Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to The Maths Funny Podcast with
Speaker 1: me Joshua Fox, And welcome to the first episode of
Speaker 1: what I'm going to call The Aftermaths, where I'll sit
Speaker 1: down with cast members one by one to unpack the season,
Speaker 1: find out all the things they're now only able to
Speaker 1: reveal now the show's over, and also ask them, yo,
Speaker 1: what's next? And I hope you like the name the
Speaker 1: after Maths, as in the after math little playing words
Speaker 1: for you there, and you know, the word after math
Speaker 1: is also defined in the Dictionary as the consequences or
Speaker 1: after effects of a significant, unpleasant event, which sounds about
Speaker 1: right to be honest, doesn't it. Anyway, my first sit
Speaker 1: down was only ever going to be with the queen
Speaker 1: of the season in my eyes, Athena. With these chats,
Speaker 1: I'm not aiming to change anyone's minds, but what I
Speaker 1: will say is, if you're one of the people who's
Speaker 1: been saying things like why did Athena stay so long?
Speaker 1: She's just as bad as Adrian for staying so long,
Speaker 1: why did she change your mind? Or if you're wanted
Speaker 1: the people who've been questioning her as a mother, which
Speaker 1: I don't agree with, where it's been like, why would
Speaker 1: she leave a son for so along? She never saw
Speaker 1: a sun. I just want to say this chat will
Speaker 1: give a lot more context to things that we didn't
Speaker 1: see in TV that will answer some of those questions. Enjoy, Hello,
Speaker 1: and welcome back to the Mathspony podcast. I'm very excited
Speaker 1: about today's episode because I'm joined by my favorite braid
Speaker 1: of the season.
Speaker 2: Don't lie there.
Speaker 1: I've been saying that on the podcast every week, so
Speaker 1: obviously not listen.
Speaker 2: I haven't been listening to all. I listened to your
Speaker 2: one with my ex husband. Oh yeah, you had him
Speaker 2: on the pod before me. To be honest, it was
Speaker 2: quite hilarious, especially the part where he rang and I
Speaker 2: didn't answer.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, cheers, cheers. Okay, right, so we we're in Sydney.
Speaker 1: It's finally over, and you are a free woman.
Speaker 2: I am a free woman finally.
Speaker 1: I am so happy for you that you're now just
Speaker 1: you've seen the light.
Speaker 2: I saw the light a long time.
Speaker 1: Well you know, he saw the light. Then you went.
Speaker 2: Lot of rose colored glasses on there. No, I I
Speaker 2: saw some of the light.
Speaker 1: Some Okay, well let's let's rewind and go back to
Speaker 1: we've just watched the reunion episode. You and Adrian I
Speaker 1: both arrived separately, and it's done for good, and then
Speaker 1: it's done. He's kind of flipped the script on you.
Speaker 1: Is like you never shown an interest in his business.
Speaker 1: You called him stupid.
Speaker 2: I mean, was I wrong there to call him stupid? No,
Speaker 2: If I'm being very honest, throughout the experiment, I showed
Speaker 2: so much interest in Adrian's life. He if you actually
Speaker 2: watch back the episodes, I'm consistently wearing his Sweet Sunday's merch.
Speaker 2: He was always caught out for very place. I did
Speaker 2: product placement all the time, because they would recognize when
Speaker 2: he wore it and he would get told to take
Speaker 2: it off. They never recognized when I slipped through his
Speaker 2: product on. Not only that, I told him ideas throughout
Speaker 2: the experiment, like hey, when you bake this, let's film
Speaker 2: the cast now so that you can have those reactions
Speaker 2: live next. Yuh when this is all trending, I was
Speaker 2: constantly bouncing back on.
Speaker 1: His business manager.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, when I'm dating someone, I want to
Speaker 2: show interest in everything they do. So this is the
Speaker 2: direction he wanted to go. So it's like, if this
Speaker 2: is his direction, I'm going to help him go full
Speaker 2: steam ahead. That's high shot for a partner, but it
Speaker 2: was just everything. So I did have an interest in
Speaker 2: his business because it was for my partner in that
Speaker 2: same kind of context. I don't think he asked me
Speaker 2: once any questions about myself. And I think when you're
Speaker 2: so giving, you naturally just think the relationship is almost
Speaker 2: both ways because you're showing up in every way so
Speaker 2: things work well.
Speaker 1: My perception is you wanted it to work so badly
Speaker 1: that you maybe were blind to red flags and certain behaviors.
Speaker 2: And I think with what everyone kind of forgets is
Speaker 2: that I'm in an experiment. I'm in an environment where
Speaker 2: I'm in these apartments with a partner that I didn't choose.
Speaker 2: So I'm kind of there and I'm going, well, why
Speaker 2: will we partner to get together?
Speaker 1: This is my part to be something there?
Speaker 2: Well, there has to be something. So I'm showing up
Speaker 2: how I would naturally for a partner. So I'm still
Speaker 2: trying to get to know who Adrine is to his core.
Speaker 2: He doesn't know me yet. He doesn't have to show
Speaker 2: up as a partner yet, so I'm giving him the
Speaker 2: benefit of the doubt to get to know me and
Speaker 2: you know, put in the work that I'm putting in,
Speaker 2: and like, you know, we've given up a lot to
Speaker 2: be here. Let's let's try. And I felt like I
Speaker 2: was the only one trying consistently, and it was just
Speaker 2: really hard for me to kind of go, when do
Speaker 2: you kind of draw the lines when there's so many
Speaker 2: more layers than everyone else has seen, Like you've got production,
Speaker 2: you've got other cast members like cast members, but you know,
Speaker 2: applicants or whatever participants, You've got so many layers. And
Speaker 2: also when you're that cut because I never watched the
Speaker 2: show before, when you're that one in a relationship where
Speaker 2: it is tumultuous, it's scary because you go to these
Speaker 2: commitment ceremonies and you're open, you're exposing yourself to the group,
Speaker 2: and you're opening yourself up to criticism. And everyone online's
Speaker 2: only seeing criticism towards Adrian. What they haven't shown is
Speaker 2: all the criticism that I also received whilst.
Speaker 1: In the experiment from the experts.
Speaker 2: The experts, from other applicants.
Speaker 1: Oh really, yeah, what were you being criticized for? Because
Speaker 1: you kind of gave this everything.
Speaker 2: So in those early few commitment ceremonies, I addressed a
Speaker 2: few times where I didn't think Adrian I were compatible,
Speaker 2: and I essentially had the experts, because they're not seen
Speaker 2: behind closed doors, put that back onto me and say,
Speaker 2: Adriane isn't showing up because I'm pushing him away by
Speaker 2: using language like we're not compatible, I'm essentially saying you're
Speaker 2: not good enough for me, and so why would Adrian
Speaker 2: show up?
Speaker 1: So?
Speaker 2: And then also I had a few of the other
Speaker 2: girls when I brought up issues to them off camera
Speaker 2: where I said, hey, I think I want to go
Speaker 2: home again. I was received with that same kind of
Speaker 2: feedback where it's like, you're not giving Adrian a chance.
Speaker 2: Adrian's a soulful man, Adrian's given up to a lot
Speaker 2: to be here. You should give him a chance. It's unfair.
Speaker 2: Because X y Z left the experiment and then Elliott
Speaker 2: leaving the experiment almost was like this big scary story
Speaker 2: because you watched how much people ripped him to shreds
Speaker 2: when he wasn't in a room to defend himself. And
Speaker 2: now we all saw how that played out afterwards. Lauren
Speaker 2: wasn't that great, but in that moment when Elliott wasn't there,
Speaker 2: he got ripped to shreds. I thought, oh my god,
Speaker 2: am I not only did I not get the love
Speaker 2: of my life, I'm also going to be this villain,
Speaker 2: this bad person for not trying.
Speaker 1: So it's almost in those moments you thought, actually, this
Speaker 1: isn't gonna work you. Like Pear pressured.
Speaker 2: Everyone, I felt peer pressured, but not only that. Like
Speaker 2: I recognized very early on, there was a lot of
Speaker 2: characteristics within Adrian that I would never want for a
Speaker 2: life partner. Now, I if I saw a future with Adrian,
Speaker 2: a real future, he would have met my son. Like
Speaker 2: I went in there for a life partner and I
Speaker 2: got a child. I got a.
Speaker 1: Child, second child.
Speaker 2: I got a second child. Now the issue with that
Speaker 2: is you can blame peer pressure, and you can blame
Speaker 2: the experts and production. When I did choose to stay,
Speaker 2: even though there were so many layers to that decision,
Speaker 2: I'm spending a lot of time with this man. Intimately,
Speaker 2: we're together five days a week without the rest of
Speaker 2: the group. We're in an apartment on top of each other. Naturally,
Speaker 2: feelings are going to develop, and I did kind of develop,
Speaker 2: like this care for Adrian, where I would keep seeing
Speaker 2: a child do the wrong thing, and I wanted to
Speaker 2: keep helping him, and I just I couldn't remove like
Speaker 2: the child from the man. I kept seeing this child
Speaker 2: who needed my help.
Speaker 1: And then, well, my understanding is as the season progressed
Speaker 1: and it became clear Adrian was going to be a villain,
Speaker 1: that you almost felt protective, right, and you're like, you're
Speaker 1: staying more than you would have because you want to.
Speaker 2: I was genuinely protecting him, even at that last moment
Speaker 2: in Final Vows where everyone thinks I stayed to get laid.
Speaker 2: I didn't even have sex that night. There was no intimacy.
Speaker 2: We were never intimate again after that last dinner party
Speaker 2: ever again. But I almost felt like if we stayed together,
Speaker 2: they're going to show us better moments and not the
Speaker 2: worst moments that I saw. Still in those last moments,
Speaker 2: I was still trying to protect him.
Speaker 1: And even so, just to go back to Valentine's Day,
Speaker 1: when we first met at that girl's lunch and then
Speaker 1: you obviously kind of snuck out early because Adrian was
Speaker 1: picking you up, and I said to you, don't do it.
Speaker 1: You said, Adrian's picking me up. Then I was like,
Speaker 1: why are you doing this? Like I know that you're
Speaker 1: over you owe him nothing. And I was like, I
Speaker 1: can say I was like mad for you, mad at you,
Speaker 1: but obviously I didn't know you. But I was just
Speaker 1: upset as well that I still felt like you had
Speaker 1: a hold of you.
Speaker 2: I'll still I'll be very honest like at that point,
Speaker 2: I kept our communication channel open for him, not for me,
Speaker 2: because I knew how hard it would be for him
Speaker 2: watching it play out, and not because he's getting a
Speaker 2: smack to the face with reality. I it'd be hard
Speaker 2: for him because the backlash he would receive because he
Speaker 2: perceived himself as this big, amazing guy and he kept
Speaker 2: villifying me at any turn, and I knew the reality
Speaker 2: would smack him in the face and again silling me.
Speaker 2: I wanted to be like, hey, are you okay? And
Speaker 2: at Valentine's Day was a time where one hundred percent
Speaker 2: of the audience didn't like Adrian and one hundred percent
Speaker 2: of the audience were in support of me. So if
Speaker 2: I was seen with Adrian, Adrian, even if I could
Speaker 2: just take ten percent of that heat away from him
Speaker 2: and then add that ten percent towards me, I could
Speaker 2: handle that.
Speaker 1: But then there was obviously that was February fourteen, for
Speaker 1: now were the start of April, and now he's blocked Okay,
Speaker 1: well yeah what changed since then?
Speaker 2: What's changed is again, like the experiment, I kept offering
Speaker 2: this man lifelines, and it was always, you know, he
Speaker 2: would receive that lifeline, happy, get what he wants from me,
Speaker 2: and then a couple of days later take out his
Speaker 2: frustrations on me. I'm not your partner anymore. I'm barely
Speaker 2: your friend at this moment. I'm trying to establish boundaries
Speaker 2: and you were just knocking them over. I don't have
Speaker 2: to tolerate that.
Speaker 1: It gives frustrations that you like when he's getting slammed
Speaker 1: on the shower in the media.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, in the media slams him when something happens
Speaker 2: on you know, the show that he doesn't agree with.
Speaker 2: I'm always is outlet. It's like, this is your fault.
Speaker 2: You've done this, You've done that. There's never any accountability.
Speaker 2: It's never going Hey hang on a minute, I'm probably
Speaker 2: you know I could have handled that situation differently. I'm
Speaker 2: really sorry. It was just like the edit. You you
Speaker 2: you I'm always going to be the bad guy in
Speaker 2: Adrian's story. And I said to myself. You know what
Speaker 2: a fine Now you're always gonna be the bad guy
Speaker 2: in his story. You don't need him. He needs you, yes,
Speaker 2: And he's literally offered you zero kindness from how much
Speaker 2: support you've offered him. It's always just attack, attack, And
Speaker 2: I don't need this, like I really don't. And at
Speaker 2: one point you kind of have to be like, he's
Speaker 2: not a child anymore, he's an adult, and I'm done.
Speaker 2: So I blocked him on all platforms. I blocked him
Speaker 2: that day. I blocked him, and then he added me
Speaker 2: on Snapchat. I blocked him on Snapchat and now he's
Speaker 2: added beyond TikTok, so I haven't mate. If I had
Speaker 2: a LinkedIn, he probably would have added me on that.
Speaker 2: But I also think another reason why this is my
Speaker 2: naughty reason. I think I also kept the channel open.
Speaker 2: Adrian's relentless. He's like Jackie, you know, relentless. So I
Speaker 2: knew his frustrations would be online where he would then
Speaker 2: kind of push his narrative, get in front of the
Speaker 2: story and kind of paint me in a negative light
Speaker 2: like he did in the experiment. No one else saw
Speaker 2: that because it wasn't shown, but there were so many
Speaker 2: times where I would address concerns and it would be
Speaker 2: deflected back onto me and I would be made for
Speaker 2: like the bad guy. And I almost felt like it
Speaker 2: was going to happen now because I don't have a voice,
Speaker 2: I don't have an online platform. I'm not rogue like
Speaker 2: he is on every social media channel, uploading a million tiktoks,
Speaker 2: his brother as well. So I thought, if I can
Speaker 2: you offer him some kindness, maybe he wouldn't be attacking
Speaker 2: my character daily. But even with the kindness towards him,
Speaker 2: he was still attacking me. So it's like, why am
Speaker 2: I helping this guy?
Speaker 1: I just need to cut him off for good because he's.
Speaker 2: Still commenting about me, his family, his sisters, his dad,
Speaker 2: even it's fake fan pages.
Speaker 1: I think for me watching it, it was that commitment
Speaker 1: ceremony where someone else is on the phone, he's whispering
Speaker 1: to you, kind of telling you what you can and
Speaker 1: can't say, and that to me, we knew it was
Speaker 1: a bad relationship when I wasn't a fan of aging,
Speaker 1: but to me that was like next level. And I
Speaker 1: was reading people to find that as coercive control, which
Speaker 1: I personally don't know much about, having no experience of that,
Speaker 1: But did you ever feel like he was controlling in
Speaker 1: that way?
Speaker 2: There was so many moments throughout the experiment, almost every
Speaker 2: dinner party, commitment ceremony where back in our room no
Speaker 2: cameras on, where he would be like, you should say this,
Speaker 2: and you should say that, and you shouldn't be saying that.
Speaker 2: You're gonna look bad for saying this, You're gonna look this,
Speaker 2: and the language Adrian would always use towards me as
Speaker 2: when we would leave a dinner party, commitment ceremony, even
Speaker 2: production agrees with me, your behavior in there was wrong.
Speaker 2: Even production agrees no one listened to me. Even production
Speaker 2: agrees your sister was in the wrong at friends and family,
Speaker 2: So it was never just himself. The language he would
Speaker 2: always use against me was like a collective like group.
Speaker 2: He really isolated me because there were so many moments
Speaker 2: I would leave an experience with Adrian and I would
Speaker 2: think I'm the bad guy because he would use that
Speaker 2: collective language. Now I didn't have a relationship with production,
Speaker 2: but I always saw Adrian laughing, joking, high fiving production,
Speaker 2: like manipulating that they were all good mates, and I
Speaker 2: felt like I was on the outside, you know, had
Speaker 2: them all on Instagram. I didn't have anyone on Instagram.
Speaker 2: You know. He spoke to ex applicants. I didn't. I
Speaker 2: had zero connection to this maths world. So I felt
Speaker 2: like I was on the outside. I felt like I
Speaker 2: was Adrian's wife, like.
Speaker 1: Not a participant. You were like ys plus one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I felt like there were so many opportunities
Speaker 2: where I recognized poor behavior, but I was like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, his behavior is wrong, and I'm trying to
Speaker 2: defend myself, but they're going to make it out like
Speaker 2: I'm the bad guy, because he was always making me
Speaker 2: feel like I was a bad guy by the end
Speaker 2: of it. And there was moments in the experiment where
Speaker 2: Jamie always stood up for me. She always stood on business,
Speaker 2: but it was always just Jamie. So when we would
Speaker 2: leave a dinner party and he was definitely in the wrong,
Speaker 2: he would leave it and go, see how only Jamie
Speaker 2: stood up for you, because if you were in the right,
Speaker 2: that everyone would have you were in the wrong. And
Speaker 2: I would leave there going, well, why didn't more people
Speaker 2: stand up for me? Then maybe I am in the wrong.
Speaker 2: Maybe I am, and I would question myself because again
Speaker 2: that collective language.
Speaker 1: Would were essentially manipulated everywhere because producers do that to
Speaker 1: an extent, the experts do because theyre following a storyline.
Speaker 1: But then to have that behind the scenes in your
Speaker 1: room when like that's a vulnerable at the very small rooms.
Speaker 2: It's just we had the smallest room too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So other people had two bedroom apartments, they had like
Speaker 2: external bathrooms they had We had the smallest room in
Speaker 2: the experiment. I could touch my kitchen from my bed.
Speaker 1: That's I don't know. I feel like I had no space.
Speaker 1: I feel like everyone just failed you in a way
Speaker 1: that you should have had more support. You should have
Speaker 1: had people going that's not okay.
Speaker 2: And you know the commitment ceremony where I wrote stay
Speaker 2: and all of Australia gassed. Yeah, and it was just
Speaker 2: like this big thing because everyone was expecting me to leave.
Speaker 2: I actually had a therapy session during that commitment ceremony
Speaker 2: with the private with a private therapist that and Mole
Speaker 2: had like obviously employed to them. I we have breaks
Speaker 2: in between filming, and I literally had like a therapy session.
Speaker 1: Because you were struggling so much.
Speaker 2: I struggled right after like I start on that couch
Speaker 2: and I one hundred and ten percent regretted my decision.
Speaker 2: I actually felt like in that couch that in I
Speaker 2: was questioned more than Adrian was. It is an aired,
Speaker 2: but I was made to feel like I was in
Speaker 2: the wrong.
Speaker 1: So instead of producing saying okay, well you can see
Speaker 1: you're quite distressed, we can see you regret your decision.
Speaker 1: You don't actually have to stay. That is when I
Speaker 1: chat to the focist.
Speaker 2: I was crying in another room, like crying in tears.
Speaker 1: Like and this is the stuff for yous don't see
Speaker 1: and they've been gone. Why is it fin and gone back?
Speaker 1: Why did she at the final of ours say let's
Speaker 1: hang out? But it's all these little things add to
Speaker 1: that decision.
Speaker 2: And everyone goes, well, you know what, then you were
Speaker 2: intimate with him again afterwards, and then you and then
Speaker 2: you guys were you know, getting along. And it's like
Speaker 2: when you're made to feel like the bad guy, when
Speaker 2: you're made to feel like friends and family. Your sister
Speaker 2: could lose her job if it's edited a certain way,
Speaker 2: because my twin sister was so worried should lose her job.
Speaker 2: If you sit there and everyone doesn't know who to
Speaker 2: kind of believe because you guys are watching it from
Speaker 2: a outside spectrum, and you're seeing behind closed doors, but
Speaker 2: everyone else doesn't know what's going on. It's he, she said.
Speaker 2: And at this point, Adrian was a life for the party.
Speaker 2: Adrian was everyone's friend. He was in the group chats,
Speaker 2: he was facetiming everyone. I wasn't that close with everyone
Speaker 2: at this point, and it was almost easier when he
Speaker 2: and I got on. It was easier. I didn't I
Speaker 2: didn't have this weight on my chest. I was like,
Speaker 2: maybe just make it work a fena And then naturally
Speaker 2: after that, I had a better time when I just
Speaker 2: dropped every issue, stopped worrying about my needs, and just
Speaker 2: looked at it as like something to just kind of
Speaker 2: get through, And then it was easier. We're not being funny.
Speaker 2: I know you want it the thing that make.
Speaker 1: Me Okay, well we both need a drink, we'll just
Speaker 1: take a second.
Speaker 2: Yeah, shit, this is getting deep.
Speaker 1: Well, no, it's just And the reason I say you're
Speaker 1: my favorite Brider is because I think it sounds stupid,
Speaker 1: but I see a lot of what I've been through
Speaker 1: kind of in you, where I've stayed in relationships that
Speaker 1: I knew were not good because you think maybe that's
Speaker 1: what you deserve or what you're worth. And I know
Speaker 1: you came out of a fourteen year relationship straight into that,
Speaker 1: And like when my marriage ended a few years ago,
Speaker 1: I would jump into anything after that, thinking, Okay, I
Speaker 1: can make this work. You know, I've got someone again.
Speaker 1: And like when my marriage ended, I felt like a
Speaker 1: failure as a person. And then I was desperate to
Speaker 1: like fast forward to being in love with somebody else,
Speaker 1: and I when I see you stay and stuff, Obviously,
Speaker 1: I know you've got all these levels of manipulation from everyone,
Speaker 1: But then I just saw a woman who just wanted.
Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong, I love love and I love
Speaker 2: affection like I genuinely think I shop from my partners
Speaker 2: with all five love languages, and I'm very affectionate, Like
Speaker 2: I will cuddle and kiss all my friends like I'm
Speaker 2: on top of them. I'm you.
Speaker 1: Literally, when we saw each other a second, you jumped
Speaker 1: on it in hotel loving and everyone's looking around, like
Speaker 1: so affectionate.
Speaker 2: That is me. I'm affectionate, but I will be very honest.
Speaker 2: I didn't think Adrian deserved me within the experiment. That's
Speaker 2: how I was able to kind of leave that experience
Speaker 2: with kind of my head held high going. I deserved better,
Speaker 2: but I knew better during the experiment. It was just scary.
Speaker 2: It was really hard, and I felt like I was
Speaker 2: made to feel like I was letting people down. If
Speaker 2: I was leaving, If I left, I let people down.
Speaker 2: There was so much layers to that, but I left going,
Speaker 2: you know what, we can still be friends. We did
Speaker 2: this experience together. There is a care there and there
Speaker 2: are feelings, but those feelings never progressed past surface level.
Speaker 2: You're watching me cry and break down, not because I've
Speaker 2: got these deep feelings for Adrian. You're watching me cry
Speaker 2: and break down because of how I'm being treated as
Speaker 2: a human, like, even as a friend. Treating someone the
Speaker 2: way I was getting treated sometimes it's heartbreaking. You're gonna cry.
Speaker 2: If you're doing all these things as someone and you're
Speaker 2: being kind and you're being intimate, you expect some level
Speaker 2: of respect and just some like decency. And I was
Speaker 2: consistently blindsided by Adrian.
Speaker 1: For me, the hardest thing to watch with you was
Speaker 1: the episode with his sisters and Jasmine Chick, and to me,
Speaker 1: that was like across the line. There was no one
Speaker 1: could say that was entertaining to watch as Royality TV
Speaker 1: try yeah, like and is it true that? So they
Speaker 1: sat you down there and they all went at you
Speaker 1: before clear was brought on to say yeah that.
Speaker 2: Friends and family went for like five minutes, not even like.
Speaker 2: I was already nervous about seeing them. Adrian and I
Speaker 2: obviously off the back of a tough week where he
Speaker 2: wrote stay and I decided to leave. I was done.
Speaker 2: I've tried my hardest and I didn't want to be
Speaker 2: there anymore. So walking into friends and family, I had
Speaker 2: actually texted my twin sister that morning and I said,
Speaker 2: go easy on, Adrian, if we're here, I don't need
Speaker 2: this level of hostility. Like I'm struggling enough as it is,
Speaker 2: Like everyone could see that I'm struggling, like I'm a
Speaker 2: shell that day. And then I sat down and I
Speaker 2: thought it could be nice and nice friends and family.
Speaker 2: They're just gonna catch up. We can eat, we can
Speaker 2: have a few drinks, and let's just come on like civility,
Speaker 2: like we're grown ups. I was met with instant hostility.
Speaker 2: It was an interrogation of the off the get go,
Speaker 2: and afterwards when I said that that was hostile, it
Speaker 2: was an interrogation Adrian deflected that back onto me and
Speaker 2: made me feel like, no, clear when I were in
Speaker 2: the wrong and we were the bad guys and we
Speaker 2: attacked and our aggression was wrong and our language was wrong.
Speaker 2: And then even when we were like in a group
Speaker 2: dynamic that night the dinner party, he was telling everyone
Speaker 2: his you know, warped reality. I could hear him on
Speaker 2: the outside telling everyone his version of events. And I
Speaker 2: do feel like a lot of people failed me that night,
Speaker 2: because I think that more people should have stood up
Speaker 2: for me in that moment.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think it's not even the cast that
Speaker 1: failed you, it's everyone involved in this show, because, as
Speaker 1: I said, you said you went into that friends and family,
Speaker 1: you're already feeling a bit like uneasy. You weren't enjoying it.
Speaker 1: And they allowed those people, those free women, to just
Speaker 1: attack you before bringing in Cleo, who was your support.
Speaker 1: Like the production so everyone a woman who were struggling,
Speaker 1: and they thought, let's throw free people who are going
Speaker 1: to attack her. And like I didn't like people always
Speaker 1: say like, oh that my podcast meant to be funny,
Speaker 1: and I tried to do it, but things.
Speaker 2: Like that, it's I cried watching that back.
Speaker 1: I can imagine reliving it like I cried.
Speaker 2: And I think the reason I cried is because I
Speaker 2: when the experiment was over, I could breathe. I was happy.
Speaker 2: But I actually left this experience going I'm the bad guy.
Speaker 2: I genuinely did. I told Cleo, I'm gonna be made
Speaker 2: out like the villain. I was made to feel like
Speaker 2: the villain. So everyone else was watching it back like,
Speaker 2: aren't you happy like your story supported Like the other
Speaker 2: applicants that watched this show I won't name, but you know,
Speaker 2: like you've got all the airtime for this, and aren't
Speaker 2: you happy for this? And you know people saw your
Speaker 2: point of perspective like, no, I'm not happy because as
Speaker 2: much as it's like validating for other people, it was,
Speaker 2: it was hard for me to watch because I was
Speaker 2: made to feel like the bad guy in that moment,
Speaker 2: and watching it back out, I was going, you weren't
Speaker 2: the bad person, Avena, you were valid in how you felt.
Speaker 2: You were made to feel like the bad guy. So
Speaker 2: when you walked into that commitment ceremony and you chose
Speaker 2: to stay even though every bone in your body didn't
Speaker 2: want to, you stayed because you thought, I need to
Speaker 2: change perspective on yourself because you're the bad guy in
Speaker 2: this and your sisters the aggressor in this. So it
Speaker 2: was really confronting to me to see that, No, Avena,
Speaker 2: you were not the bad guy.
Speaker 1: You're never the but guy.
Speaker 2: So that that was hard because I was.
Speaker 1: Like, and you reckon going forward. At least you've learned
Speaker 1: a lot about what in the next guy you date.
Speaker 1: You know what to look for now, and you know
Speaker 1: what red.
Speaker 2: Flo No, because I'm going to tell you right now,
Speaker 2: I never would have dated Adrian in my own community,
Speaker 2: in my soil, in my friend group, in my like
Speaker 2: he wouldn't have got past the first date.
Speaker 1: H Really, that's the truth.
Speaker 2: If I met Adrian, I can appreciate when someone's attractive.
Speaker 2: For the language you will see me use through the
Speaker 2: experiment is chemistry, physical attraction. Chemistry, physical attractions. Chemistry, physical attraction. Now,
Speaker 2: I love to compliment my partner. Now, if he had
Speaker 2: any other redeeming qualities about him, you would have heard
Speaker 2: me mention it multiple times. The only reason you only
Speaker 2: hear chemistry and physical attractions because that's all he had
Speaker 2: to him. So if I'm gonna, you know, give affirmations
Speaker 2: to my partner. I'm not gonna lie. That's all he
Speaker 2: had and that's not a foundation of a long term
Speaker 2: relationship which I had just come from, and that's what
Speaker 2: I still wanted. He's someone I would have slept with
Speaker 2: once and not again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're all about those people ever again. Okay, Well
Speaker 1: let's I think we've spoken about Adrian enough now. Okay,
Speaker 1: hopefully we as the Australian public can leave him behind.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm i gonna say one thing though. Yes, after
Speaker 2: this week, you know it's done on air, I will
Speaker 2: never talk about Adrian again. Great, so this, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: do a few podcasts this week. I'm gonna do Channel
Speaker 2: want to interview press on Monday. That's it. You will
Speaker 2: never hear me mention that man's name again. He's blocked
Speaker 2: for a reason. I'm moving on with my life and
Speaker 2: I will never speak of him again.
Speaker 1: You know, what I like about you is the fact
Speaker 1: that everyone is now at the stage where they're planning
Speaker 1: podcasts and fashion ranges and this and that, and last
Speaker 1: time I spoke to you, you just went well, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm just taking myself to a sports club and then
Speaker 1: I'm doing a shift like Edge Care and you're like
Speaker 1: that's all you want in your life, Like you don't
Speaker 1: want these, you don't.
Speaker 2: My job's pretty awesome. I'm not gonna lie, like I
Speaker 2: have a really great job.
Speaker 1: But like, to me, that's just telling the character. You're
Speaker 1: just a nice, genuine person.
Speaker 2: Well it's I do have a good gig, and like
Speaker 2: I'm really lucky because like I've got a really great
Speaker 2: community behind me. I remember when I first got back home,
Speaker 2: one of my friends cried, and this is before it
Speaker 2: all aired, and she cried because she was like, I
Speaker 2: just want the light back in you. And I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: and I was like it's so telling of like the
Speaker 2: people I'm normally around, Like people genuinely care about you,
Speaker 2: and they can see things. They're not waiting for you
Speaker 2: to spell a picture, Like how do people not see?
Speaker 2: Like now you're watching it back, there's comments where it's
Speaker 2: like a veenis body's rejecting her, like she's a gained
Speaker 2: eight kilos in that experiment, but not only that inflammation
Speaker 2: my eyes, Like there's so many things, there's so many
Speaker 2: telling signs. And they come home and my friends recognize
Speaker 2: it instantly, you know, Like it's just beautiful being home
Speaker 2: in my community. Like I went straight back to work,
Speaker 2: I picked my son up on the way home from
Speaker 2: the airport. I flew home five times through the experiment.
Speaker 2: I got a cost to myself.
Speaker 1: Oh, they wouldn't pay for that, No, I pay for it.
Speaker 2: Myself, and was about eight hundred every time. And I was
Speaker 2: finally like cheap twenty four hours home each time because
Speaker 2: weekends we got off and it was like I had
Speaker 2: to be preapproved, so like yeah, it was like eight
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty each time, and then like obviously ubers
Speaker 2: to and from the airport, so it was like a
Speaker 2: thousand dollars to see my son every That's the.
Speaker 1: Biggest shock of the season to me. It would not
Speaker 1: to go see yoursel Yeah, I pay for myself fucking
Speaker 1: on the shows making tons of millions.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like literally, and it'd be like last minute that
Speaker 2: maybe it's a week I'm struggling, and they'd be like, hey, Pean,
Speaker 2: you can go home this weekend.
Speaker 1: And then they're taking a box like okay, well she
Speaker 1: was struggling, so she's good now.
Speaker 2: With Well, I get that twenty four hours home and
Speaker 2: I would almost feel like re energized, where I'd be
Speaker 2: like Okay, maybe I can. I can do this, like
Speaker 2: maybe I can put my big girl panties on, and
Speaker 2: let's try again, let's reset, and.
Speaker 1: You might not have found a pilot, but you found Jamie.
Speaker 2: I did think Jamie.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was very cute in the reunion, like all
Speaker 1: the girls together, like.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie. But the reunion was amazing and
Speaker 2: I felt like a lot of us women were very
Speaker 2: much in our power. Yes, and we left together like
Speaker 2: into another room and we were all just like holding
Speaker 2: each other like we've got this. And I don't watch maths.
Speaker 2: I don't know about previous seasons. I don't know if
Speaker 2: previous seasons had that girl kind.
Speaker 1: Of not so this like extent. It was more like
Speaker 1: one or two girls together, not like the whole group.
Speaker 2: But it was really incredible. But what you will, what
Speaker 2: you guys do miss out on in that episode is
Speaker 2: while we're all outside in that other room, very much
Speaker 2: in our element together, Adrian's the one who walks out,
Speaker 2: and it's like, come on, girls, come back to the
Speaker 2: dinner party. Like, come on, girls, come back to the
Speaker 2: dinner party. I'm like, oh my fucking god. The gift
Speaker 2: that keeps on giving. Yeah, it sounds about right, but no,
Speaker 2: I am incredibly grateful for this experience. I will be honest.
Speaker 2: At first, I had so much regrets. I wish I
Speaker 2: never did it. I think everyone says that, But now
Speaker 2: I'm so thankful. I think I left a really long
Speaker 2: term relationship. Now. When I left, I felt like I
Speaker 2: needed excitement. I feel like I'd missed out on something.
Speaker 2: Like everyone had kind of.
Speaker 1: Gone relationship your whole twenties.
Speaker 2: My teenageers too. I met him when I was fifteen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's like you might have looked back and
Speaker 1: fuck my best years of behind me, Like, and I
Speaker 1: didn't do anything wild.
Speaker 2: I was so thankful for my son because he's amazing,
Speaker 2: but I thought I'm missing out on something. I need excitement,
Speaker 2: I need something I need to catch up to the
Speaker 2: rest of the world, you know, Like I don't feel
Speaker 2: like i'd done enough. Even though I've lived this very beautiful,
Speaker 2: incredible life, I felt like it was lacking somewhere, like
Speaker 2: I had a hole. And then Maths fell into my
Speaker 2: lap almost And I'm thankful for it because I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people after a long term breakup, they
Speaker 2: spend years chasing something I had three months and when
Speaker 2: I left that experience, I was kind of like, holy fuck,
Speaker 2: my life is so great. I'm so content. I'm so
Speaker 2: happy in my life. I am not missing out on anything.
Speaker 2: The level of excitement I over my life I have
Speaker 2: every day because I have this beautiful community behind me
Speaker 2: and we do different things. You know, like it is exciting.
Speaker 1: You've got great friends, a good job, and a son
Speaker 1: and a.
Speaker 2: Beautiful home and a beautiful family. Right, And I'm excited
Speaker 2: because I'm I haven't been dating since the experiment ended,
Speaker 2: but I'm going to start. See, I actually want to
Speaker 2: get on the hinge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to get on and is the fun
Speaker 1: one and you can have a fun movie your profile
Speaker 1: and I want.
Speaker 2: To go on like like those dating events see single
Speaker 2: dating events, Jamie told me, any laying people go to them.
Speaker 2: But I'm going kind of yea like speed Day and
Speaker 2: I've never done it, but I'm going, yeah it, why not?
Speaker 2: Can't be worse than what I already did.
Speaker 1: Well, I will look forward to catching get with you
Speaker 1: again soon on the podcast, and hopefully you'll have a
Speaker 1: big update for us.
Speaker 2: Hopefully you will too be married. Maybe we'll both be
Speaker 2: hitched together.
Speaker 1: Okay, you know because I speak quite haheighthly of you,
Speaker 1: and I thing A lot of listeners don't well as
Speaker 1: I'm gay, so often they say, Josh, you should get
Speaker 1: with Athena.
Speaker 2: I've seen the comments when people were writing that, and
Speaker 2: I was like, how did these men not realize that
Speaker 2: Josh is gay? Like they were like a feet I mean,
Speaker 2: Josh ask her on a date, and I'm like, oh
Speaker 2: my gosh.
Speaker 1: If I was straight, I'll take you on the best
Speaker 1: day the wedding. I'll just treat you like the queen
Speaker 1: you should be.
Speaker 2: No, but I actually I will be honest. I think
Speaker 2: Adrian treated me or showed up for me the best
Speaker 2: you would in any relationship. I generally feel like I
Speaker 2: feel like that's just Adrian, Like truly, I don't think
Speaker 2: it's ever going to get better than that.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, on that note, we will cheers and end
Speaker 1: this podcast. That's cute.
Speaker 2: It was cute.