After Jodie Sweetin exited Beyond The Edge, she said that she emerged from the competition a different person. Jodie took great pride in competing on Beyond The Edge to raise money for the charity Girls Inc. alongside her fellow contestants in the jungles of Panama, including Lauren Alaina, Paulina Porizkova, Craig Morgan, Ray Lewis, Mike Singletary, Colton Underwood, Eboni K. Williams and Metta World Peace. The challenges were called "adventures" and pushed the competitors to their physical, mental and emotional limits. The contestants were not eliminated each week but instead rang a bell to signal that they had reached their breaking points and were going home.
Jodie was part of the final 5 of the competition, along with Colton, Craig, Mike and Ray. She was also the last woman standing. In order to achieve this, she struggled through lingering pain from her 2017 ankle injury and a severe double ear infection that caused her great pain. After the penultimate challenge, Mike was at the bottom of the leaderboard and about to leave in the only Beyond The Edge elimination. Jodie and Craig would serve as teammates for the top earners--Colton and Ray--who would compete to add the $100,000 grand prize to their winnings. When Jodie realized that her body was spent and that she might hold back Colton or Ray from winning, she selflessly asked Mike if he would take her place, even though, as a winning teammate, she could have won an additional $50,000 for her charity. He accepted, and Jodie rang the bell, signaling the end of her Beyond The Edge journey.
In a post on Instagram, Jodie shared a series of photographs from Beyond The Edge and wrote, "I was one person when I went into that jungle, and a different one when I came out." She said that "it shifted my priorities and perspectives in a way that only testing yourself to the maximum can." Jodie shared that she was so honored to be able to play for Girls Inc. and that her greatest hope out of all of this is that the $59,916 that she raised "will help to spark a bright future for the next young woman out there who is ready to push herself, too."
Jodie then went on to describe the friendships she made on Beyond The Edge, saying, "The friends I made out there were unlike any relationship I’ve ever had. What you see on air is but a MINISCULE slice of what we shared in that jungle. I got to see and know such genuine spirits out there and it reminded me of what humanity at its BEST can be." She said that they had so much fun in the jungle, and she will never forget the last dinner on the Beyond The Edge beach with Colton, Ray, Mike and Craig. Jodie explained that it started pouring rain, but they were all so hungry and miserable already that they hardly cared. She remembered nearly crying from laughing so hard, "and in that moment, I was so very present. And full of joy and immense gratitude. It’s a feeling I will always remember." Jodie concluded the post by looking forward to the finale and sending love to "my jungle family," mentioning Paulina, Eboni, Lauren and Metta.
Jodie's determination throughout the Beyond The Edge adventures was so inspiring. For the first few challenges, she was at the bottom of the leaderboard, but she fought hard to win more money for Girls Inc. and to prove to herself, her daughters and women everywhere that women can do anything. Her final act of selflessness was representative of the spirit of Beyond The Edge. Jodie may not have won, but her personal victory was just as sweet.
Beyond The Edge airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Source: Jodie Sweetin/Instagram