Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week.
Speaker 2: They might welcome back to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris,
Speaker 2: and on this podcast I go behind the scenes with
Speaker 2: the biggest players in television. Each episode you will get
Speaker 2: a front row seat with content makers like executive producers, writers,
Speaker 2: editors and casting agents, plus the talent that we see
Speaker 2: on our screens. TV Reload reloads the shows that you
Speaker 2: are currently watching and gives you a better insight at
Speaker 2: our television industry and streaming services today. On the podcast,
Speaker 2: I have the gorgeously talented ben otherwise known as Carla
Speaker 2: from Bankstown joining me. From Celebrity Apprentice, the iconic character
Speaker 2: Carla rose to prominence during COVID lockdowns as Gladys Baro
Speaker 2: Jicklian's assistant, and from TikTok to mainstream media. The story
Speaker 2: of a girl from Bankstown has warmed the heart of
Speaker 2: Australia like a hot toddy after a three day dance party.
Speaker 2: I have loved every second of their time on Apprentice
Speaker 2: and the term gronk has made me laugh like a
Speaker 2: school kid at the back of the classroom. Right from
Speaker 2: the start, I will talk about how this amazing opportunity
Speaker 2: came about, the drama from behind the scenes, who's a
Speaker 2: gronk and who's not a gronk and what is next
Speaker 2: for this amazing character. However, let's get started with today's guest.
Speaker 2: I'd like to welcome Ben aka Carla from Bankstown to
Speaker 2: TV Reload.
Speaker 3: You're not going to see Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe
Speaker 3: on Celebrity Apprentice. It's going I set the rules, I
Speaker 3: asked the questions and I make the final decision.
Speaker 4: Sorry, I don't talk to people that don't like Sorry, he.
Speaker 3: Can from the star studded lineup of Australian icons.
Speaker 4: Can I go and start some drama? And she's like,
Speaker 4: I would love for you to do that.
Speaker 3: They've all signed on to raise mind blowing money for
Speaker 3: deserving charity.
Speaker 4: He'd never know who was going to get fired as.
Speaker 3: They battle it out to become the next Celebrity Apprentice.
Speaker 3: I'm just really proud of myself for, I guess, taking
Speaker 3: a really shit situation and turning it into something amazing.
Speaker 5: Hey there, how are you.
Speaker 4: I'm good, How are you well?
Speaker 2: Congratulations on Celebrity Appredice. I think that you are the
Speaker 2: breakout star of this season. Everyone in my house is
Speaker 2: a gronk at the moment, and it's all thanks to you.
Speaker 3: I'm just glad that Aushirlia gets to use that in
Speaker 3: the vocabulary now, like that's the new word. My mum
Speaker 3: and dad say to me all the time. My grandma
Speaker 3: says that everyone says it. So I'm just very happy
Speaker 3: to have that back out in the world.
Speaker 4: Maybe we should try and see.
Speaker 2: We can get it in the dictionary Urban Dictionary. We'll
Speaker 2: get onto the Urban Dictionary. You know, when you first
Speaker 2: walked onto the screen, some people thought that you were
Speaker 2: a bit of an odd choice.
Speaker 5: How did this show come up for you?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, look, Carla was just something that I
Speaker 3: kind of started on a whim, just to like have
Speaker 3: a bit of fun and I guess, you know, build
Speaker 3: up my confidence because you know all the things that
Speaker 3: I want to be, Karla is.
Speaker 4: So for me, it was just really something that I.
Speaker 3: Wanted to do to kind of like get outside myself
Speaker 3: and kind of like show who I am as a
Speaker 3: person kind of thing.
Speaker 4: And then.
Speaker 3: Glad I've bought the Chicken's office speaker with Carlor from bankson,
Speaker 3: how can I help you today? Oh my god, bro,
Speaker 3: Anastasia parachutes, but what do you want? No, last time
Speaker 3: you called, I told you don't call again, bro. You
Speaker 3: know doing I did a couple of stories on a
Speaker 3: Current Affair and Carlo was kind of like building up
Speaker 3: momentum during lockdown and COVID and all that stuff. So
Speaker 3: when I got the call that they wanted me on
Speaker 3: the show, I was just kind of like, are you
Speaker 3: are you sure?
Speaker 4: I don't know, I used, are you really?
Speaker 3: Like you really want me on the show, because I
Speaker 3: know that like obviously, being famous on the Internet, a
Speaker 3: lot of people don't see that as being a celebrity
Speaker 3: or whatever the case may be. But looking back on it,
Speaker 3: it's kind of like Australia really doesn't have that many celebrities,
Speaker 3: Like we don't really have Like you're not going to
Speaker 3: see Nicole Kidman or Russell Crowe on Celebrity Apprentice. It's
Speaker 3: not gonna happen, do you know what I mean? Like
Speaker 3: we're not going to get fucking Rebel Wilson to come
Speaker 3: and do Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 4: That's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Ever, and we have so many reality shows now with celebrities.
Speaker 2: I mean, surely we're getting to the bottom of the
Speaker 2: barrel to like looking for them.
Speaker 5: You know, I.
Speaker 4: Literally just said I literally just said that to Darren.
Speaker 3: We were talking about, like, oh, what's next for Carla,
Speaker 3: Like what are we up to? And I was like, look,
Speaker 3: I mean I could do another celebrity show, but I
Speaker 3: really just don't know who else they would cast because
Speaker 3: we really just so we're kind of like scraping the
Speaker 3: bottom unless they just do all maths.
Speaker 5: People, I honestly think you.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'd be really shocked if you don't go
Speaker 2: to Africa and do I'm a Celebrity this year. I
Speaker 2: mean I could watch you on every show.
Speaker 3: I think if I was to do I'm a Celebrity,
Speaker 3: get me out of here, I would make it in
Speaker 3: my contract that I have to bring my vape or
Speaker 3: my cigarettes with me because I could not survive being
Speaker 3: in that fucking jungle without some form of nicotine to
Speaker 3: get me through and a coffee.
Speaker 4: Every morning. I have to have a coffee otherwise I'm
Speaker 4: not doing it. Sorry.
Speaker 5: I think it's called the Shane warn contract.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, one hundred percent, that's me. I will I'm
Speaker 3: going to be the Mariah Carey of the season. And
Speaker 3: I'm just going to demand a million things only should
Speaker 3: be from the left side, and I want my coffee
Speaker 3: and I want my cigarette. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Well, now you were talking like a celebrity, so I know, right,
Speaker 2: were you nervous to go up against these sort of
Speaker 2: let's call them mainstream celebrities, you know, were you nervous
Speaker 2: to go into the pack and then compete against them?
Speaker 3: Absolutely. I think the first episode that we filmed, when
Speaker 3: we met everybody, I was kind of like, I'm a
Speaker 3: massive reality TV fan, Like reality TV is something that
Speaker 3: I watch on a daily basis, like you know, watching
Speaker 3: You and Big Brother and all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 3: Like that's just something that it's my life. So to
Speaker 3: be in the company of like all these celebrity I
Speaker 3: was just like, oh my god, what is happening right now?
Speaker 3: Like are you sure this is actually happening? It was
Speaker 3: such a weird thing. But when we filmed the Golf
Speaker 3: Day episode, the first episode, I got home and spoke
Speaker 3: to I rang my mum and the first thing I
Speaker 3: said to her was I just was like, Okay, how
Speaker 3: are you going, And I'm like, no not. It was
Speaker 3: like burst into tears because I was just so overwhelmed
Speaker 3: because you know, all these people like have all these
Speaker 3: black Book contacts and they have all these like companies
Speaker 3: that would give them all this money for their charity.
Speaker 4: And he's me just being.
Speaker 3: Like, who's color gonna call, like the drug dealer down
Speaker 3: the road while we don't worry you to give her
Speaker 3: some money laundering money or something like, I don't know
Speaker 3: who I'm going to call. But it was a little
Speaker 3: bit intimidating at first, but everyone was really welcoming and
Speaker 3: really appreciative of what I was doing. And a few
Speaker 3: people had already seen me in the past, like Samantha
Speaker 3: Jade was like, oh my god, guys. Sebastian's wife, Jules
Speaker 3: loves you. She watches you all the time.
Speaker 4: I was like, oh wow, okay, cool. They so yeah.
Speaker 4: It was very intimidating at first, but I got used
Speaker 4: to it by the end of it.
Speaker 2: So I heard a rumor from the set of the show.
Speaker 2: I know a few people that have on it, I
Speaker 2: know a few people work on it, and they said
Speaker 2: that Lord Sugar had a soft spot for you, which
Speaker 2: I went to watch the show thinking, you know, he
Speaker 2: was just going to be obsessed with you. But in
Speaker 2: last night's final episode for you, there seemed to be
Speaker 2: a bit of tension between the two of you. So
Speaker 2: what's the truth? Was he obsessed with Look?
Speaker 1: I mean I the first okay, the first thing he
Speaker 1: ever said to me when we all met the first
Speaker 1: night when we were all together and they come walking
Speaker 1: out and introduce themselves, the first thing he said to me.
Speaker 3: He like looked at me, like did like a double
Speaker 3: take and was like are you a Sheila or like
Speaker 3: which what are you? And I was like, oh, fuck,
Speaker 3: here we go, right. So I was kind of just
Speaker 3: like thinking to myself, I don't know what he's going
Speaker 3: to come out of this man's mouth next. So I mean, look,
Speaker 3: I'm happy to say that I was probably I'm probably
Speaker 3: the only celebrity that's been on that show that actually
Speaker 3: got a smile out of him and actually made him
Speaker 3: laugh because he just he every time I walked into
Speaker 3: the boardroom in and out fit, he would always just
Speaker 3: be like, wow, Carla.
Speaker 4: You look beautiful, and it was just like it was
Speaker 4: a nice relationship.
Speaker 3: But by the end of it, when like last night's
Speaker 3: episode when I got fired and I was trying to
Speaker 3: explain myself, there was a lot of it that they
Speaker 3: cut out, and every time I tried to explain myself,
Speaker 3: he just kept cutting me off, and he just kept
Speaker 3: wanting to move on to the next thing. And then
Speaker 3: obviously like they played the part of me when.
Speaker 4: I called him an old.
Speaker 3: Man and said that I was sick of his shit,
Speaker 3: I was like, oh God, but I was just really
Speaker 3: like in that moment because I just I didn't want
Speaker 3: to go because I just wanted to I wanted to
Speaker 3: keep going. I wanted to try and prove myself more
Speaker 3: and more. And he just really kissed me off that
Speaker 3: episode because he just told me that I oh, you know,
Speaker 3: he didn't really do a lot, but it's like you
Speaker 3: were there to see what I actually did, Like I
Speaker 3: did quite a lot that wasn't actually put into the episode.
Speaker 3: It just kind of like make me look like an idiot.
Speaker 3: I guess I don't know, but I mean I love him.
Speaker 3: He was He was really nice. He was to me anyway.
Speaker 3: I mean, he didn't really like a few other people
Speaker 3: you know, called for actually said Gronks at one point too,
Speaker 3: which I was very proud of, which I'm annoyed that
Speaker 3: they didn't put in the show because that would have
Speaker 3: been so funny he I think it was the episode
Speaker 3: when we did the challenge at Manly where we had
Speaker 3: to do like sell all the random shit at Manly Beach.
Speaker 3: He met up with us and we were talking and
Speaker 3: he's like, oh, right, celebrities. You know, we're halfway through
Speaker 3: this task his competition and looks like Carla and Van
Speaker 3: are the people to be so watch out Bronx and
Speaker 3: I died. I was like, oh my god, he said it,
Speaker 3: but they didn't put it in.
Speaker 4: I'm like, God, what missed opportunity?
Speaker 2: Honestly, yeah, that is the That's the biggest missed opportunity
Speaker 2: this year since not using Oatsalaalila again and the new
Speaker 2: Big Brother.
Speaker 4: I know, what the what the hell?
Speaker 2: What were they thinking? You know, who did you click
Speaker 2: with the most out of the cast? I mean there
Speaker 2: was obviously a really obvious friendship with you and Darren.
Speaker 2: Is that the person that you've bought? Is that the
Speaker 2: prize of the show. You've walked away with Darren as
Speaker 2: your best friend?
Speaker 4: I mean, I Darren Is.
Speaker 3: I never thought that I would be friends with Darren ever,
Speaker 3: because when I first met him, I was like, this
Speaker 3: guy is such a smart ass. I don't know I
Speaker 3: feel like we're gonna clash or something, but he ended
Speaker 3: up being like the person that would Obviously he gave
Speaker 3: me a few pep talks on camera, but we would
Speaker 3: like call each other after each episode and have a
Speaker 3: chat and go out for dinner and just like kind
Speaker 3: of vent to each other about what was happening. But
Speaker 3: I would say, like his friendship. I got along really
Speaker 3: well with Bronti as well. Me and Bronti talk all
Speaker 3: the time. Samantha Gamble, I'd say, probably like I was
Speaker 3: good friends with everybody, but Bronti and Darren were probably
Speaker 3: the two that were like because I got so far
Speaker 3: with them, they were the ones that were kind of
Speaker 3: like had my back a lot of the time. So
Speaker 3: I mean, all my friendships that I made with everybody,
Speaker 3: I mean I never thought that I'd have Samantha Jade's
Speaker 3: phone number in my phone.
Speaker 4: I could just call her up and say hey, go
Speaker 4: with literally like the amount of time. Like when I
Speaker 4: first met her.
Speaker 3: The first thing I said to her, I was like, Hi, Sammy,
Speaker 3: I'm obsessed with you.
Speaker 4: I just wanted to let you know that you are
Speaker 4: a gay icon. And she's like, oh, thank you so much.
Speaker 3: That's so so much by Starter is my motherfucking jam Biach,
Speaker 3: you are an legend, And I just kept reminding her
Speaker 3: every day I see you, I'm like, Hi.
Speaker 4: You're a gay icon. Do I forget? Thanks, Carlor.
Speaker 5: They are the good ones.
Speaker 2: We need to get out of the way, But we
Speaker 2: also need to find out who the gronks were in
Speaker 2: the cast.
Speaker 5: So who were the biggest gronks?
Speaker 3: Look, I think I think everyone that's listening to this
Speaker 3: can kind of figure out for themselves who the biggest
Speaker 3: gronks were on the show, and they didn't really need
Speaker 3: editing to make themselves look like fucking idiots.
Speaker 4: But I mean, look, I got along.
Speaker 3: With everybody, even like Beck for example, Like I obviously
Speaker 3: watched back when she was on Maps, so I kind
Speaker 3: of like got the whole thing of her being the
Speaker 3: villain on the show or whatever that was. But like
Speaker 3: meeting her, we had spoken on Instagram prior to that,
Speaker 3: she followed me before that, and then she was probably
Speaker 3: the only person that I knew kind of on a
Speaker 3: personalish level.
Speaker 4: When I walked into the show and saw everyone there,
Speaker 4: she was okay to me. I think she just rubbed
Speaker 4: a lot of girls the wrong way because.
Speaker 3: I think putting a bunch of girls together and women
Speaker 3: together who have really big.
Speaker 4: Personalities, there's always going to be a clush somewhere.
Speaker 3: So I think that's kind of why none of the
Speaker 3: girls really got along with her, like Terria or Gamble
Speaker 3: or whoever it was.
Speaker 4: I think the only other person.
Speaker 3: That I didn't really get along with them that I
Speaker 3: really just can't stand, it's probably Ronnie from the Block.
Speaker 3: I'd stand him. Oh my god, Like it's just cringey
Speaker 3: watching back these episodes and seeing him like, you know,
Speaker 3: yelling at Tera and oh my god.
Speaker 4: It just like because I hate bleeding.
Speaker 3: I was bleied most of my life and by people
Speaker 3: who reminded me so much of him, just like that
Speaker 3: toxic straight masculinity and just being like really opinionated, and
Speaker 3: I just didn't really like he was nice to me,
Speaker 3: but I just didn't trust him. I just didn't jel
Speaker 3: well with him because I just knew what he was
Speaker 3: all about.
Speaker 2: So I was like, nah, sorry, I relate to you
Speaker 2: a lot, And I think I can imagine you would
Speaker 2: say things to these people that I would say, because
Speaker 2: I just say, you know, someone walks into the room
Speaker 2: dressed as a frog, I'm like oh a frog and I,
Speaker 2: but also we watch a lot of the same stuff.
Speaker 2: We watch all the reality TV. I would have pulled
Speaker 2: Ronnie aside and said, you know, I know you didn't
Speaker 2: your house didn't sell very well in that last you
Speaker 2: know series of the block, and then you didn't want
Speaker 2: to stick around on camera.
Speaker 5: You stormed off. You know what was all that about?
Speaker 4: You know?
Speaker 2: Did you go around and ask all of these other celebrities,
Speaker 2: especially the reality TV people, why they'd behaved stupidly on
Speaker 2: other shows.
Speaker 3: I mean I spoke with beck about the whole drama
Speaker 3: with her when she was on her season, and she
Speaker 3: kind of like filled me in on like behind the
Speaker 3: scenes of how they edited it and put it all
Speaker 3: together and matched her.
Speaker 4: With that guy whoever she was with or whatever. But
Speaker 4: with Ronnie, I just kind of really just didn't want
Speaker 4: to talk to him. I didn't want to bore of you.
Speaker 3: But see, like the thing is, there were so many
Speaker 3: times that a lot of us called him out on
Speaker 3: the bullshit and said things to him.
Speaker 4: Or whatever, but they just didn't play it.
Speaker 3: Like when we were at the Fairfield Markets doing the
Speaker 3: car boot sale, I was on the megaphone walking around
Speaker 3: and the producers were like kind of looking at us, like,
Speaker 3: you guys need to keep doing more stuff, like it's
Speaker 3: kind of boring, like pick up the pace. And I
Speaker 3: literally said to her, I was like, can I go
Speaker 3: and start some drama? And She's like, I would love
Speaker 3: for you to do that, Please go and do something.
Speaker 4: I was like, all right.
Speaker 3: So I had the megaphone and I walked over to
Speaker 3: where their team was and I'm like, don't go to
Speaker 3: these guys, they're grunds. Well, I come to our stool.
Speaker 3: And then Ronnie was like, oh, Carla from Bankstown and
Speaker 3: celebrity Apprentice, don't you have to actually be a celebrity
Speaker 3: be on the show.
Speaker 4: And I looked at him and on the megaphone and
Speaker 4: I was like, how many times did you lose the block? Twice?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 4: Sorry?
Speaker 3: And then kind of just like walked away from him
Speaker 3: and he just kind of was like, oh okay, but yeah.
Speaker 3: And then like the episode where he kind of him
Speaker 3: and Teria had it out in the boardroom, when he
Speaker 3: came back in, we could see that Terri was visibly upset,
Speaker 3: and we kind of like sat with her.
Speaker 4: We were like, what's going on?
Speaker 3: Are you okay? And she just kind of told us,
Speaker 3: and Ronnie was standing with back and I kind of
Speaker 3: like called out. I was like Ronnie, and he turned
Speaker 3: and I was like, yeah, Carlo, what's wrong? And I
Speaker 3: said why? Why do you think that Terria is sabotaging in?
Speaker 3: What the fuck's a problem? And he was like, oh, oh, oh,
Speaker 3: you know, don't you worries? It comes like kind of
Speaker 3: staunching over to me and like starts like going off
Speaker 3: at me about Teria or whatever. And because when he
Speaker 3: walked in, I didn't acknowledge that he had walked in
Speaker 3: the room because I was like, I don't want to
Speaker 3: give you the time of day, so I kind of
Speaker 3: just said, you know nothing. And the first thing he
Speaker 3: said was oh, thanks for welcoming me back into the room.
Speaker 3: I said, well, I don't like you, so why would
Speaker 3: I lit I don't like you, why would I bother? Sorry,
Speaker 3: I don't talk to people that don't like Sorry.
Speaker 5: I love it so much.
Speaker 2: I just think, yeah, sometimes you feel I think sometimes
Speaker 2: your brand is you know, what have I got to lose?
Speaker 5: I'm just going to be myself and I'm going to
Speaker 5: call it as it is.
Speaker 2: And it's not that you're particularly being malicious for malicious sake,
Speaker 2: you're literally just explaining to everyone on the basic terms
Speaker 2: how they're coming across.
Speaker 5: You know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I think like for me going on a
Speaker 3: show like this where obviously the people on the show
Speaker 3: are obviously very established, they know, like people know who
Speaker 3: they are, what their brand is, what they're selling, all
Speaker 3: that kind of stuff, whereas with me, not a lot
Speaker 3: of people knew who I was, so I just kind
Speaker 3: of felt like I had free rein to make that
Speaker 3: impression and be like outspoken or funny or whatever it is,
Speaker 3: and I didn't really have to worry like, oh, no,
Speaker 3: what are people going to think of me?
Speaker 4: It's like I don't really care what people think about me.
Speaker 3: That's my whole thing, because I don't give a shit
Speaker 3: what people think about Carla. So I think that was
Speaker 3: like probably the best part where, you know, all the
Speaker 3: producers said to me, like my interviews.
Speaker 4: Were always the best because I would just talk so
Speaker 4: much shit and you know, half a bath and you know,
Speaker 4: all that kind of stuff. So, I mean, I enjoyed
Speaker 4: it quite a lot. It was probably one of the
Speaker 4: best things I've ever done.
Speaker 2: To be honest, Well, you were able to be Ben
Speaker 2: and Carla during production? Was that always on the table,
Speaker 2: Like did you decide to do that at the start
Speaker 2: of production or I mean, was there what sort of
Speaker 2: a conversation did you have about fluctuating between Ben and Carla.
Speaker 3: Well, when they first approached me, they obviously floated the
Speaker 3: idea of doing just Carla, which I was I was
Speaker 3: all for, like that was something that you know, I
Speaker 3: was like, yeah, cool, I can do that.
Speaker 4: That's not a problem.
Speaker 3: But then they the more that we spoke about it,
Speaker 3: and they said, you know, it's going to be long hours,
Speaker 3: it's going to be you know, busy days.
Speaker 4: And I kind of thought, you know.
Speaker 3: Would it be because a lot of people started to
Speaker 3: I started to introduce myself as Ben to people on
Speaker 3: my Instagram a little bit more around that time, and
Speaker 3: I just kind of floated that idea past them, saying like,
Speaker 3: you know, could we do you know, maybe a task
Speaker 3: or two as Ben so I can you know, a
Speaker 3: have a break from putting makeup on my face because
Speaker 3: I was just like, you know, wearing makeup for like
Speaker 3: sixteen hours a day, you know, filming from like you know,
Speaker 3: make up. My call time was like four thirty in
Speaker 3: the morning, and then I'd finish it like potchnical good night.
Speaker 4: So it was just like an all day kind of thing.
Speaker 4: So they were like, yeah, we can do that.
Speaker 3: And then that's when we they said, you know, we've
Speaker 3: got the perfect opportunity for you to introduce Ben when
Speaker 3: we do this camping task because it's all about being
Speaker 3: yourself and things like that, which was a really really
Speaker 3: nice way that they introduced Ben and Kla together, which
Speaker 3: I really appreciated.
Speaker 4: Everyone was really nice about it.
Speaker 3: But yeah, like I mean, I would have been happy
Speaker 3: doing just Carla, but I mean, if they wanted to
Speaker 3: do Ben, I think I think it was a lot
Speaker 3: better for me to kind of show that side as
Speaker 3: well and not be just just Carla. People can see
Speaker 3: who I am, what I do, and get to know
Speaker 3: me on a more personal level rather than just an
Speaker 3: opinionated person on the internet, do you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I thought it was a really important piece of television,
Speaker 2: like it thought it was more than what it was.
Speaker 2: But maybe it was more than what it was for
Speaker 2: me because it really affected me watching that, you know,
Speaker 2: and I thought to myself, you know, how important is
Speaker 2: it to see diversity on Australian screens and that would
Speaker 2: have been a hard moment for you to do, but
Speaker 2: you know you are a trailblazer. Do do you think
Speaker 2: we need to see more inclusion on mainstream programming like this?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: I think like it didn't really hit me until, like
Speaker 3: I started when we did that episode where I was
Speaker 3: Ben and Carla, where it kind of hit me that,
Speaker 3: you know, growing up when I was watching TV, there
Speaker 3: was like hardly any queen representation on mainstream Australian television
Speaker 3: at all.
Speaker 4: Like I think the closest thing we had was like
Speaker 4: day Menda for example, do you.
Speaker 3: Know what I mean, Like there was not a lot
Speaker 3: of just in general, there wasn't a lot. And I
Speaker 3: think that that kind of hit me that I was like, wow, okay,
Speaker 3: this is actually something that I'm starting for people.
Speaker 4: And the response has been amazing.
Speaker 3: I've had so many people message me and say, like,
Speaker 3: you know, you are representing us so well, thank you
Speaker 3: so much for all of that. And yeah, I definitely
Speaker 3: think we need more representation in the media because there's
Speaker 3: really not a lot, to be honest, like at all, It's.
Speaker 4: Like no one.
Speaker 3: I think, like the first like openly gay person I saw,
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't even I actually don't even remember.
Speaker 4: I mean it was probably you, to be honest, let's
Speaker 4: be real.
Speaker 2: It's weird though, because like for me, I they started
Speaker 2: introducing gay people on reality shows and they were always
Speaker 2: the villain, although sort of being introduced as the villain,
Speaker 2: and I was like, that's not really true representation either, no,
Speaker 2: And interestingly enough, you know, that villain role that I
Speaker 2: think that we as queer people sometimes can lean into
Speaker 2: has a lot to do with our uncomfortability on who
Speaker 2: we are and how people are reading us. And so
Speaker 2: you know, that's a form of expression that was almost
Speaker 2: being bastardized in a way. You know, people were taking
Speaker 2: advantage of that without explaining the true sort of essence
Speaker 2: of it. You know, you struggled with bullying in high
Speaker 2: school and you sort of worked out how to laugh
Speaker 2: at yourself. Who were your inspirations sort of to take
Speaker 2: that attitude to not take yourself too seriously and to
Speaker 2: be like that.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, my my parents were probably you know,
Speaker 3: the biggest supporters of me and my sister, like they've
Speaker 3: always my family's always been really big supporters of everything
Speaker 3: that I've done. And I mean I wouldn't really be
Speaker 3: here without you know, their support and their love and
Speaker 3: then carrying which a lot of queer people don't have
Speaker 3: that opportunity need to have that relationship with them with
Speaker 3: their family. I mean, just like, you know, I always
Speaker 3: kind of feel like I relate to really strong, like
Speaker 3: like strong women. So you know, I watch people like
Speaker 3: on TV and like comedy shows like that, you know,
Speaker 3: like RepA Wilson who's done so much for comedy in Australia,
Speaker 3: and you know that kind of thing. But I just
Speaker 3: think that, you know, my family is probably the main
Speaker 3: people and my friends that have kind of just said
Speaker 3: to me, like, you need to stop worrying about what
Speaker 3: people think about you. You need to stop worrying reading
Speaker 3: the comments. Don't read the comments because they're shit. They're
Speaker 3: going to make you feel like shit. And yeah, I've
Speaker 3: just kind of taken on that whole thing of don't
Speaker 3: read the comments because it's really just not it's not
Speaker 3: a nice moment to read comments.
Speaker 5: Sometimes I say that to people all the time.
Speaker 2: Sandra Bullock always says publicly in interviews, do not read
Speaker 2: the comments section, and it's a bit of like a
Speaker 2: comedy repertoire that she uses where she leans into this
Speaker 2: one time she read the comments section and they said
Speaker 2: that she was old and she wasn't good enough, and
Speaker 2: she read three things and then just worked out.
Speaker 5: You know, it's not appropriate to do that.
Speaker 2: But one thing I wanted to say to you was
Speaker 2: and this this is how you came into my life
Speaker 2: as well. Gamble mentioned to me that you saved one
Speaker 2: of her friends' lives, you know, during COVID. I thought
Speaker 2: that was really amazing once I heard that story, that
Speaker 2: your social media presence was what helped during those COVID lockdowns.
Speaker 2: And were you aware that you were having such a
Speaker 2: monumental impact during such a hard time in Australia.
Speaker 3: I mean I feel like, you know, like everybody was
Speaker 3: going through the most during lockdown, Like it was just
Speaker 3: not a nice time. And where I am, like in
Speaker 3: Bankstown area, it was a lot more. I guess our
Speaker 3: lockdown was a lot harsher because you know, our areas
Speaker 3: were the ones that were affected the most and we
Speaker 3: had the most cases, so you know, we had police
Speaker 3: holy helicopters going over us every night. There was patrol
Speaker 3: cars going through make sure everyone was inside. Like it
Speaker 3: was just really like shit. And I'm a very social person.
Speaker 3: I love to spend time with my friends and my
Speaker 3: fami family and hangout, and you know, didn't get to
Speaker 3: see my friends for months, and didn't get to go
Speaker 3: see my grandma for months, and you know all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff. And I think Carlo in a way
Speaker 3: also saved me from lockdown and going crazy in lockdown,
Speaker 3: because there were times where I felt super depressed because
Speaker 3: I wasn't working and Carla wasn't going anywhere, and you know,
Speaker 3: and then that's when I kind of pushed myself to
Speaker 3: keep making the videos, keep trying to make people laugh
Speaker 3: because I was just so sick of seeing all the
Speaker 3: negative stuff that was on the news about you know,
Speaker 3: the pace, all that kind of stuff, and I was
Speaker 3: just like, you know what we need to Let's just
Speaker 3: have a laugh, Let's just take the piss out of it.
Speaker 4: Let's just have fun. And that's when I came up there.
Speaker 3: I did for doing like gladys Pa, and everybody just
Speaker 3: kind of like clung to that and loved that and
Speaker 3: that story that when Gamble rang me and told me
Speaker 3: that story about her friend, it like literally like bursting
Speaker 3: into tears because I was just like, I actually didn't
Speaker 3: realize the impact that my stupid little videos that I'm
Speaker 3: making my bedroom I having on people, Like it was
Speaker 3: just such just a real thing to think that, you know,
Speaker 3: because like so many people message me and say like,
Speaker 3: you got me through Lockdown, You've got me through this,
Speaker 3: you got me through that. You're inspirational, Like even Gladys,
Speaker 3: you know, I spoke with Gladys and she literally said
Speaker 3: to me the same thing, like you got me and
Speaker 3: a lot of people through Lockdown, and it's amazing, So
Speaker 3: thank you for that. So it's just like it's such
Speaker 3: a surreal thing because I've always wanted to be in
Speaker 3: the media and on TV and you know, all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff. Now that it's actually happening and all
Speaker 3: these people are receiving it so well, it's just like
Speaker 3: I love it. It's my favorite thing. But also at
Speaker 3: the same time, it can be a little bit overwhelming
Speaker 3: because you're like, oh my god.
Speaker 4: I don't know how to go onto this. I don't know, like,
Speaker 4: you know, what am I going to say?
Speaker 3: You know, now, I'm going to have to make sure
Speaker 3: I don't say the wrong thing and all that kind
Speaker 3: of stuff. But like, I'm just really proud of myself
Speaker 3: for I guess taking a really shitty situation and turning
Speaker 3: it into something amazing.
Speaker 2: And just remember the trajectory for people like Rebel Wilson.
Speaker 2: You know a lot of people that have come out
Speaker 2: of Australia, the trajectory wasn't this straight line. There are
Speaker 2: moments where you will be on Celebrity Apprentice and then
Speaker 2: you may take a back and you may want to
Speaker 2: work out how color can fit into other spheres. You know,
Speaker 2: things aren't necessarily going to be this up and up
Speaker 2: and up, and don't let that affect you, do you
Speaker 2: know what I mean? Like because when you read people's autobiographies,
Speaker 2: you're like, and then they got this job, then they
Speaker 2: get this job. But most people just delete that part
Speaker 2: of their story that there were those moments where they're
Speaker 2: on their balcony drinking cheap wine and smoking cigarettes and
Speaker 2: watching the past of Big Brother. Wasn't me not a
Speaker 2: story about myself?
Speaker 5: Not a story?
Speaker 4: It sounds like me need to be quite honest with you.
Speaker 2: Okay, great, we'll do that on a zoom chat. That's
Speaker 2: a different that'll be a chat for a different time.
Speaker 2: Before you go, I just want to ask you a
Speaker 2: couple more questions about Apprentice. What was the hardest thing
Speaker 2: about production? Did you get into your own head, did
Speaker 2: the long hours affect you, did you find some of
Speaker 2: the egos too much?
Speaker 5: Like what was it for you that was hard about
Speaker 5: making this show?
Speaker 3: I think the hardest thing was the boardroom only because
Speaker 3: you never know what Lord Sugar would do, Like you'd never.
Speaker 4: Know like who was going to get fired. And especially
Speaker 4: because like my team in the beginning.
Speaker 3: We were like the Girls team. We just like literally
Speaker 3: lost every fucking task that we ever did. So it
Speaker 3: was hard because I was like, I don't want my
Speaker 3: friends to go, and like I've just gotten to know
Speaker 3: these people and now they're going to go, and you know,
Speaker 3: because when they get fired, we don't get a chance
Speaker 3: to say goodbye, and then they just leave and then
Speaker 3: that's it. So it's like, fucker, what am I going
Speaker 3: to see these people again? All that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: I think that was probably one of the hardest things
Speaker 3: for that. But also I guess the long hours was
Speaker 3: probably something that I'm not used to because I'm so
Speaker 3: used to just like you know, during Lockdown, I was
Speaker 3: waking up at like one o'cle in the afternoon, chucking
Speaker 3: on a wig and making a video and having it
Speaker 3: out by the end of the day, whereas my call
Speaker 3: time was like four thirty, five thirty in the morning
Speaker 3: to be red seven. Yeah, I just I need it. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was it was the long hours of probably the
Speaker 3: hardest part. And I guess also being away from my
Speaker 3: family because I was staying in the city while we
Speaker 3: were filming the show, so you know, I didn't get
Speaker 3: to see my parents as often, and you know, my
Speaker 3: friends and my dog and all that kind of.
Speaker 4: Stuff, So that was probably one of the hardest things too.
Speaker 2: You know, the show has this ability to propel people's
Speaker 2: careers or destroy people. You know, do you think the
Speaker 2: celebrities know what side of the fence that they're on?
Speaker 2: You know, do they think that do you think that
Speaker 2: those people in that show know how they're coming across
Speaker 2: so to speak.
Speaker 3: Look, I mean a lot of the celebrities, like watching
Speaker 3: it back, obviously knowing and filming with them, and then
Speaker 3: watching the show back, a lot of it was pretty
Speaker 3: much true to who they are as people. Because we
Speaker 3: did we did actually get all of us got along
Speaker 3: so well.
Speaker 6: I think because we had just come out of like
Speaker 6: this big lockdown and like especially like Gamble coming from
Speaker 6: Melbourne where they had their massive lockdown, and we kind
Speaker 6: of all banded together because it was the first time
Speaker 6: we were all around people, and so we all bought it.
Speaker 6: And then it got to a point where production was
Speaker 6: just kind of like, you guys need to stop being
Speaker 6: friends and start making some fucking drama for us, please.
Speaker 4: You can't just be friends all the time. Someone has
Speaker 4: to start something. So we were just kind of like, yeah,
Speaker 4: but we love each other, like, you know, what are
Speaker 4: we gonna do?
Speaker 3: But yeah, I think like a lot of the celebrities knew,
Speaker 3: Like I mean, Sammy for example, was really nervous when
Speaker 3: before the show aired. She like we were talking every
Speaker 3: day and she was just like, I'm so nervous. I
Speaker 3: don't know how I'm gonna be portrayed. And I'm like,
Speaker 3: but you weren't bad, Like you've never said anything horrible,
Speaker 3: you weren't mean to people, You were just yourself, and
Speaker 3: it's going to show. And I think, I mean, the
Speaker 3: only people that really didn't need an edit to make
Speaker 3: themselves look stupid would probably infected Ronnie, to be honest,
Speaker 3: they're the only two people that I guess, like, I
Speaker 3: think I think Ronnie did an interview, and he was
Speaker 3: saying like, oh, yeah, it's all the way it's been edited,
Speaker 3: And you know, I'm not really like that as a person.
Speaker 4: I'm like, yes, you are, you are, you are lying.
Speaker 2: People say that to me all the time, Like, you know,
Speaker 2: I've done different shows and people always it was the edit.
Speaker 2: But I'm like, I know that from doing any show.
Speaker 2: Maybe your edit is a little bit harsh. Maybe they've
Speaker 2: caught you saying something that is probably yeah, that's.
Speaker 5: A little over the top for you.
Speaker 2: But the essence of who people are is exactly who
Speaker 2: they are, you know what I mean, Like, you can't
Speaker 2: stuff around with the essence of it. And it's it's
Speaker 2: like where there's smoke, there's fire. That's kind of how
Speaker 2: reality TV works. You know, it might not necessarily be
Speaker 2: your houses burnt down, but you know you are a
Speaker 2: bit of.
Speaker 4: A shit exactly. But that's the whole thing.
Speaker 3: It's like, regardless of how people are edited on reality TV,
Speaker 3: the words still came out of your mouth, do you.
Speaker 4: Know what I mean? You still said that.
Speaker 3: And you know, there were a lot of times which
Speaker 3: they caught on camera where I was saying shit under
Speaker 3: my breath and I didn't think that it would make
Speaker 3: it there like me calling old chulgarn old man and
Speaker 3: getting pissed off with him or whatever it was.
Speaker 4: I'm just so sick of that old man always questioning my.
Speaker 3: Work ethic and telling me that I'm not doing a
Speaker 3: good enough job.
Speaker 5: The food service was shit, Like you know, you guys
Speaker 5: saw me running.
Speaker 3: Around like a chick, But like that was just me
Speaker 3: in the moment, being upset and angry. And I guess
Speaker 3: like watching that last night, I was like, oh fuck,
Speaker 3: I actually don't even remember saying that, And then I
Speaker 3: kind of that moment if I'm like, actually, no, I
Speaker 3: do remember, because I was very upset and all that
Speaker 3: kind of stuff.
Speaker 4: But yeah, like if you've said it, you said it.
Speaker 3: And I think the thing that people need to remember
Speaker 3: is if you have said something horrible, just own it.
Speaker 3: Like there's no point in trying to make up an
Speaker 3: excuse as to oh, no, I never said that. Oh no,
Speaker 3: I never did that, Like like on Real Housewives when
Speaker 3: Gina called Lydia at the sea word and she's like, no,
Speaker 3: I never said that, and then they played the audio
Speaker 3: back and she said it's like, oh that's no, No,
Speaker 3: I never said that.
Speaker 4: Dob that's not me. Like, that's the kunny thing I
Speaker 4: related like to you said it. You said it period,
Speaker 4: that's it.
Speaker 5: I love Genealiana.
Speaker 2: You know, your final boardroom, you looked a little exhausted,
Speaker 2: more so than any other time of the show. You
Speaker 2: know what was going on in your mind just before
Speaker 2: you were fired?
Speaker 4: I was panicking.
Speaker 3: I was thinking like I had made such good friends
Speaker 3: and I had already made a lot of money for
Speaker 3: my charity, and I kind of just I felt like
Speaker 3: it was almost like a school camp kind of thing,
Speaker 3: like I didn't want to go home. I wanted to
Speaker 3: stay and hang out with my friends, and I wanted to,
Speaker 3: you know, make more parody, and I wanted to be
Speaker 3: on TV more.
Speaker 4: I wanted to.
Speaker 3: I was just so caught up in it, having such
Speaker 3: a great time that you know. And then I kind
Speaker 3: of thought, when you know, Jeane decided to bring us back,
Speaker 3: I was just kind of like, oh shit, like am
Speaker 3: I gonna go? What's he going to do? And obviously,
Speaker 3: like a lot of people have been messaging me saying.
Speaker 4: Jean should have gone home.
Speaker 3: Jeane didn't do this, she didn't do that, And look,
Speaker 3: I'll be honest, like I love Geene to Dash. She's
Speaker 3: I'm very close with her and I think she should
Speaker 3: have gone too, Like she sent me a message last
Speaker 3: night she called me and said her kids were in
Speaker 3: the background yelling out we love you, we love your Carla,
Speaker 3: and she's like, yeah, my kids aren't talking to me
Speaker 3: at the moment because they're upset.
Speaker 4: That you went home and I did it because they keep.
Speaker 3: Telling me that I should have gotten by, So now
Speaker 3: they're not talking to me and I'm like, oh sorry,
Speaker 3: but yeah, I mean like, look, it's it is what
Speaker 3: it is.
Speaker 4: And I think that it's just that's it.
Speaker 3: That's just where the cookie crumble sometimes, and I think
Speaker 3: it just everything was just caught up. And we had
Speaker 3: been filming that week, only had like one day off
Speaker 3: in between like ten days.
Speaker 4: So I was just like so.
Speaker 3: Exhausted, and the boat was just like ridiculous, and those
Speaker 3: girls were so horrible to me on the boat, and
Speaker 3: I got really seasick at one point because I can't
Speaker 3: really be on a boat for too long and I
Speaker 3: was like, you know, throwing up, and I was I
Speaker 3: was just not having a good day that day, and
Speaker 3: I just kind of felt like, I feel like this
Speaker 3: is my moment, I feel like I'm gonna go home tonight.
Speaker 3: I'm kind of relieved because I really like to go
Speaker 3: back to my own bed and see my family. But
Speaker 3: I'm kind of really sad that I didn't get to,
Speaker 3: I guess make it to the finale because everyone kept
Speaker 3: saying to me, you're gonna get You're gonna go to
Speaker 3: the finale, You're.
Speaker 4: Gonna be and in this show you're going to go through.
Speaker 3: And I'm just like, you know, how cool would it
Speaker 3: be to have queer representation in a grand finale of
Speaker 3: mainstream media TV show? Like that would be incredible? But
Speaker 3: you know, always All Stars. That's what I kept saying
Speaker 3: to them, Like, can you guys make sure you do
Speaker 3: Slavia Prince just does and bring me back here because
Speaker 3: I'll be there.
Speaker 2: I want my friend, Like my friend Laila was on it,
Speaker 2: and I keep saying that to her. She's just done
Speaker 2: Big Brother All Stars and I'm like, now you've got
Speaker 2: to do Celebrity All Stars and a Celebrity Apprentice All Stars.
Speaker 2: She was like, oh, Ben, She's like, I could do
Speaker 2: a lot of shows again, but I can't do that.
Speaker 4: Oh my god.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I'm good friends with her brother David. Me and David
Speaker 3: like talk all the time and love him up and
Speaker 3: comes to in here.
Speaker 4: It's so funny.
Speaker 3: And him and I were saying like, maybe him and
Speaker 3: I should do a reality show together, and I was like,
Speaker 3: oh my god, maybe we could do like Celebrity Married
Speaker 3: at First Sight, him and I could get married together,
Speaker 3: and just cause drama, I feel.
Speaker 5: Like, no, it's it's simple life.
Speaker 2: You guys need to do the simple and go around
Speaker 2: Australia like, I don't care whether or not nine seven
Speaker 2: or ten or whoever can't get on board find someone
Speaker 2: to put the money together for that show, because you
Speaker 2: and David doing the simple life is gold television.
Speaker 3: It would be I just want to see him trying
Speaker 3: milk a cow and he's my heel shoes. I think
Speaker 3: that would be great.
Speaker 2: What is something from behind the scenes that we didn't
Speaker 2: see that we won't see from your time on Celebrity Apprentice,
Speaker 2: kind of like a behind the scenes secret.
Speaker 3: Well, there was one part of one of the episodes
Speaker 3: where I got a phone call from Gladys for my birthday,
Speaker 3: which they filmed but never put in the final episode,
Speaker 3: which I was really annoyed about because that would have
Speaker 3: been iconic.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 3: So we were filming the week of We were filming
Speaker 3: during my birthday and the Furfield Markets episode was my
Speaker 3: actual birthday, and then the next day we had to
Speaker 3: do the next task and my manager Drew said to me,
Speaker 3: I've got a birthday present for you. When your phone reachs,
Speaker 3: just answer it. And I'm like, okay, who's gonna call me?
Speaker 3: Like okay, well, I'm sitting there, And luckily it was
Speaker 3: like we were filming the lingerie task when we were
Speaker 3: doing the fashion show and I went outside to have
Speaker 3: a cigarette and have a break or whatever, and obviously
Speaker 3: I was still Mike because I'm sitting there at my
Speaker 3: phone reachs, and I answered, I'm like hello, and then
Speaker 3: this voice was like, Hi.
Speaker 4: Is this Carla?
Speaker 3: And I was like, yes, speaking, who's this And she's like, hi, Color,
Speaker 3: it's Glad, but a chicken here, and I was like,
Speaker 3: oh my god. I literally was like get fucked and
Speaker 3: she's like, yes, it's me. Hi.
Speaker 4: I just wanted to ring in wish you a happy birthday.
Speaker 4: And I was like, oh my god, this is amazing.
Speaker 3: And then the crew had obviously heard it through my mic,
Speaker 3: and then they came running out with the camera and
Speaker 3: they're like, we need to film this started again. So
Speaker 3: I'm like, gladys, I'm filming so many apprentices at the moment,
Speaker 3: can we record this conversation.
Speaker 4: It's like, yeah, that's fine, no worries. But the conversation
Speaker 4: was so sweet.
Speaker 3: It was just like, you know, wishing me a happy
Speaker 3: birthday and thanking me for being her assistant and all
Speaker 3: that kind of stuff, and it was a really wholesome
Speaker 3: moment for me, just so amazing.
Speaker 4: But I'm just like, why didn't they put it in
Speaker 4: the show. It would have been so funny.
Speaker 2: But I'm guiding to channel line now and warnas please
Speaker 2: please try I've got You're fired.
Speaker 4: I've got a copy of.
Speaker 3: It on my phone because the producer filmed it on
Speaker 3: my phone, which I'm probably going to try and upload soon,
Speaker 3: but I want to make sure that I'm like allowed.
Speaker 4: To upload it because I don't want to get, you know,
Speaker 4: sued for anything that's not I don't have any money.
Speaker 4: I don't have any money to.
Speaker 2: Do a law suit than you're the ever heard of
Speaker 2: the situation here. Absolutely, I have love chatting with you. You
Speaker 2: are absolutely fantastic. I will forever be in your audience
Speaker 2: good luck with whatever you decide that you want to
Speaker 2: do next.
Speaker 5: I think there's an enormous amount of people in your audience.
Speaker 3: Oh, I've got I've got music coming out, I've got
Speaker 3: merch out at the moment, I've got performances, hopefully going
Speaker 3: to be doing a tour some kind of I'll be everywhere.
Speaker 4: You'll you'll see me somewhere.
Speaker 2: Consider it that I've already bought the the Carla showbag.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, there'll be a showbag with a wig and they're
Speaker 3: a pack of cigarettes and a little.
Speaker 4: Mini handbag for everybody.
Speaker 5: That's my Friday night anyway.
Speaker 4: Lovely to chat with you to my love talks in