It's unlikely, admittedly. It would be like casting Orlando Bloom and the dude that dates Keira Knightley in the same film: some would argue that it's doubling up. "Right," the Important People would say on the island: "would the posh British writer chick with the artistic bent and passion for travelling please step forward?" And then there would be trouble, obviously. Apart from colouring and height (we're polar opposites), there would be little to distinguish Sarah and I from each other: we'd both try and step on to the same spot at the same time, and then I'd probably squish her (she's only tiny). We're both from Hertfordshire, we're both single, and we both say stupid things occasionally and then regret it. We even both have synesthesia: she sees colours in numbers and dates, and I see them in sounds. So they wouldn't even be able to use that pub-quiz knowledge to differentiate us.
As a result, the better we've gotten to know each other, the sadder we have become. "There is no way we'll both go through," Sarah announced over lunch a few days ago: "we're just too similar. I think one British hippy chick is probably enough for the island."
"There's a reason there was only one ginger in the Spice Girls," I agreed, sighing and chewing on my straw (dad wasn't there to shout at me: he really hates it when I chew on straws). "If only one of us was from Mexico it would be an entirely different story."
Today, however, I've revised my opinion. This isn't a girl band: it's not even a mixed group. It's a job. PRability and aesthetics aside - however good or amazing the job is - it is still a job. Whoever gets it has to be able to do it and do it well, and (yes, I'll get shot for saying this, but...) there simply aren't that many people in the long-list that reasonably could. The fact that Sarah and I have similar talents - writing, exploring, drawing, getting spinach stuck between our teeth after eating a panini - should just make us both qualified, not exclude the other one from the competition. Similarly, our nationality should be nothing more than a footnote at the bottom of the page.
Ultimately, every person writes differently, draws differently, sees the world differently, reports back on it differently. Whoever wins the job will do the job their own way, in their own inimitable style, and with their own creative slant. There is no such thing as a niche when it comes to talent: however similar the passions, the execution will always be different. And we all see the world in a very different way, however close the perspectives might seem to an outsider. In the case of Sarah and I, this probably has something to do with our heights.
If we're the right candidates - and only if, because I have no idea what the other 46 have to offer - then I'm going to have a renewed faith that we can both get through to the next stage, rather than cynically assuming that we cancel each other out.
We'll just have to make sure that when we come back we don't both audition for the same girl group. I think that would be pushing our luck.
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