem Brown: I had gone through two rounds of actual chemo before Fresh Meat. While I was on the show, I was on a lot of different medications for nausea, for fatigue and for pain. I was really nauseated and really tired. Those were the main two side effects and… oh, tingling—a lot of tingling in your fingertips and a weird taste in your mouth. Your tongue tastes like you’re sucking on a penny. The nerve ending damage is the weird thing. You don’t feel your limbs. Your fingers and your toes get really tingly.

SM: How did your castmates react when they found out you had cancer?
Diem Brown: What was interesting is that even throughout the [filming], not everyone knew [I had cancer]. The people that did know were very supportive. [My challenge teammate] Derrick especially did not treat me like a weak person or a fragile person. When I think about Derrick, I just start smiling. He’s such a great-hearted person and he really pushed me in a good way. The only person I could trust was Derrick because he was my partner and I knew that his feelings and his reactions were pure and honest. If he said I shouldn’t do something, I went, ‘Alright, if he thinks I can’t do it than I won’t do it. I shouldn’t do it.’ If he said, ‘Go for it,’ I went for it. I listened to him. I would do anything I needed to do to make him proud, because I wanted him to know he had a strong partner in mind, body and spirit.