At least since Tessa Bergmeier’s participation in Kampf der Realitystars, it should be clear to most trash TV fans: the former Germany’s next top model candidate attaches great importance to her vegan lifestyle. Already in the last season of the RTLZWEI format there were numerous confrontations between her and the other Sala residents. The focus of the conflicts: among other things, their vegan chicken nuggets, which were eaten by other candidates.
Now the food dispute is moving to Australia, because: Tessa is part of the current I’m a star – get me out of here! season and doesn’t want to make any moral compromises here either. The entertainment show is known for serving Australian delicacies such as kangaroo testicles or bush pig semen during the jungle tests. This not only causes confusion among reality fans, but also more and more arguments in the camp.
Tessa Bergmeier’s veganism is one of the best things that could happen to the jungle camp.
Vegan in the jungle camp? Tessa Bergmeier’s attitude causes stress right from the start
In fact, it wasn’t even half an hour before Tessa started talking about her veganism. Because as soon as she got to know the other campers on the beach, Gigi Birofio gave her a little sermon on consuming animal products.
But that was just the beginning, because in addition to other emotional outbursts in the camp, she refused Jungle exam their animal meal and again pointed out that it was not appropriate “body parts” to consume. As expected, Tessa was punished by the audience: so far, she had to complete every single one of the exams. After all, she was spared food tasks in the second test, but then had to climb through a sewer pipe full of creepy crawlies, which she did with special care (“I don’t want to hurt the animals!”).
RTL
All candidates
When she returned to camp after the daily task on day 3 with only three stars, it tore thread of patience with some of the other stars. Fewer stars means less food, and the food shortage put a spotlight on Tessa’s veganism. When the food was served in the evening, Verena Kerth and Claudia Effenberg accused her of doing that “green stuff”, i.e. the vegetable side dish that Tessa considered as food, not wanting to share it with the others. And Cosimo Citiolo and Gigi Birofio were visibly annoyed by Tessa’s behavior.
But did she really deserve the hostility? Or shouldn’t she be credited for sticking to her own principles?
Tessa Bergmeier brings urgently needed authenticity to the jungle camp – and a topic that concerns us all
Staying true to yourself is an important character trait in any case. After all, everyone (including their fellow campers) is always demanding authenticity – and would it be authentic if Tessa suddenly bites a pig’s penis just to earn stars for the team?
In addition, as part of the TV show, she draws attention to grievances without stopping at superficial phrases. That’s what she calls them, for example shocking number of two million animalsthat are slaughtered every day in Germany. Is that really still up-to-date in a world where there is a vegan alternative to more and more food?
RTL
Gigi Birofio
There have always been discussions about whether the jungle camp, with its tests focused on supposedly disgusting animals, is not going too far. Here, creatures are crammed together in a very small space with TV stars thrashing about in panic. How many of the creepy-crawlies die in the process? Is not discussed. Instead, the camp is all about how stressful the exams are for the stars. Until now. And it’s great that that’s changing!
RTL viewers should not criticize Tessa, but celebrate their courage
Because as much as I love the jungle camp (and would love to move in myself one day), I ask myself, just like Tessa, whether there really still have to be food tests with “corpse parts” or whether the tests are not also free of animal suffering.
In summary: Yes, Tessa has a very loud nature. As much as I am personally committed to veganism and animal welfare, she sometimes gets on my nerves a bit too.
But basically she’s not doing anything wrong. On the contrary: With her appearance she encourages a social rethink and remains true to herself, even though the entire (jungle) world is against her. And those are two things that, if it weren’t for veganism, would certainly have made other stars king or queen of the jungle.
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And how do you think about Tessa’s behavior in the jungle camp?