By ALAN THATCHER (Squash Mad Editor)

Former world squash champion Dame Susan Devoy is set for a new starring role, this time on TV instead of the squash court.

Devoy will be appearing on the popular New Zealand reality show called Celebrity Treasure Island produced by TVNZ.

According to media reports in NZ, the pirate theme of past seasons has been ditched in favour of an Indiana Jones-style setting as contestants try to solve the legend of the missing cargo.

Apparently, Devoy will be entering the programme, set up on on a beach in Northland, as one of three intruders who will be expected to create chaos in the camp.

Contestants on Celebrity Treasure Island will be hoping to win prize money for their chosen charities.

Devoy’s chosen charity is The Aunties, which supports women and their children once they leave violent relationships

“The Aunties was formed by a woman named Jackie Clarke, who was the Supreme Winner of the Women of Influence Awards in 2018,” Devoy told the NZ Herald.

“More importantly, it’s about giving them back their mana and their dignity and helping them rebuild their lives.”

Now 58, Devoy dominated women’s squash in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open four times and the British Open on eight occasions.

She was was ranked No.1 in the world continuously from 1983 until her retirement in October 1992.

She twice featured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, being awarded the MBE in 1986 and the CBE in 1993. In 1998 she was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order Of Merit for services to sport and the community.

That same year she walked the entire length of New Zealand, over seven weeks, and raised half a million dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

She also served as New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner from 2013 to 2018.

Married to fellow squash player John Oakley, they have four sons and live in Tauranga.