Mikayla Wingle
[juicebox gallery_id=”17″]
Formal Playboy model and CBS Survivor, Mikayla Wingle discusses her time on the hit TV series and involvement with the NFL, in this exclusive interview.
Tell me a little more about Mikayla Wingle that isn’t told or printed…
To be honest…I’m a homebody…I cook…I want to stay home with my family. Any chance I get I want to stay at home with my family.
You were featured on the cover of February 2011 edition of Playboy. Can you describe your experience?
Playboy was amazing. It’s funny because they picked a girl from each team in the LFL and they chose me. Next thing you know I got my itinerary in the mail. So I showed up to at the mansion and I walked around and seen all of these you see on TV. It was fantastic! It was one of my best experiences. They actually brought me and a couple of girls back to do some more shots because they liked it so much.
You play on the Tampa Breeze lingerie football team. Tell us how you got involved with the organization?
Up north see I always played basketball, softball and soccer and then I got a scholarship for basketball. Then I moved to Florida. Then I played in a pick-up softball league for a Tampa Bay club sports. It really wasn’t enough coming from all your life being an athlete. I needed more! I googled the league when I was on Youtube and watched some of their videos… I was like, ‘this is awesome! I get to hit people and not get in trouble, get a red card or a foul’ and I was stoked. I followed them up and went to their tryout. It was a great stepping stone. It was a really cool thing.
You participated in Season 23 of Survivor but were voted off then suffered a loss in the redemption stage after episode 7. Can you please explain to us what happened to you being eliminated?
It kinda stunk from the beginning. I had a player with me named Brandon Hantz. Once he saw me, he was so tempted by me…he couldn’t control himself. If you watch, you can actually see him in the last episode staring at me right out there in the background. He would just start spreading lies about me….people didn’t know whether to believe him or not. Well, I ended up getting sick from the pig challenge he had. So, at that final tribal, I had no energy left. I spent 15 days…went in weighing 135 at my leanest and I lost 17 pounds. I was just depleted. You are out there and your mind gets so crazy. When I went through redemption, Christine beat me at the puzzle. Hopefully, I have another chance someday.
How has being a Survivor contestant changed how you live today?
It’s great. I definitely got more work from it. I get recognized. To be honest with you, I try to stay as humble as possible.
You also model for a living. How did you get started in the industry?
I’ve always wanted to model. My mom always told me that sports is really important…that is what is going to get you a scholarship…that is going to get you an education. When I got down here (Tampa) I was working. I couldn’t afford to go to school. I had a friend of mine who opened a clothing line. I did a photo shoot with all of their gym stuff. The pictures came out great. Since that, I got some amazing photographers to shoot me. From there, it just blew up. Everything just turned out great. I just a great achievement and I’m really proud of what I have gotten into.
What are some of the charities you are involved with?
I do so many! I do Give Kids The World. I work with three or four autisms. I’m working with an NFL player and try to get a bullying program started. That’s my main focus. There’s just so many I’ve done in the last six months…Rescue for Pets Sake…for children…for adults…There’s no length to them.
Related Content