Official M-Net Island of Secrets bio excerpts (May, 2019):
"Mother of two, Lee-Anne van Renen, interrupted her duties as reigning Mrs Cape Town 2018 to prove her resilience on Survivor SA and tear up stereotypical beauty queen labels. She’s married to the bassist of the band Taxi Violence, holds an honours degree in Psychology, obtained five distinctions in matric, captained the KZN action netball team, counsels drug addicts and traumatised teens, and has survived several personal tragedies, including a cancer scare and double miscarriage. Even though she may come across as sweet and kind-hearted – and she is – she has a spirit of steel. A mere month after the trauma of losing her twins, she completed the 947 cycle race. Lee-Anne pours her heart into NGOs to make a difference and says she enteredSurvivor SA not only to win, "but also to step into the shoes of those who have absolutely nothing; no bed, no food, no warmth, no shelter”"