Speaker 1: I want the fairy tale. I want the prince charming.
Speaker 2: She how do I put?
Speaker 3: This?
Speaker 2: Isn't a fan of my kissing style.
Speaker 1: We would boyfriend and girlfriend for about twelve hours.
Speaker 2: He's in a trash bin.
Speaker 3: He's non recyclable, catching member.
Speaker 2: I love being love, I love love.
Speaker 1: On today's episode of Where's Your Head At, we are
Speaker 1: welcoming khan On into the studios.
Speaker 4: Not only has Kan been on Master Chef Australia and
Speaker 4: Survivor Australia, but he owns his own cooking book and
Speaker 4: has developed a menu for the George On Collins in Melbourne.
Speaker 1: Card and I also went to school together, so we
Speaker 1: have known each other for a long time.
Speaker 4: Stay tuned to hear all about what Karan has coming
Speaker 4: up next and all about his dating life.
Speaker 1: Where's Your Head At is a podcast that talks all
Speaker 1: things relationships, breakups, reality TV, trending shows, and everything in between.
Speaker 4: This is your new go to destination for laughs, gossip,
Speaker 4: intimate details, advice and much more. Hey Card, Oh my god, Hello,
Speaker 4: it's good to have you in the studio today.
Speaker 3: We've actually already been in here for like fifteen minutes
Speaker 3: and we've been laughing this whole time.
Speaker 2: So that was really weird, Like, I know, you got
Speaker 2: to get run with it.
Speaker 1: So welcome, and we've wanted to have you in for
Speaker 1: a while, so we're really excited to finally make this happen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know this was all Matt's fault though, like
Speaker 3: he booked in dates and then it was like I'll
Speaker 3: get back to you and then doesn't get back to
Speaker 3: me for like two weeks. I'm like those days are gone,
Speaker 3: Like I'm doing other things now.
Speaker 2: I like a little bit more for playing in my
Speaker 2: conversations on.
Speaker 3: Jeez, I'm not going to comment on that because there's
Speaker 3: a lot I can speak about.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna like preface this so that everyone knows
Speaker 1: KHN and that have a very flirty relationship. So I'm
Speaker 1: feeling a little bit like a third wheel already. And
Speaker 1: this has been like a thirty second interview so far.
Speaker 3: Look, I just know what Matt likes, Okay. He loves compliments.
Speaker 3: He loves it when people tell him that he's pretty,
Speaker 3: or when people play with his muscles or tell him
Speaker 3: how like how beautiful his teeth are, Like, he just
Speaker 3: loves that.
Speaker 2: So when we're sitting there, Jen, me and Khan.
Speaker 4: It Actually it's pretty good because I've got Gen there
Speaker 4: as my girlfriend and then Kahn's giving me.
Speaker 2: All the compliments and Jen's like, this is cool. It
Speaker 2: works for me.
Speaker 3: I don't have to do any.
Speaker 1: Works to both worlds and that's having his cakene idiot too.
Speaker 4: All Right, So Cahn, you're also a DJ. How did
Speaker 4: you transition from music to food?
Speaker 3: Okay? So when I was in high school, I actually
Speaker 3: study fashion. I think you knew this. I wanted to
Speaker 3: be a designer for ages. Yeah, so I went to
Speaker 3: UNI study fashion, but was kind of dabbling with DJing
Speaker 3: for a long time, like in high school at the end,
Speaker 3: and then like towards my early twenties, and that became
Speaker 3: like my career, like it just kind of blew up
Speaker 3: and went from my strength to strength. But towards the
Speaker 3: end of it, so when I was twenty five something,
Speaker 3: about eight years into the career, now I fucking hated it,
Speaker 3: Like you're not the expectation to go out and beat
Speaker 3: and to have to perform every single day, and like
Speaker 3: people are like, oh, why don't you not drink? I'm
Speaker 3: like the booking's actually dipped. When I was having sober
Speaker 3: months because I'm more fun when i'm playing if I'm drunk. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I grew to resent it, like I just hated it.
Speaker 3: And then one of my best friends actually was like,
Speaker 3: you should go on master Chef and I was like no,
Speaker 3: and then she was like, Okay, well I've applied for
Speaker 3: master Chef for you. I was like, great, I'm doing.
Speaker 1: That's a really impressive thing about you because obviously when
Speaker 1: I knew you, your whole dream was to be a
Speaker 1: fashion designer. And then you went into like this massive.
Speaker 2: DJ in Melbourne. Everyone knew you.
Speaker 1: You were kind of getting booked for everything, and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're on master Chef and I
Speaker 1: was like, this guy just has so many talents, Like
Speaker 1: you just had your foot in the door of kind
Speaker 1: of everything, which was super impressive.
Speaker 3: Look, I think millennials do that, right, Like we all
Speaker 3: do this thing where we have like many fingers in
Speaker 3: many pies. We want to do everything in life. Nothing
Speaker 3: kind of stops us. If we have an interest, we
Speaker 3: want to do it. And that's kind of how I
Speaker 3: see life. Like right now, we're circling back to the
Speaker 3: fashion thing because I'm working on another like a label
Speaker 3: that's not a merch label because I'm like, maybe we
Speaker 3: should go back there. This is this is the merch like, yeah,
Speaker 3: you've got you a loved Yeah that you are loved one.
Speaker 3: It kind of went quiet for a while because I
Speaker 3: got really busy and I couldn't do it. So I'm like,
Speaker 3: but I found someone to now deal with it for
Speaker 3: me to look after like my stock and my orderings
Speaker 3: and everything. So I think that's going to pop back up.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I'm working on another label that's more street,
Speaker 3: that's more like the aesthetic. It's cut out pants and
Speaker 3: cowboy hats.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: Not oh maybe for you.
Speaker 1: So that's really exciting. So you are delving back into fashion.
Speaker 1: That was one of my questions to you, like do
Speaker 1: you think you'll ever go back into fashion? And it's
Speaker 1: crazy that you are and you're getting on board with
Speaker 1: that again.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I'm actually wearing one of my samples. These
Speaker 3: pants are one of my samples, you see.
Speaker 1: I love.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So I I mean, I mean, you know, trying
Speaker 3: about it for years, but I was like, oh, I
Speaker 3: don't know what to do. I don't know like how
Speaker 3: it's going to go. And recently in the last two years,
Speaker 3: I'm like everything that I do seems to be fun
Speaker 3: and I enjoy it and I like doing it, so
Speaker 3: it's like, why not just try it? So I've got
Speaker 3: someone else looking outter I deal with the designs. I'm
Speaker 3: just like, can you do with the technical stuff like
Speaker 3: emailing people? And just like yep, kind needs that sample today?
Speaker 3: Like someone else do that? And the worst I'm actually
Speaker 3: the worst at emails and text messages.
Speaker 1: We know, but like you play to your strengths. You've
Speaker 1: got a lot going on, Like, I'm sure that you
Speaker 1: don't have time to be sending a million emails, Okay.
Speaker 3: I think it comes down to commitment, and if it's
Speaker 3: in writing, I'm committed. So instead I'll call people like, hey,
Speaker 3: let's do this, and then when they send me mem
Speaker 3: I'm like, yes, so can't.
Speaker 1: You're a master of many trades. But I want to
Speaker 1: kind of take it back and just kind of understand
Speaker 1: a little bit about your life pre all of this
Speaker 1: amazing accomplishment.
Speaker 3: I'm very driven and I work hard, and I think
Speaker 3: that comes from my parents. Mom and dad came over
Speaker 3: to Australia in ninety two, no ninely three. They're refugees,
Speaker 3: so I was born in a refugee camp. So Mum
Speaker 3: and Dad lived in a refugee camp in Indonesia for
Speaker 3: four years and I was born there came every when
Speaker 3: I was Two refugee camps in back then are totally different.
Speaker 3: Two refugee camps now refugee camps now it just glorified prisoners. Basically,
Speaker 3: back then, it was more of a community. They were
Speaker 3: living in an island, they had housing. They all had
Speaker 3: jobs so that like they would work for money and
Speaker 3: or to trade things with like people that are waiting
Speaker 3: to get their forms dealt with, so their paperwork kind
Speaker 3: of worked out. So very different. But it was also
Speaker 3: really hard because Mum's really funny. She doesn't tell me
Speaker 3: a lot. But once in a while, when I'm like
Speaker 3: I catch her on a good day, I'll ask her
Speaker 3: something and she'll be like, blah blah blah this happened.
Speaker 3: I was like, how did you not tell me that
Speaker 3: for like the last nineteen years, like what I think?
Speaker 3: When I was at my first year of UNI, Mum
Speaker 3: was like, yeah, yeah. So when Dad was on the
Speaker 3: boat with me, he had to dive under to fix
Speaker 3: a broken propeller in shark infested waters, and I was like,
Speaker 3: what I'm like sorry, She's like yeah, because we could
Speaker 3: see the sharks following us, and then like the boat
Speaker 3: was stopped, so like someone had to jump in and
Speaker 3: Dad did it. And I was like, how have you
Speaker 3: not told me this? And she's like yeah, and we
Speaker 3: were shot at by like pirates and I was like,
Speaker 3: are you lying or you know? She's like no, No,
Speaker 3: it's true because pirates always go for refugee boats because
Speaker 3: all of those people's belongings, most valued things are on
Speaker 3: them because they're moving countries, they're leaving, so they've got gold,
Speaker 3: they're taking it with them. They have money, they're taking
Speaker 3: them them with them. Like everything that you have is
Speaker 3: of value, goes with you when you're leaving your country.
Speaker 2: Makes sense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, so I came everyone us too. We had
Speaker 3: absolutely zero. Mum was working for family. Dad was working
Speaker 3: for family, and then they slowly made enough money to
Speaker 3: then start their own business. Mum was working as a
Speaker 3: Maybe this is where the fashion comes in because Mum
Speaker 3: was a seamstress and she was a sample maker for
Speaker 3: brands like Portman, His Hands and things like that because
Speaker 3: she was really good with a sewing machine. Yeah. Dad
Speaker 3: worked as a butcher and then when I was ten
Speaker 3: or eleven, they opened their own butcher shop, which is
Speaker 3: kind of Mum's little baby. Now she's got like other
Speaker 3: stores and she's like really like changed everything. She has
Speaker 3: like a lot of commercial real estate. But Dad actually
Speaker 3: passed away when I was in year ten, but mums
Speaker 3: to use that as like her stepping stone to improve everything.
Speaker 3: But then she's got like this soft spot for the
Speaker 3: butcher shop where she's like always just goes into the
Speaker 3: butcher shop, which is the cutest thing in spring Vale.
Speaker 3: In spring Vale, so it's called TAM's Asian Butcher, so
Speaker 3: Mum changed the names. Now Dad's name was Tam. Yeah, oh,
Speaker 3: I know, she's so cute.
Speaker 1: That's beautiful. It's really interesting because obviously you've kind of
Speaker 1: taken little bits from both of your parents, which is
Speaker 1: so rare. I'm assuming that that's just like subconsciously you've
Speaker 1: just kind of fallen into these similar passions.
Speaker 3: So I think I have this theory that what you
Speaker 3: want to do in life and your passions in life
Speaker 3: are connected to nostalgic moments that you had when you
Speaker 3: were younger, or moments that you found happiness with, like
Speaker 3: Mum and Dad. I would only really see them after
Speaker 3: they were working in the kitchen when they were making dinner.
Speaker 3: So that was what was my happy place. I would
Speaker 3: sit on a bench and like I would help them
Speaker 3: like pick herbs or roll things, and so cooking always
Speaker 3: reminds me of happiness.
Speaker 2: That's beautiful. That is really cute.
Speaker 3: No, I'm fine. I'm like we're almost there, and I'm
Speaker 3: like I'm just gonna pull that back at tiny this.
Speaker 3: I don't start sobbing.
Speaker 1: It must have been really hard for you losing your
Speaker 1: dad in your ten like you're a teenager, Like there's
Speaker 1: so much involved in being a teenager and like the
Speaker 1: struggles that you're kind of navigating through.
Speaker 2: How was that for you?
Speaker 3: I deal with loss really strangely, and death really strangely.
Speaker 3: Like so I watched my dad die and then the
Speaker 3: next day I went to school and prettended it didn't happen.
Speaker 3: And I don't think when many people knew that dad
Speaker 3: even passed away, because I was just at school because
Speaker 3: I was, yep, this is normal. The teacher just knew
Speaker 3: because I was like late for like assignments and things,
Speaker 3: and they're like something's happening, and it's like, well, my
Speaker 3: dad's dead like, but but I used it in such
Speaker 3: a matter of fact way it was nothing emotional attached
Speaker 3: to it. And then it actually I didn't get emotional
Speaker 3: about Dad passing until two years later and I was
Speaker 3: sitting in the car with my mum and she was
Speaker 3: asking me questions and I was like, I don't want
Speaker 3: to talk about this. I really don't want to talk
Speaker 3: about this, and she said it like six times, like
Speaker 3: I kept asking me the same question six times or
Speaker 3: trying to talk about this subject. And so we were
Speaker 3: rolling to it, I stopped and I literally just opened
Speaker 3: the door and rolled out, Like I just like literally
Speaker 3: dropped and rolled out of the car. It was it
Speaker 3: wasn't traveling fast. It's probably ten k's because we were
Speaker 3: like rolling to a stop. But I was like still
Speaker 3: like yeah, and then it was I know, not me
Speaker 3: at all. Really bad decision though, because I had to
Speaker 3: walk home from to a half case.
Speaker 2: I regretted it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, as like I guess, like you even having to
Speaker 1: have that conversation, you'd prefer to basically roll out of
Speaker 1: the people have the conversation.
Speaker 3: That's big though, Yeah, Like I think I really just
Speaker 3: resented mum for no reason whatsoever, Like I cracked it
Speaker 3: at her, and then as soon as I graduated, I
Speaker 3: applied for Central Saint Martin's in London, which is a
Speaker 3: fashion design school. Got in, which I was so happy with,
Speaker 3: like so proud of, ran away, left the country, went
Speaker 3: to London, didn't really speak to Mum, and then I
Speaker 3: hated London. I hated the cold. I hated that I
Speaker 3: didn't know anyone. I hated that people weren't nice, Like
Speaker 3: I would smile at someone in the shop and they
Speaker 3: wouldn't smile back, and I'm like, wow, you're not smiling.
Speaker 3: And the school itself is really really competitive, like for
Speaker 3: fourth year placements you get put in like Chanel, like,
Speaker 3: you get put in like McQueen, like you get put
Speaker 3: in placements at these amazing European design houses. So everyone's
Speaker 3: trying really hard. And I was just like, I have
Speaker 3: no one to hang out with, I have no friends,
Speaker 3: I have nothing to do. So I came home and
Speaker 3: then I was like to Mum, hey for us to work.
Speaker 3: I don't think I can live at home, like I
Speaker 3: know this is my fault, like you've done nothing for me.
Speaker 3: I need space from you. But I did apologize as well,
Speaker 3: and we're best friends. Now, I cooked at it in
Speaker 3: last night for her birthday. Yeah. So but yeah, I
Speaker 3: was like I was a teenager. I was a jerk,
Speaker 3: and like, you didn't really deserve for me to just
Speaker 3: kind of cut you off, but I did. So that
Speaker 3: was really hard because, yeah, because obviously what I was feeling,
Speaker 3: Mum would have been feeling like a hundred times worse.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: How long did you and your mum not talk for?
Speaker 3: Well, we were talking, but it was very real, like
Speaker 3: I tolerate you kind of thing, and it was probably
Speaker 3: for about two years, two years from like seventeen eighteen nineteen. Yeah, yes,
Speaker 3: towards the end of seventeen beginning of nineteen. Yeah, so
Speaker 3: that that was really difficult. And then like, because I'm
Speaker 3: really close with my sister, so I would just speak
Speaker 3: to Amy and then my Amy would relay anything that
Speaker 3: mum had. Yeah, so she.
Speaker 1: Was kind of like the little middleman.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, it was all I love her, she's
Speaker 3: so cut.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Amy, you went on Survivor with Amy? How
Speaker 1: was that experience?
Speaker 3: Didn't get play together? So the funny thing is my
Speaker 3: sister and I we don't talk about our emotions a
Speaker 3: lot to each other. Yeah, yeah, like I talk about
Speaker 3: her to other people, but to her, I'm like I
Speaker 3: hate you. I to other people, I'm like, she's the
Speaker 3: cutest thing in the world. She's so beautiful. She doesn't
Speaker 3: know it. So on Survivor, I was like, Oh, it's
Speaker 3: gonna be fine, like we're not together. But every single
Speaker 3: time we did a challenge when I saw her, I
Speaker 3: started crying, like every single time, to the point that
Speaker 3: people were like, you're putting this on for the cameras,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, I'm actually not, like, I'm just like
Speaker 3: I'm just emotionally unstable.
Speaker 2: Like.
Speaker 4: How does she find being on Survivor and that, because
Speaker 4: I know I've spoken to you before and you said
Speaker 4: she's not really like that sort of stuff, like the
Speaker 4: attention and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 3: She doesn't like cameras, she didn't like attention, She didn't
Speaker 3: like any of that because she yeah, it wasn't for her.
Speaker 3: And then she went on and she's like love it.
Speaker 3: She's like this is easy. And then towards it end,
Speaker 3: now she's like she came out of it, and she's
Speaker 3: like people were sending me dresses and makeup and I'm like,
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: You also put out a cookbook which you sent me
Speaker 1: and I have. Yeah, I was going to say anyone.
Speaker 2: It's a really nice little note in there as well.
Speaker 3: It was a nude was.
Speaker 4: You said that you're going to cook me in your
Speaker 4: recipe though? So you still haven't. I could actually come over, yeah,
Speaker 4: to bring chat.
Speaker 3: I love Jen. I actually really like we need to
Speaker 3: like clear that part. Like it along really well because
Speaker 3: Jen kind of like bags Matt and I like it.
Speaker 2: You're my Yeah, you're my night. That sticks up for
Speaker 2: me sometimes.
Speaker 3: Sometimes because sometimes I've been like I've had a couple
Speaker 3: of drinks, I'm like, yeah.
Speaker 2: All right, Yeah. So the cooking book, what goes? What's
Speaker 2: the process with that? How does it?
Speaker 3: Oh? That was a well wind. So I always wanted
Speaker 3: a cookbook like but I didn't want like a normal cookbook.
Speaker 3: I wanted to be like situational and like all about
Speaker 3: like your emotions, because I think food is really attached
Speaker 3: to memories and emotions. So the cookbook itself is called
Speaker 3: a Gay Guy's Guide to Life, Love Food. So that's
Speaker 3: a pug for myself for myself. Yeah. So it's been
Speaker 3: into chapters like my family chapter, so it's like traditional
Speaker 3: recipes that I have from home, and then it's my
Speaker 3: family that I choose a family like my friends, so
Speaker 3: recipes I've made for my friends. And then there's a
Speaker 3: chapter on recipes for a broken heart, so it's like
Speaker 3: a breakup recipe. Yeah, so it's like Carby, it's like nurturing.
Speaker 3: It's soul food. And then recipes for your first date
Speaker 3: or like date night recipes, so things that you can
Speaker 3: share with someone else that looks really impressive, but it's
Speaker 3: like super easy. That's the chapter that I like. And
Speaker 3: the last chapter's fun and it's called like, oh, I
Speaker 3: don't know if I ended up calling it this, but
Speaker 3: originally it was going to be called a Gay Guy's
Speaker 3: Guide to Being a Basic Bitch, and it was like
Speaker 3: supposed to be like the most basic recipes that you
Speaker 3: just have to have in your arsenal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, how long did it take you to write
Speaker 2: the recipes?
Speaker 3: So recipes? I always have recipes, like I do them
Speaker 3: all the time. But the interesting thing is I was
Speaker 3: in Sri Lanka for a wedding when I was told
Speaker 3: that I was going on Master Chef or that I
Speaker 3: had like possibilities of going on Master Chef, and from
Speaker 3: that point to being on Master Chef. I had three
Speaker 3: months and then I was like, I need to do
Speaker 3: something to sell while I'm on Master Chef. And I
Speaker 3: was like, so I called my Plubis show and we
Speaker 3: were already been speaking about it. I'm like, Okay, we
Speaker 3: need to like fast forward this because I've got three
Speaker 3: months until I start filming, and a cold book usually
Speaker 3: takes like a year. So from that point, I was
Speaker 3: writing recipes every single day, like writing copy for it
Speaker 3: because all of my recipes there's all stories behind it,
Speaker 3: because there's reasons why they're in those chapters. So I
Speaker 3: did that in about three months. We shot it in
Speaker 3: like November, just before I started filming. During Master Chef,
Speaker 3: I was still like dealing with like the copy, like yeah,
Speaker 3: doing like amendments and stuff to it so that it
Speaker 3: could be ready for release by the time the show
Speaker 3: came out. So I literally really did that book in
Speaker 3: three months.
Speaker 1: Well done, That's yeah, impressive.
Speaker 3: Well you need to because it's like you when you
Speaker 3: know you're going in a national TV show again. I
Speaker 3: did it the first time, okay, So I knew what
Speaker 3: Myster Chef could do for your career. So I was like,
Speaker 3: there is so many eyeballs that are on you here
Speaker 3: that if you have something it's going to do well. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's right. I didn't want to just go on and
Speaker 3: be like I am here to continue cooking. It's like, nah,
Speaker 3: I've got a cookbook, I've got a restaurant, things like
Speaker 3: plug things.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you've all your brand the whole time on
Speaker 4: there as well.
Speaker 3: Well, this wasn't originally going to be a brand, so yeah.
Speaker 3: So the reason that I had you are Loved on
Speaker 3: my chest was I knew I wasn't allowed to wear
Speaker 3: branded stuff. You know that from TV. You can't wear
Speaker 3: things with massive brands on them. So instead I was like,
Speaker 3: I want a message for everyone. So the message is
Speaker 3: like every time you would see me, it just said
Speaker 3: that you were loved. So it's beautiful. And then when
Speaker 3: it aired the first week, it kind of went viral
Speaker 3: and then everyone's like, where's chef from and I'm like,
Speaker 3: actually it's not. And then I was like, so I
Speaker 3: called Sweater Club, who I love. They're a Melbourne bass
Speaker 3: label that do embroidery, like custom embroidery and things like that,
Speaker 3: and I was like, hey, do you reckon that? I
Speaker 3: can get like a thousand of these T shirts done
Speaker 3: and she's like what, Yeah. So that happened in literally
Speaker 3: the week that it aired, and I was still on
Speaker 3: Master's Chef. I was still competing because it airs well,
Speaker 3: you're competing, kind of like there's a crossover from about
Speaker 3: aout a month. And then I called my friends Minus
Speaker 3: eighteen and charity that I used to use when I
Speaker 3: was younger. They look after lgbt Q I a plus youth.
Speaker 3: They throw events for young queer people, like they do
Speaker 3: a queer formal. They throw like picnics and like events
Speaker 3: to meet other queer people. So I love them.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And then and like when I called them, they're like
Speaker 3: our slogan is you loved. And I was like, shut up,
Speaker 3: this is like it meant to be. I just sat
Speaker 3: on your computer. Sorry about that, you save it for Yeah.
Speaker 3: So it all kind of aligned. And so I was
Speaker 3: making these T shirts to give to Minus eighteen and
Speaker 3: they went crazy. I was all like a thousand every
Speaker 3: week because people were just like loving it, and I
Speaker 3: think I loved the messaging behind it that it was
Speaker 3: like it started from something that was really natural. It
Speaker 3: wasn't like, oh, I'm going on because I wanted to
Speaker 3: like sell a T shirt. It was like, oh no,
Speaker 3: this was supposed to be like a happy thing like
Speaker 3: for everyone. And then COVID hit which made it more important.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So like it was airing while COVID was just beginning.
Speaker 1: I remember, Yeah, yeah, it's so important when you have
Speaker 1: like such a big following, like you doing such a
Speaker 1: big profile to spread a positive message.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so for me, you know, you both would get this.
Speaker 3: You would get heaps of different charities approach you to
Speaker 3: do things. But if the charity isn't for you doing it,
Speaker 3: that actually doesn't mean anything to you, and it doesn't
Speaker 3: mean anything to your fan base EI though, because it's like,
Speaker 3: well how does this align? But like this, yeah, this
Speaker 3: was super authentic to me and it's like I re
Speaker 3: shout to them. I still work with Minus eighteen. I've
Speaker 3: been working with them for the last like three years now,
Speaker 3: and I love everything that they do. Like I applied
Speaker 3: to be on their board recently because I was like,
Speaker 3: I want to do more. I loved you, and also
Speaker 3: I'm not looking at you because every time I look
Speaker 3: at you as that smiling I've been.
Speaker 1: Looking at and this whole time, I'm getting a lot
Speaker 1: of my eye contact over here. I'm not getting a
Speaker 1: bit jealous.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't even notice. Well, speaking of Master Chef,
Speaker 4: you've been on there twice, do you reckon? You go
Speaker 4: on a third time to try and take that crowon?
Speaker 3: I think Australia's oversee me lose Master Shad. So I
Speaker 3: don't think I'm going to go on again again.
Speaker 1: Okay, can't. I am dying to hear all about your
Speaker 1: dating life a week. Are going to talk about that next?
Speaker 2: All right? I can't.
Speaker 4: So we find you're pretty private with your dating life.
Speaker 4: You don't give much up on social media. So what
Speaker 4: are you are you taking single in a situationship?
Speaker 2: What's the deal?
Speaker 3: I am? I'm single, Like I have my like guys
Speaker 3: that I constantly hang out with, but it's not like
Speaker 3: a friends with benefits seeing it's kind of like we
Speaker 3: might potentially get to that point, but we're just not.
Speaker 3: And like I run away a lot.
Speaker 4: I thought I met one of your special men when
Speaker 4: we went for that walk, remember like we walked that
Speaker 4: hill that double day.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, he was for a little bit.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh my god, got a boyfriend.
Speaker 3: But no, yeah, no, I was. I was kind of
Speaker 3: seeing him for a good year or so. Yeah, I
Speaker 3: don't really put like guys that I actually date or
Speaker 3: like see properly up on my Instagram. Like I was
Speaker 3: kind of in a relationship all three summer that people
Speaker 3: just didn't really know about. I don't know. I feel
Speaker 3: like I'm so public with everything else. Yeah, but like
Speaker 3: I'm really bad with commitment, Like I'm really bad with commitments.
Speaker 3: So like I feel as though if someone's actually on
Speaker 3: my Instagram and people know about them, that I have
Speaker 3: to be more committed.
Speaker 2: Now, Well, that is a launch. That is a hard launch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a hard launch. And I'm like, that's really
Speaker 3: not for me. Actually, Mattam and I did have a
Speaker 3: conversation about this, and it was all about like commitment
Speaker 3: things like that, and my train of thought is, I
Speaker 3: don't actually think monogamy is for me. I think I'm
Speaker 3: more open and a polygamous. I think that it's a
Speaker 3: kind of a little bit unnatural to be monogamous because
Speaker 3: is it only like two species in the world that
Speaker 3: are monogamous, and we're animals, So it's kind of like
Speaker 3: was this actually bred into us by like social pressures.
Speaker 2: Over time and like religions.
Speaker 3: Yeah, like this might not have been something that was
Speaker 3: natural for for for us as humans from the beginning
Speaker 3: of time, but it's something that's grown to become embedded
Speaker 3: into our psyche.
Speaker 4: We did want to touch on this because I remember, yeah,
Speaker 4: we had that conversation at my family easter about it,
Speaker 4: you mean, Jen.
Speaker 3: And at the family.
Speaker 2: That was my class.
Speaker 3: You didn't even come, your mom, like, you didn't come.
Speaker 3: I turned up before you. Your mom and I were
Speaker 3: messaging and then.
Speaker 2: I had lost my phone in the night before, so well.
Speaker 3: Who's oh that was your birthday? That was asleep on
Speaker 3: a park bench.
Speaker 4: I woke up without a phone and any idea what
Speaker 4: was going on. But yeah, we touched on the monogamy. Well, actually, Jenna,
Speaker 4: I had a conversation afterwards and I said, like, what's
Speaker 4: your opinion on it? And she said she was like, well,
Speaker 4: kinds like well, she actually answered right, She said, I
Speaker 4: don't want to sleep with any other guys but you.
Speaker 2: And because you know, normally people say.
Speaker 3: You would die if she set anything else, would be
Speaker 3: so brude like what.
Speaker 4: So I said, yeah, true, I don't want to sleep
Speaker 4: with any other women, but I still.
Speaker 3: Women, anyone else.
Speaker 4: Has the same opinion as I do that, like we
Speaker 4: find it uncomfortable to think of our partner sleeping with
Speaker 4: someone else.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't. I think that sex is a very
Speaker 3: different thing then an emotional relationship. So I think that
Speaker 3: maybe this is something that just happens for gaming because
Speaker 3: a lot of my friends. Yeah, kind of the same
Speaker 3: train of thought as me, where it's like I could
Speaker 3: have an emotional relationship with someone and be fine with
Speaker 3: them and sleeping with someone else. There's a lot of
Speaker 3: gay relationships that are open that kind of you either
Speaker 3: play together you play separately, but it's just more of
Speaker 3: like the consent from your partner that is important. It's
Speaker 3: not like a secretive thing. It's like, oh, I find
Speaker 3: him attractive, can I fuck him? Or do you want
Speaker 3: to fuck him together?
Speaker 4: I was yeah, because I know a lot of gay
Speaker 4: couples that actually are really open and like.
Speaker 3: Well to you definitely.
Speaker 2: Thrown out of I said, thank you, but no thank you, but.
Speaker 3: We know what you like. Matt.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a bit of.
Speaker 1: Sexual attension in here. I have to say, I'm feeling
Speaker 1: it a little bit.
Speaker 2: I'm just calling it out.
Speaker 4: Can just give me so many compliments? I just get
Speaker 4: so flattered and get overwhelmed.
Speaker 3: Actually think we have a really nice relationship. It's really fun.
Speaker 2: Well, you told me all you wanted was that, and
Speaker 2: then you wouldn't talked to me again. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I said to him, like, you know, the day that
Speaker 3: you actually put out, I'm gonna be like, Okay, we're done.
Speaker 2: I cand just likes to chase.
Speaker 3: I think I actually do.
Speaker 4: So you put a story up on your Instagram a
Speaker 4: couple of months ago.
Speaker 3: What I was doing.
Speaker 2: Left impression on both Anna and myself. You drive past
Speaker 2: a billboard and it was of yourself and you know
Speaker 2: that your ex.
Speaker 1: Well, we'll get calm to explain.
Speaker 3: So when I went on Survivor, this is a really
Speaker 3: lovely story. When I went on Survivor and I was
Speaker 3: doing my publicity shots, I was speaking to the publicist
Speaker 3: at ten and some execs at ten and jokingly said,
Speaker 3: I don't care if I get multiple billboards. I just
Speaker 3: need the one. And the one billboard that I need
Speaker 3: has to be on the corner of Nepeine Highway and
Speaker 3: South Road. The reason behind that is three of my
Speaker 3: ex boyfriends have to drive through that intersection every day
Speaker 3: to and from work. I love it as a joke.
Speaker 3: What happened, But seriously, what happened? I turned up driving
Speaker 3: through one day I was going I was going to
Speaker 3: like South Flane or something, and I was driving past it.
Speaker 3: I was like, that is me on that billboard and
Speaker 3: it literally just says it's just my head. It says
Speaker 3: King Khan. I'm amazing. Thank you who ever listened to
Speaker 3: me and did that, but that was incredible. I did.
Speaker 3: Two of them contacted me and that this was hilarious.
Speaker 3: I'm like, yeah, I'm talking about you.
Speaker 2: This is fir As far as petty go, that is unreal.
Speaker 3: It is petty, but it's like, oh, no, tongue in cheek.
Speaker 2: It's unreal. It's funny.
Speaker 3: It's amazing.
Speaker 1: What's your funniest dating story? Because I mean, I know
Speaker 1: that you love dating. You have lots of great dating adventures.
Speaker 1: Is there one that sticks out?
Speaker 3: So this guy asked me on a date probably three
Speaker 3: years ago now, and he's like, yeah, oh let's go here,
Speaker 3: blah blah blah. This time seven o'clock runs, turns around
Speaker 3: and we were swept about seven thirty. He's like, hey,
Speaker 3: I'm going to be about ten minutes. I'm like, no issues,
Speaker 3: I just won't turn up yet either. Then I was
Speaker 3: on my way there and he goes, sorry, I'm really
Speaker 3: sorry to do this. It's gonna be another fifteen I
Speaker 3: was like, okay, twenty five minutes the gross and I
Speaker 3: was I was like, all right, I'll have a martini.
Speaker 3: I'll just wait, and then he was like, I'm on
Speaker 3: my way. I'm looking for a park twenty minutes later.
Speaker 3: So at this point we're forty five minutes behind, right,
Speaker 3: and I was like, what the fuck, Like this is
Speaker 3: so annoying, but I'm also like two martinis deeps, I'm
Speaker 3: like happy, but like not like drunk. He turns up.
Speaker 3: He's obviously been to a festival because he is sloshed
Speaker 3: off your face, like he could not like string a
Speaker 3: sentence together. He was like pinging hard, and I was
Speaker 3: just watching him and he was just like yeah. So
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my god, I cannot deal with this.
Speaker 3: So I literally was like, oh, so I've got to
Speaker 3: go into the restaurant. Because I thought we were gonna
Speaker 3: have done that at seven. It's like, no, like thirty
Speaker 3: nine o'clock, I'm gonna have to go into the restaurant.
Speaker 3: Like it's made an excuse me didn't have to go
Speaker 3: into work, but I was like I needed to run
Speaker 3: because I was like, who is late for like forty
Speaker 3: five minutes? Like and then turns up absolutely slashed. Post festival,
Speaker 3: I was like, what was the point of this? Like
Speaker 3: why did we organize it on this day? Why didn't
Speaker 3: we do yesterday or tomorrow? Yeah, but funny non date
Speaker 3: story about five years ago, I was hungover. Yeah, Snapchat
Speaker 3: was still a thing back then. So I was on
Speaker 3: Snapchat and like I had a new feature where you
Speaker 3: could be like send to group. I thought sent to
Speaker 3: group means like you can group all your favorite people
Speaker 3: and you send them and it all sends individually. So
Speaker 3: to make that like easier, so hungover, send a cheky
Speaker 3: photo feeling like what are you up to? Eight guys
Speaker 3: into one group message? There's me again? And then I
Speaker 3: go and you know what, I like, I freaked out,
Speaker 3: So I left the group.
Speaker 2: They want to be organized a fool.
Speaker 3: One of the guys text things like, lo, we're still
Speaker 3: talking about like the group seal like they're like we're
Speaker 3: talking in the group, We're trying to figure out who
Speaker 3: everyone is, like because I basically just went like the
Speaker 3: rotation was all there.
Speaker 2: Was there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was like a scrap of the block.
Speaker 3: Everyone.
Speaker 1: Okay, I want to know about the hardest breakup you've
Speaker 1: gone through.
Speaker 3: A's a guy that cheated on me and that was
Speaker 3: really shit. Okay, oh my god, this is so fun.
Speaker 2: Listen to this.
Speaker 4: Okay, So before you start, was it behind your back
Speaker 4: sneakily then?
Speaker 2: Or yeah?
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, because because this is the
Speaker 3: part of the story. This is so fun. So I
Speaker 3: was like seeing this guy for like five ish months
Speaker 3: or so, and then one day we were like laying
Speaker 3: in bed. We went like it went monogamous or anything.
Speaker 3: And I was like in bed and we were like, hey,
Speaker 3: are you seeing anyone else? And I'm like yeah, and
Speaker 3: he's like I'm too. And then he's like yeah, do
Speaker 3: you want to not? And I was like okay, and
Speaker 3: he's like, so, like are we monogamous? And he was
Speaker 3: like I would like to be And I was like okay, cool,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm I'm cool with this because like, you're fun.
Speaker 3: I like you. It was super hot too, and I
Speaker 3: was just like, yeah, very you like all like the
Speaker 3: chiseled face, like yeah, he was yeah anyway, So I
Speaker 3: was like, yep, let's do this. No problems. I'm just
Speaker 3: gonna move forward in the story Tiney bed, but then
Speaker 3: I'll explain it all. He actually cheated on me the
Speaker 3: day after, but I found out because I was I
Speaker 3: then broke up with him pretty much like a month
Speaker 3: after that because I wasn't into it anymore. But we
Speaker 3: were monogamous for that month, okay, until I broke up
Speaker 3: with him. And then I was out one day talking
Speaker 3: to some maides and one of them was like, oh, yes,
Speaker 3: I slept with blah blah blah, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: my ex boyfriend. He's like yeah, yeah, and he's like yeah,
Speaker 3: it was just before Polo, and I was like, I
Speaker 3: was like, wait, just before Polo is in, like the
Speaker 3: day before Polo or like before that, and he goes, no,
Speaker 3: like just before Polo is in, like the day before Polo,
Speaker 3: and I was.
Speaker 2: Like, oh no.
Speaker 3: He asked me to be like you've been no monogamous
Speaker 3: with him two days before Polo and then like because
Speaker 3: so like there were like town time stands, and I
Speaker 3: was like so angry because I was like, wait, why
Speaker 3: did you ask me toous if we were going to
Speaker 3: continue doing what we were doing anyway, like you should
Speaker 3: we should have just not done that. That was the
Speaker 3: dumbest thing ever. So he ended up at the same
Speaker 3: bar we were out, and I was like, you you
Speaker 3: cheated on me with him, and he's like what. I'm like,
Speaker 3: you sat with him before Polo. Yeah, he goes yeah,
Speaker 3: And I was like, you sat with him before Polo
Speaker 3: and you asked me And then he's like yeah, but
Speaker 3: then you broke up with me later, I'm like, but
Speaker 3: good time. Yeah, you're cheered on me, Like that doesn't
Speaker 3: get a raise because I broke up with you, Like no,
Speaker 3: And it just got really animated about that.
Speaker 1: That's the problem with monogamy though. It's like if one
Speaker 1: person is saying they were want to be monogamous so
Speaker 1: that the other person isn't sleeping with other people, but
Speaker 1: they still want to do Like that's not fair and
Speaker 1: that's where the problem lies.
Speaker 2: So did you at the time, so like he just
Speaker 2: wanted his cake?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Really yeah, Like I'm like, what was the point,
Speaker 3: Like literally, what was the point of that? And then
Speaker 3: he full on gas lip me and was like like
Speaker 3: we weren't really monogamous. I was like, you literally were
Speaker 3: in my bed and we had this conversation. I remember
Speaker 3: looking up at my boxes because I found it really awkward.
Speaker 3: So I looked up at these boxes and I counted
Speaker 3: my boxes. So I know this conversation happened because I
Speaker 3: literally have a vivid memory of it and what I
Speaker 3: was feeling at the time, So it definitely happened. And
Speaker 3: he's like, no, I didn't. I was like, and then
Speaker 3: I was insane because I was at this bard on
Speaker 3: me and then like I saw him, I think two
Speaker 3: months ago we were out. He's getting your boyfriend. I
Speaker 3: was like, I'm really happy for you, and he's like,
Speaker 3: I'm really sorry for like everything, and I was like,
Speaker 3: thank you. We're still not friends, Like yeah, like I'm not.
Speaker 3: We're not doing myths.
Speaker 1: Okay, We're going to do a bit of a change
Speaker 1: of pace if you don't mind us asking how did
Speaker 1: you first come out to your friends and family and
Speaker 1: what age were you?
Speaker 3: I came out twice. I came out when I was eleven,
Speaker 3: very early twelve, maybe year six to friends first and
Speaker 3: it was all fine. Then I went to Halarbary and
Speaker 3: disappeared for a bit and like went back in. I
Speaker 3: went to molwhen high I was still in the closet
Speaker 3: back in the closet because you know, we were just
Speaker 3: studying the parallel education thing when I was in year
Speaker 3: seven oft Hailabury. So for those who don't know, Hailarbury
Speaker 3: is a parallel education school where they have females and
Speaker 3: males and probably now all gender's in the middle there,
Speaker 3: but they are not in the same classes, so it's
Speaker 3: not a co ed class. So I didn't feel really comfortable.
Speaker 3: So I was like back in the closet. Then I
Speaker 3: came back to Haillbury and I came out again in
Speaker 3: like year ten or something like that. Yeah, when I
Speaker 3: came back to Halliburary was when I came out because
Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, we're done with this. Then I
Speaker 3: came out to Mum and I thought it was going
Speaker 3: to be the most difficult thing that I ever do.
Speaker 3: I was like literally shitting myself and I did it.
Speaker 3: She kind of like piss her off because this was
Speaker 3: like after Dad died, so I was like trying to
Speaker 3: piss her off, and so I came out to her
Speaker 3: and she goes, great, let's send you to Vietnam. I
Speaker 3: was like, yep, she's sending me to the detention. I
Speaker 3: cam or like something like a conversion therapy place she goes. Yeah,
Speaker 3: because the LGBTQ community is very big and Vietnam, let's
Speaker 3: make you famous and vi Nama. I was like, what
Speaker 3: the fuck is this? Like, like, why are you not
Speaker 3: angry at me? Why are you not upset? And why
Speaker 3: are you so supportive?
Speaker 2: Did you think she had like the old school sort
Speaker 2: of moral sort.
Speaker 3: Of yeah, real, Yeah, I thought that it was going
Speaker 3: to be like a very because like being gay at
Speaker 3: the time, like twelve thirteen years ago, because we're young
Speaker 3: in Vietnam or in Vinamu's culture wasn't really something that
Speaker 3: we were spoken about. So I just thought that, like, oh,
Speaker 3: this is going really hard. But Mama's like being the
Speaker 3: most supportive person ever. So I'm very lucky because that's
Speaker 3: not everyone's story. Yeah, I still was scared and then
Speaker 3: they But the funny thing is when you come out,
Speaker 3: you also don't fully come out because as queer people,
Speaker 3: we have like this self that we kind of put
Speaker 3: on for people that we think is appropriate for the community,
Speaker 3: and then we have our real self that we are
Speaker 3: with people of the community. So that was kind of
Speaker 3: me for the first few years where I was like, yeah,
Speaker 3: be gay, but don't be so gay that it is
Speaker 3: like an issue for anyone. And then when I went
Speaker 3: on Master Chef the first time, towards the middle of
Speaker 3: it was when I was like, nah, fuck everyone, like
Speaker 3: this is who I am, this is what I do,
Speaker 3: and I didn't care anymore. And that was because of
Speaker 3: the reception from the Australian people, like the people that
Speaker 3: were watching, and they were like so supportive of me.
Speaker 3: They were so kind to me. The judges were then
Speaker 3: so kind to me, so like at the beginning, I
Speaker 3: was like dulling them down my personality, like changing the
Speaker 3: way that I spoke. I was very rigid, and about
Speaker 3: halfway through I was like speaking with my hands and
Speaker 3: being like this dish is about blah blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 3: I think I called one of my dishes that want
Speaker 3: to challenge my drunken sticky date. And then and then
Speaker 3: that was like why is it called a drunk and
Speaker 3: sticky that. I'm like, that's how all days should end.
Speaker 3: And this was like unational to They cut that part,
Speaker 3: but I was like, yeah, but they still call it
Speaker 3: my drunken sticky day. And it was a sticky date
Speaker 3: pudding with like a whiskey caramel and like a cinema
Speaker 3: ice cream, so it's like it's drunk because there's whiskey
Speaker 3: on it, and there's a sticky date because they get
Speaker 3: stick day pudding. But it's like it's my drunken sticky day.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 3: Yeah too.
Speaker 4: Any of our listeners that are listening and they're still
Speaker 4: in the closet and they're worried about coming out to
Speaker 4: their friends and family, do you have any advice for them?
Speaker 3: And it's gonna be the best thing that you ever do,
Speaker 3: because anyone that you think may not be supportive of
Speaker 3: you shouldn't be in your life. Really. Anyone that has
Speaker 3: those pressures put on them, like or that are putting
Speaker 3: that pressure on other people like you shouldn't really be
Speaker 3: in contact with those people. So if you come out
Speaker 3: and it's received badly, it might be scary, but you'll
Speaker 3: find your people, the people that will support you, the
Speaker 3: people that are your people, the people that will embrace
Speaker 3: you and celebrate you, and you will never be happier
Speaker 3: because it's really hard to hide your authentic self to
Speaker 3: other people happy. So you really should not have to
Speaker 3: do that. There's great, great people that can help you
Speaker 3: speak to minus eighteen minus eighteen are a great resource.
Speaker 3: The queer centers in Kilda, like literally a great place
Speaker 3: to speak to you. I know sometimes it's hard because
Speaker 3: you don't want to reach out, but I found it.
Speaker 3: When you surround yourself with people that are like you,
Speaker 3: you become more confident and you can become happier. And
Speaker 3: a lot of the time what we think will happen
Speaker 3: is the worst case scenario that isn't going to happen.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it does and that's scary, but most of the
Speaker 3: times it won't.
Speaker 2: Is what happened with your mum. Yeah, very perceptive to it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Con It's been so amazing having you in the
Speaker 1: studio today. I've learned so much about you, which is
Speaker 1: crazy because I've known you for so long. Yeah, thank
Speaker 1: you for opening up and sharing all of your amazing stories.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been great having you.
Speaker 4: And we finally organized it. I finally replied to you,
Speaker 4: or you finally replied to me. Let's not get into it,
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 1: And we're honestly really excited for everything that's in store
Speaker 1: for you. We'll be keeping an eye out and thanks again.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having me. Love you, guys,
Speaker 3: I love you.
Speaker 2: Too bro,