Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast Last Petline. Welcome back to TV Reload.
Speaker 1: My name's Benjamin Norris and on this podcast I go
Speaker 1: behind the scenes with the biggest players in Australian television.
Speaker 1: Each episode you will get a front row seat with
Speaker 1: content makers like executive producers, writers, editors and casting agents,
Speaker 1: plus the talent that we see on our screens. TV
Speaker 1: Reload reloads the shows that you are currently watching and
Speaker 1: gives you a better insight into our television industry and
Speaker 1: our streaming services today. On the podcast, I have a
Speaker 1: TV presenter, actor, entrepreneur and jack of all trades. It
Speaker 1: is the host of The Real Love Boat, Darren McMullen.
Speaker 1: The original TV series The Love Boat was a huge
Speaker 1: hit around the world with fictitious characters falling in love.
Speaker 1: But now it is a reality show like we've never
Speaker 1: seen before. The contestants are raw, a little unpolished, and
Speaker 1: ready to find love on a cruise ship sailing around
Speaker 1: the Meridian. I think the show might be a slow
Speaker 1: burn to begin with, but as the ship sets sail,
Speaker 1: I guarantee the viewers will be shocked as the show
Speaker 1: ventures into territories we have yet to see on a
Speaker 1: dating show before. I will ask Darren why he said
Speaker 1: yes to the show, what he thinks of the contestants,
Speaker 1: how this show is different, and what we can expect
Speaker 1: from this format as it gets deep within the minds
Speaker 1: of young singles desperate to find love. However, let's get
Speaker 1: started with today's guest. I'd like to welcome Darren McMullen
Speaker 1: to TV Reload.
Speaker 2: We created something that was quite different. Welcome to the
Speaker 2: Real Love Boat. We don't just need a standard host,
Speaker 2: we need a host that can be cheeky. Thirteen singles
Speaker 2: are vot to and bark on the Ultimate Search for Love.
Speaker 2: Channel ten and Paramount are really really getting behind this show.
Speaker 2: They want this to be a big success.
Speaker 1: Will they find a match and have their happily Ever?
Speaker 2: After all the guys on the show are beautiful, lovely,
Speaker 2: vulnerable man. No one ever said true love would be easy. Look,
Speaker 2: it is a pretty open shows to say we're breaking
Speaker 2: that fourth wall. It's something like we're all pretty keen
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 1: Hi, Darren, great to have you on the podcast.
Speaker 2: What a voice? I mean, you've really missed your calling,
Speaker 2: haven't you. You should have been like a sexphone operator
Speaker 2: or something. Hi, Darren, how are you? I mean, it's
Speaker 2: first thing in the morning, and I don't usually get
Speaker 2: horny in the morning, but that made me a little
Speaker 2: bit horny. That was nice, right, Yeah, I do. I'm
Speaker 2: a complete narcissist. I have to open up some windows
Speaker 2: in here. It's getting steamy.
Speaker 1: Are you excited to finally show us your latest holiday
Speaker 1: in Europe?
Speaker 2: I'm glad you clarified that. Are you excited to finally
Speaker 2: show us, with a very weird pause, your latest holiday
Speaker 2: in Europe? Yes, I am excited to show you my
Speaker 2: latest holiday in Europe, although we don't call it that.
Speaker 2: We don't call it a holiday. Because the Channel ten
Speaker 2: knew it was a holiday, then they probably would get
Speaker 2: me to do it for free. It was very hard work.
Speaker 2: It's very very hard, strenuous work, seeing the Mediterranean, you know,
Speaker 2: and all these awful locations like you know, Tuscany and
Speaker 2: Rome and the Greek Islands and Barcelona, and it was horrendous.
Speaker 2: But it's that's why they pay me the medium bucks,
Speaker 2: because I do the hard work. So I am looking
Speaker 2: forward to everybody seeing it. I think we created something
Speaker 2: that was quite different and special and something I've certainly
Speaker 2: never seen on TV before. We kind of make fun
Speaker 2: of ourselves. We lean into the nostalgic cheese of the
Speaker 2: original series, and we break the fourth wall a lot
Speaker 2: and kind of invite the audience in to laugh with
Speaker 2: us a lot. I go eight shit at the contestants constantly.
Speaker 2: I hope they lieve all that in because I've never
Speaker 2: seen a host of that before. And yeah, amongst it all,
Speaker 2: there is the drama and the love triangles and the
Speaker 2: backstabbing and the partners swapping an ant. We even have
Speaker 2: love blossoming. So I think ultimately it's got all the
Speaker 2: pieces there to be a phenomenal show, and I hope
Speaker 2: that comes together well in the edit.
Speaker 1: Well, the concept to me is really hilarious because I
Speaker 1: don't want to say show my age, but you know,
Speaker 1: as a huge Aaron Spelling fan back in the day,
Speaker 1: how much do you guys really lean into the whole
Speaker 1: love boat theme?
Speaker 2: Well, funny, you should mention the love boat theme because
Speaker 2: I actually sing the love boat theme song in this
Speaker 2: and that is available to donal kids on Spotify are
Speaker 2: all great retailers now, so make sure you do that.
Speaker 2: I wanted to run a Christmas number one, but yeah,
Speaker 2: we do. We have the captain character who's called Paolo
Speaker 2: Captain Poolo, who's an absolute dream boat. He was going
Speaker 2: to be cast, but we met the actual captain of
Speaker 2: the ship and he was so dreaming and sexy and
Speaker 2: camer ready that I think all the producers thought, no, no,
Speaker 2: this is the guy. He's the actual captain of the
Speaker 2: ship and he's fantastic. How could you cast better than that?
Speaker 2: And he actually has a great connection with the Love
Speaker 2: By himself. His grandfather was the chef on the original
Speaker 2: Love Boa TV series way back when, so so that
Speaker 2: that was great. And then we've got Hannah Ferrier from
Speaker 2: Below Deck, which is my guilty pleasure. I love that show.
Speaker 2: We have Daniel Judy as a head of entertainment. So
Speaker 2: we have this cast of characters that are kind of
Speaker 2: meddling in the relationships and helping them kind of find
Speaker 2: love and putting people in the right situations and all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. And we have the captain and
Speaker 2: we have these singles looking for Love, and I think
Speaker 2: the producers did a very good job of kind of
Speaker 2: weeding out the insta famous wannabes, you know, and actually
Speaker 2: got some people that truly were looking to find a
Speaker 2: long term partner and maybe had some issues in the
Speaker 2: past with different relationships, and they were beyond that part
Speaker 2: of the life. And I think when you see the
Speaker 2: cast of characters, they're not your quintessential reality TV show folks.
Speaker 2: They're not all Jim junkies with the six packs and
Speaker 2: the you know, the bowtux and all the rest of that.
Speaker 2: They've done that not to say our cast is ugly.
Speaker 2: Sorry cast if you're listening, But I'm just saying they're
Speaker 2: average Australians. You know, their every day is average. Even
Speaker 2: sounds like I'm saying they're they're every day Australian, which
Speaker 2: I think is good because you know, when you see
Speaker 2: these people on these other shows and all tat it
Speaker 2: up with a you know, like eight pack and the
Speaker 2: whole bit, you know, all these people are the same.
Speaker 2: This isn't real. But you know, I think we've done
Speaker 2: a good job of finding some real strat real Aussi's
Speaker 2: mate for the real Love Boat.
Speaker 1: It is the point of difference to the show if
Speaker 1: you ask me. And we'll get into that in a minute,
Speaker 1: but I just want to say with Hannah and Duty,
Speaker 1: they're kind of like peeping toms on the boat, you know,
Speaker 1: like they're always sort of standing in the background, just
Speaker 1: watching over what's happening. Do you think that they'd be
Speaker 1: offended for me to be referring to them as peeping toms?
Speaker 2: Oh, they're not just like that. On the boat, I
Speaker 2: was constantly looking over, and you know, even off the
Speaker 2: show and finding duty creeping around the corner and watching me. So,
Speaker 2: I mean it was he was well cast for it.
Speaker 2: I think, you know, a bit of life. They've imitating
Speaker 2: art or art imitating life. There's a couple of weird scenes,
Speaker 2: isn't there. I know what you're talking about because I
Speaker 2: have seen the first couple of episodes in there, like
Speaker 2: coming up from behind plant bushes and stuff, staring at
Speaker 2: these people. But yeah, I don't think they'd be offended
Speaker 2: by that. I think it'll I think that's one of
Speaker 2: the parts that kind of leans into the kind of
Speaker 2: cheesiness and makes fun of itself a bit, you know,
Speaker 2: like it's kind of tongue in cheek when they're doing that.
Speaker 2: I mean, they're there for a very real reason. I
Speaker 2: probably will put them in a video village somewhere and
Speaker 2: had them watching actual cameras as opposed to like creeping
Speaker 2: around the boat and hiding behind bushes. But I think,
Speaker 2: you know, that's a little bit of a tongue in
Speaker 2: cheek nod to the original TV series where that was
Speaker 2: going on all the time.
Speaker 1: You know, well, in the original TV series, you know
Speaker 1: of the love, but the captain the event plans, they
Speaker 1: sometimes got involved in the drama. Can we can we
Speaker 1: expect you guys to getting involved in the drama that
Speaker 1: happens throughout the series.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we have a great section of the show
Speaker 2: called Captain's Table, So basically the singles taken in turns
Speaker 2: both male and female of coming in there and sitting
Speaker 2: around the table and pitching to go on one of
Speaker 2: the destination days for any port we go to. There's
Speaker 2: only three destination dates to be one, so they can
Speaker 2: go beautiful car ride through Tuscany or make wine or
Speaker 2: you know, they're off to the Greek Islands or whatever
Speaker 2: it is. So they have to come in and, you know,
Speaker 2: pitch for why their connection with their partner is the
Speaker 2: best and why they deserve to go. So I'd just
Speaker 2: come straight off Celebrity Apprentice, and I think I was
Speaker 2: probably channeling a lot of that Lord's sugar energy. And
Speaker 2: I was just going through these people like I don't
Speaker 2: believe a word you say. I don't even think you
Speaker 2: believe your own bullshit, man, And it really shook them
Speaker 2: up a bit, you know, But we got some great,
Speaker 2: great things because sometimes what happens, especially people are new
Speaker 2: to TV or whatever else, they kind of get in
Speaker 2: this autopilot just kept saying the same soundbites over and
Speaker 2: over again, and maybe like playing into stuff they think
Speaker 2: you want to hear. And I think sometimes if you
Speaker 2: can just kind of shake that out of them with
Speaker 2: some direct chat, you get some really good stuff. So
Speaker 2: I'm hoping they leave a lot of that in And yeah,
Speaker 2: and Hannah gets pretty fiery in there as well, and
Speaker 2: then Perdudi's in there basically to pick up the pieces.
Speaker 2: It was like good cop, bad cop. He's just so
Speaker 2: lovely and they need him in there to kind of
Speaker 2: balance my assholeery a bit. He's you know, like he's
Speaker 2: topping them off the ledge once I've g them all up.
Speaker 2: So it's a great little dynamic. We need a little
Speaker 2: dooty in there. There's the comfort blanket and to yeah,
Speaker 2: get them all feeling nice. And happy after Hannah and
Speaker 2: I oprated them for a couple of hours. Can you
Speaker 2: hear that drilling?
Speaker 1: Way? Thank God, I'm actually running. I went unplugged this
Speaker 1: so that I could run you through a different system
Speaker 1: to drown out any background noise that but we both have,
Speaker 1: so you sound amazing, like the best sound.
Speaker 2: God, I've got drilling, and I've got a leaf blower,
Speaker 2: and then you know some guy with a whipper snapper.
Speaker 2: Fuck's sake, you know.
Speaker 1: I lived in Melbourne in a suburb called Turek, which
Speaker 1: sounds really fancy when it's not. The worst thing about
Speaker 1: living in a fancy suburb is that everyone has their
Speaker 1: own gardener and they all have a leaf blower. And
Speaker 1: I'm a podcaster, so there's just me out the window
Speaker 1: of my apartment, you know, every day week swearing at
Speaker 1: these people. Shut the fuck up podcasting, you know, which
Speaker 1: makes me sound like the biggest loser in the world.
Speaker 2: These neighbors of mine, they have gardeners in four times
Speaker 2: a week. What they do I don't know, Like I
Speaker 2: think what happens is they blow the leaves into the
Speaker 2: next door neighbors garden and then their guy comes in
Speaker 2: and they blow them back in So it's this little
Speaker 2: scam that got going on just to kind of keep business.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I remember once I said, I'm actually doing a
Speaker 1: live cross to a TV network and the gardener said
Speaker 1: to me, which TV network? And I said which TV network?
Speaker 1: And he said, oh, their garbage, don't worry about.
Speaker 2: It, and which network? Which network? Was it?
Speaker 1: Well, it's just rude for me to put that into
Speaker 1: the podcast, but I think it's still the joke still
Speaker 1: lands down, The joke still lands. Everyone can use their imagination. Anyway.
Speaker 1: We're getting back into the love boat, the real love boat.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: What I thought was really interesting is this kind of
Speaker 1: is a little bit like Love Island, Old Maths, The Bachelor,
Speaker 1: and now there's Heartbreak Island. There's so many dating shows,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to ask you, what do you think
Speaker 1: is the major difference of this show to them? And
Speaker 1: what do you make of the comparisons.
Speaker 2: Well, that was how it was bitch to me. So
Speaker 2: when I initially was approached to do it, I went,
Speaker 2: it's weird and I don't know because I wasn't. I wasn't.
Speaker 2: I wasn't aware there was a show called the love
Speaker 2: But back in the day, but that was about it.
Speaker 2: We didn't watch that in Scotland. I think it was
Speaker 2: very big in Australia. It was very big in the US. Well,
Speaker 2: it was so big in Australia. Actually they shot a
Speaker 2: whole episode here. They came over here for a week
Speaker 2: and shot a bunch of episodes and actually put Cruising
Speaker 2: on the map here. I think because of that show,
Speaker 2: a lot of people in Australia caught the bug for Cruising.
Speaker 2: But I just like the sense a bit weird. I
Speaker 2: don't know if I want to do this. And I
Speaker 2: looked it up online and I saw Eureka Productions were
Speaker 2: doing it, and I know those guys really well. So
Speaker 2: I called Chris Coldner and I knew he was the
Speaker 2: kind of the brains behind it, and he's a genius.
Speaker 2: He's praised so many phenomenal shows, you know, like Holy
Speaker 2: Moly and Frogger and The Chef's Line. I mean, they
Speaker 2: do they just they just do everything that's you If
Speaker 2: you guys are killing it, the luck's listing, So I
Speaker 2: know they know how to make a great show. And
Speaker 2: I said, mate, run me through this, because you know
Speaker 2: I'm going to pass on this. But I saw your
Speaker 2: name attached, and you don't really make ship television, So
Speaker 2: give me the elevator pitch, and he did. He gave
Speaker 2: me a phenomenal pitches. It's going to be brilliant, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be phenomenal. We're like leaning into the old seventies show.
Speaker 2: We need a host that is not We don't just
Speaker 2: need a standard house. We need a host that can
Speaker 2: be cheeky, funny, a reverend, take the piss out of
Speaker 2: himself and the contestants, and but get the business done
Speaker 2: as well. And you're the guy, like, we'd love to
Speaker 2: have you on it, and he essentially said the same thing.
Speaker 2: It was kind of like it was, Oh, Hannah, Fario
Speaker 2: is calling me. Stop annoying me, Hannah, I'm on I'm
Speaker 2: on a podcast. He said. It's like it's like Love
Speaker 2: Island meets Below Deck and Below Decks probably the only
Speaker 2: reality show I watch, you know, like it's my guilty pleasure.
Speaker 2: And during COVID especially, it was fantastic to watch that,
Speaker 2: not just for the drama and all the salacious stuff
Speaker 2: that happens on that show, but because they're going to
Speaker 2: these beautiful destinations all round the world, and it was
Speaker 2: kind of like living the cares through them and just
Speaker 2: throffing on the opportunity to travel again one day. And
Speaker 2: I hope people get that from this as well, because
Speaker 2: we're going to all these beautiful destinations around the world
Speaker 2: and you get to see that aspect of it as
Speaker 2: well as the love and the drama. And then it ensues.
Speaker 2: But yeah, so he really sold it to me, and
Speaker 2: he said, you know it's going to be it's going
Speaker 2: to be incredible show. CBS are picked up Channel ten
Speaker 2: and Paramount are really really getting behind this show. They
Speaker 2: want this to be a big success. And I think
Speaker 2: it's going to be. You're going to be the right
Speaker 2: guy for the job. And he says, your bloody's sailing
Speaker 2: the Mediterranean for a month anyway, so stop being an idiot.
Speaker 2: Do the show. And I was like, yeah, you're right,
Speaker 2: but I don't think. I mean, I think we know
Speaker 2: the show on paper. It was like, all right, yeah, cool,
Speaker 2: it's a Dani's show and it's on a ship s
Speaker 2: leaning into the love boat. Yet cool whatever, And then
Speaker 2: they had the beats of you know, like normal dating
Speaker 2: shows where people go on dates, they get on, they
Speaker 2: don't get on, and people are eliminated. But what actually
Speaker 2: happened in the reality of being there. The show took
Speaker 2: on a life of its own, which is a great
Speaker 2: thing when you're doing a first season or something. You know,
Speaker 2: so many times nowadays, people especially in Australia, they're just
Speaker 2: not taking those risks on new formats. It's like, well,
Speaker 2: unless this show was a success and you know three
Speaker 2: other regions, we're not going to take a punt on that.
Speaker 2: So then you end up doing the same shows over
Speaker 2: and over and over and over again, and rehashing old
Speaker 2: shows that you know went away ten years ago and going, oh,
Speaker 2: well that's that's we'll just bring that back even though
Speaker 2: it work ten years ago, rather than you know, picking
Speaker 2: up some of these phenomenal new ideas that young creators have.
Speaker 2: And maybe if they picked up more ideas that the
Speaker 2: young creators have, they would appeal more to the young people,
Speaker 2: and young people would actually start watching television again instead
Speaker 2: of like getting television hits elsewhere streaming services and whatnot.
Speaker 2: But they rehashed the old shows. But this is I mean,
Speaker 2: this is one of the first shows I can remember
Speaker 2: in a long time that was straight off the paper
Speaker 2: in Australia's that you know, the first one is doing this,
Speaker 2: having a crack at this show and trying to make
Speaker 2: it a hit. So yeah, back to what I was
Speaker 2: saying is, you know, it became, it took on a
Speaker 2: life of its own and organically changed into a whole
Speaker 2: other show that none of us expected. You know, it
Speaker 2: does have elements of maps, and it does have elements
Speaker 2: of Love Island in it, and Below Deck and travel
Speaker 2: shows as well. You're getting all that, but you know
Speaker 2: all the other drama that unpacked between the contestants and
Speaker 2: then that Captain's table when we get a chance to
Speaker 2: really grill them and put them through their paces and
Speaker 2: make them sing for their supper. It was just like
Speaker 2: it was really good stuff, really good stuff. And I
Speaker 2: hope that comes together in an edit. Obviously you should
Speaker 2: so much content on these shows, and then you've got
Speaker 2: it all down to like an hour worth of television.
Speaker 2: So I hope it comes across. I've seen the first
Speaker 2: couple of episodes, and I think we do stay true
Speaker 2: to that. We do. We do keep in the irreverence,
Speaker 2: We keep in things that would normally get shaped out
Speaker 2: of reality shows, like the warts and all. We leave
Speaker 2: that in. We leave in mistakes, We leave in silly
Speaker 2: things and break that fourth wall and kind of, you know,
Speaker 2: give that little nod and a wink to the audience
Speaker 2: at home, like we're letting them on the joke as well.
Speaker 2: And I think that's all important. I think while a
Speaker 2: lot of younger people are turning away from television and
Speaker 2: getting their media elsewhere, is because of the authenticity of it.
Speaker 2: I think people crave off authenticity, man. And you know,
Speaker 2: when people are just doing raw TikTok or Instagram videos,
Speaker 2: there's no glitz and glam to that, and people really
Speaker 2: identify with that. And although this is a sexy show,
Speaker 2: we've taken out some of that polish that you would
Speaker 2: normally get on these kind of shows and left it
Speaker 2: a bit gritty. And I think that's going to appeal
Speaker 2: to the younger demographic because it's real and it's honest
Speaker 2: and it's raw and it's keeping its integrity.
Speaker 1: Well, I hope that people stick around because you know,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be really honest about it. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm so nervous watching this series, and the first episode
Speaker 1: is quite long, and I kind of wish that you
Speaker 1: got to the boat faster. I was like, why are
Speaker 1: we going to the villa. We need to get to
Speaker 1: the boat, like that's the whole thing is about the boat.
Speaker 1: And then for me, the show lifts at episode two
Speaker 1: because that's rightly when it says to you who this
Speaker 1: show is going to be. And I think that's where
Speaker 1: we are really seeing some things that are really different.
Speaker 1: I mean, I rewound a part of it back because
Speaker 1: I think you managed to tackle I think you managed
Speaker 1: to give us the first real example of bisexual people
Speaker 1: on a dating show, you know, which is hard to
Speaker 1: do because bisexual men probably have the hardest job in
Speaker 1: getting mainstream media to understand them. The way in which
Speaker 1: that it was handled was it just subtenly was slipped
Speaker 1: in there, and it gives us something new to digest.
Speaker 1: You know, how are they going to do this? This
Speaker 1: is a really hard topic, but for some reason the
Speaker 1: producers are going to try and tackle it. And that's
Speaker 1: where for me, your point of difference comes out, where
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, this is going to be really uncomfortable
Speaker 1: as well as being familiar. And I think that's the
Speaker 1: magic of this show and I hope that's when people
Speaker 1: will give it a chance.
Speaker 2: Well that's I mean, and that's the genius of Emma
Speaker 2: Lamb as well. So Emma Lamb, who executive produced a
Speaker 2: lot of Masks and the rest of it. She and
Speaker 2: she and I are very much on the same page
Speaker 2: of that, as like, some of the best television you
Speaker 2: get and can get off people is when you're just
Speaker 2: really comfortable in uncomfortable situations. And I've worked very hard
Speaker 2: over my career to be at that point where I
Speaker 2: can I can just let I can just sit quietly
Speaker 2: and let it unplay, and I'm very comfortable in uncomfortable silences,
Speaker 2: and that's when you get some really really great stuff. So, yeah,
Speaker 2: the show is uncomfortable, but it's real, you know, like
Speaker 2: all that stuff played out like it played out. It's
Speaker 2: so fun, Like don't you talk to me? I mean,
Speaker 2: it's even so many radio interviews that I'm like, yes,
Speaker 2: But it's all scripted. There's a reality TV script, Like
Speaker 2: reality TV is very rarely scripted, like actuals, like like
Speaker 2: we're handing out scripts to these people and saying this
Speaker 2: is your line, and then you say this, and then
Speaker 2: he's going to say that. That never happens, like unless you're
Speaker 2: talking about the hills or something like that. Yeah, there's
Speaker 2: like there's definitely manipulation of real people in some shows
Speaker 2: to bring out the worst of them. But I think
Speaker 2: the people you see on these shows that become the
Speaker 2: villains become the villains because they're actually assholes in the
Speaker 2: real life, and they do a great job of kind
Speaker 2: of keeping the asshole hidden for the for the a
Speaker 2: few weeks. A bit like when you're in a new relationship, right,
Speaker 2: you don't really find out who you're dating until after
Speaker 2: that three month mark and you're like, oh shit, what
Speaker 2: happening here? You're so nice? Now you let that wall down.
Speaker 2: But the reason these producers try and manipulate the situations
Speaker 2: is because you've got these people for just a matter
Speaker 2: of weeks instead of a matter of months, so they've
Speaker 2: got to get to the grip a lot sooner. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean there was very little. In fact, there was none,
Speaker 2: and this show will say like, this was a show
Speaker 2: where these people were just left to be themselves, putting
Speaker 2: these situations on a boat and left, you know, to
Speaker 2: go on the dates. And we just sat back and
Speaker 2: were flying the wall, and we were very comfortable just
Speaker 2: sitting in uncomfortable scenes and letting them play out rather
Speaker 2: than getting in and meddling with them. Just let it
Speaker 2: play out. I mean, that's life, and that's that's hopefully
Speaker 2: why the authenticity will come across. I agree with you.
Speaker 2: I hope people stick around. I will even say, like,
Speaker 2: because I mean narrating all these episodes, so I would
Speaker 2: say six, seven, and eight are actually I think, phenomenal
Speaker 2: bits of television. And that's when the show really pops
Speaker 2: from me. It's actually later episodes. I think by that time,
Speaker 2: you know the cast of characters, you're invested in them two.
Speaker 2: But the drama that kicks off in six and it
Speaker 2: plays out all the way through like three episodes and
Speaker 2: just creates this domino effect on this ship where every
Speaker 2: trapped is brilliant television. And it's one of those shows. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: you know, if you shot I don't know, if you
Speaker 2: shot like say a big music quiz like I did,
Speaker 2: and all the rest of it, you shoot a whole
Speaker 2: bunch of episodes, and then you have the opportunity to
Speaker 2: kind of cut in and decide what your strongest episode
Speaker 2: is and you can put that first, and your second
Speaker 2: best episode will go second, third, all the way down
Speaker 2: to the end, and then your last couple episodes probably
Speaker 2: what you consider the weekends. Unfortunately, because of the story
Speaker 2: line of this show, you have to play it out
Speaker 2: how it played out. Yeah, I would say, you know,
Speaker 2: first couple of episodes, everyone's getting to know each other,
Speaker 2: learning about you know, who they are, and they've got
Speaker 2: those walls up still you haven't really they forgot about
Speaker 2: the cameras. And then as you get into it just
Speaker 2: keeps getting better and better and better. And it's and
Speaker 2: six as I say, six, seven and eight are just
Speaker 2: phenomenal bits of television. So I hope it's something people
Speaker 2: stick with or you know, even binge later and go
Speaker 2: through the whole thing and it gets good.
Speaker 1: They're willing to take it to a different level. I mean,
Speaker 1: do you think this is the most open minded group
Speaker 1: of contestants we've seen on an Australian dating.
Speaker 2: Show and say one hundred percent. And again that comes
Speaker 2: down to all the producers and then really sifting through
Speaker 2: all the riff raff and the people that generally auditioned
Speaker 2: to be on these shows to get some really great
Speaker 2: and different cast of characters. There, I'd say, another big
Speaker 2: thing that changes the whole Like so usually in a
Speaker 2: dating show you have very little interaction with the hosts
Speaker 2: or people on the show, right, like they rock up
Speaker 2: to give you a challenge, rock up to kick you out.
Speaker 2: So the hosts aren't really involved either. But I'm on
Speaker 2: a ship like there's nothing else to do, right, So
Speaker 2: I'm sitting I'm watching every day on play and really
Speaker 2: like over what's going on on that ship. So I
Speaker 2: know when I'm going in, I'm interacting with them at
Speaker 2: all these elimination ceremonies and all the rest of it,
Speaker 2: which we call the test of ceremony. I know what's
Speaker 2: happened on every date, so I can can dig into
Speaker 2: it and if they pick up, if they say something
Speaker 2: and I don't quite believe, I can jump into that.
Speaker 2: And the Captain's table was great for that because you've
Speaker 2: got me hand and Diddy like really grilling these people
Speaker 2: of why they deserve to be on these date. What
Speaker 2: is it that you've found with this person, and why
Speaker 2: do you think this connection is real? And I was
Speaker 2: quite vulnerable in those in that room too, because I
Speaker 2: made a decision Earlier's like, listen, if I go in
Speaker 2: there as a host and not as one of them,
Speaker 2: then they'll close up and they'll get into TV email.
Speaker 2: But if I go in there and I'm open and
Speaker 2: I'm vulnerable, and I talk about my mistakes and relationships
Speaker 2: I've made and all the things that I've learned about
Speaker 2: and great relationships I've had, bad relationships I've had, and
Speaker 2: I put all my dirty laundry out there. Then they
Speaker 2: feel comfortable in doing the same. There's something quite beautiful,
Speaker 2: especially when we had the guys in there, you know,
Speaker 2: because Australian men a bit like British men, we have
Speaker 2: this ridiculous stigma like that we try and live up to,
Speaker 2: like you have to be match showing eyes, don't cry,
Speaker 2: and guys don't have emotions, and guys shouldn't have the therapists.
Speaker 2: You just have a being make get on with it.
Speaker 2: You know, she'll be right. All that can attitude. Yet
Speaker 2: we're living in a country with the highest rate of
Speaker 2: males SUSAE almost in the world, this beautiful country. So
Speaker 2: we're not doing something right to a young boy. And
Speaker 2: I think when the more we can show like big
Speaker 2: burly man on television, crying, breaking down, being emotional, being real,
Speaker 2: I think the better it is for a society and
Speaker 2: maybe hopefully people out there watching that going oh wow,
Speaker 2: that's really that's really beautiful, you know, not like I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna pussy. Why crying that bullshit has to stop.
Speaker 2: All the guys on the show are beautiful, lovely, vulnerable men,
Speaker 2: and they really are open up over those captain's tables.
Speaker 2: There's a couple of assholes in there too, not saying
Speaker 2: that there's definitely assholes in there as well.
Speaker 1: The first hair toss of the series goes to one
Speaker 1: of the blokes. I don't know if you picked that up,
Speaker 1: but I think it was Patty and you know, walk
Speaker 1: off hair toss was him because he had, you know,
Speaker 1: this beautiful hair that I guess looked like Leonardo DiCaprio
Speaker 1: and Titanic, which we had inte of seen that hair
Speaker 1: in a while. But I love that it was the
Speaker 1: men that sort of walked off like that. You know,
Speaker 1: it allow us to go, Okay, this is going to
Speaker 1: be a different show, and you know what's interesting. And
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people a going to talk
Speaker 1: about how attractive these men are because when you first
Speaker 1: see them, you're like, they look like the last six
Speaker 1: blokes at three am at a nightclub when they first
Speaker 1: turn up. And I could be rude by saying that However,
Speaker 1: as you watch the show, they become more I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe that's what it's like being at a pub at
Speaker 1: three am, but they be more attractive as the show
Speaker 1: goes on. Like to start off with was like that
Speaker 1: one not attractive, but then now I'm watching it and
Speaker 1: I'm like, he's hot. It's it's very strange, it's a
Speaker 1: very surreal experience.
Speaker 2: Is that it could be like that what I call SBS,
Speaker 2: you know, like showbag syndrome. You could be suffering from that,
Speaker 2: you know, and you know when you're when you're trapped
Speaker 2: at an Easter show and you go into one of
Speaker 2: those those rooms at the Easter show and you literally
Speaker 2: have a whole warehouse of showbacks. There's this bag after
Speaker 2: bag after bag of shit. So all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: when you get this bag for twenty five dollars and
Speaker 2: you think you've got the deal of the century on
Speaker 2: this bag, and then you get it home away from
Speaker 2: that environment and you empty it on the floor and
Speaker 2: you realize, holy shit, I just paid twenty five dollars
Speaker 2: for an old TV week magazine, a red skin and
Speaker 2: a couple of like plastic toys. I've been absolutely had here,
Speaker 2: But in the environment when you're stuck in there, it
Speaker 2: seemed like a great deal, seems sexy.
Speaker 1: Also think it's amazing because we've been sold the ridiculously
Speaker 1: handsome before and it's never pays out, you know, where
Speaker 1: this is something where you are getting to know people
Speaker 1: and you are actually starting to have a real connection
Speaker 1: with them. When you're watching people who just look pretty,
Speaker 1: you don't have any substance behind you. For me, it's
Speaker 1: not the trade off, it's the reason why people are
Speaker 1: turning away. These genuinely look like people who are your mates.
Speaker 1: They genuinely look like people you do know in the
Speaker 1: real world, and I think that's the selling point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there is, actually is There are a lot of
Speaker 2: deep characters there, and they're they're not afraid to kind
Speaker 2: of put the heart on the line and and talk
Speaker 2: about their past experiences with relationships and why it didn't
Speaker 2: work and maybe own the mistakes they've made as well.
Speaker 2: There is a couple of the other types as well,
Speaker 2: and they stand out pretty quickly, and maybe that's why actually,
Speaker 2: to your point, maybe that's why they are so confronting
Speaker 2: those other types, because it just seems so out of
Speaker 2: place on this show when you've got other people like
Speaker 2: going really deep and trying to to form real connections
Speaker 2: with people. The muscle Mareyas of the world. They don't
Speaker 2: really they seem very out of place.
Speaker 1: We all get drawn to that, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: Like you'd be the same. You know, a good looking
Speaker 1: person is a good looking person. You're going to immediately
Speaker 1: be drawn to it. You're gonna want to throw yourself
Speaker 1: at it. But we all know.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, I mean, it's just I don't
Speaker 2: want to sound like an asshager, but I don't really
Speaker 2: think like I think they're all lovely people, but there
Speaker 2: was like there was no one on that show. I
Speaker 2: don't think that. I'll mean, oh my god, I mean
Speaker 2: they're like fucking they're in a dahnas. Look at that guy, Like,
Speaker 2: holy shit, didn't I didn't feel that at fall on that.
Speaker 2: I thought we did a great job of actually getting
Speaker 2: a really great cross section of Australians like youah, like
Speaker 2: real people.
Speaker 1: No, No, absolutely not, Like that's the best thing about
Speaker 1: the show is what I'm saying to you, Like, and
Speaker 1: I'm not saying they're ugly either, and I'm not saying
Speaker 1: they're the best looking people I'm just saying, they genuinely
Speaker 1: are the people that we have in our real world. Like,
Speaker 1: and I find, you know, them saying things on the
Speaker 1: show and I'm like, don't say that. Don't say that,
Speaker 1: you know, oh god, that's something I would say. And
Speaker 1: that's the magic of television is when we can relate
Speaker 1: to you know. That's where television needs to lift at
Speaker 1: the moment, is that we need to be seen and
Speaker 1: we aren't being seen if we're just watching Muscle Mary's
Speaker 1: Date girls that all look the same because they've been
Speaker 1: to the same plastic surgeon. Like, it's just not relatable anymore.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's I think they thought it was aspirational
Speaker 1: for us all to be going, oh, I want to
Speaker 1: be on Instagram. I want to be insta famous. But
Speaker 1: it's not the magic of television and it never has.
Speaker 2: Been if you ask me, no, it's a It's funny,
Speaker 2: isn't it. Like everybody on TikTok and Instagram wants to
Speaker 2: be doing movies and television and everybody on television because
Speaker 2: we don't get paid that kind of money. And he
Speaker 2: was like, fuck, don't want to be on TikTok and Instagram.
Speaker 2: These kids are making a fortune. But you're right, like
Speaker 2: to pick up your point too, you do. Actually, they
Speaker 2: do become more attractive as they go on, for sure,
Speaker 2: because there's either like there definitely is people that you're like,
Speaker 2: oh yeah, whatever, and then as you get to know
Speaker 2: the personality and see everything on Oh my god, I
Speaker 2: got a man crush on this guy. This guy is amazing.
Speaker 2: He sings too, he's a hit and he sings and
Speaker 2: he looks like that, and he's a swaggy dresser and
Speaker 2: he's really deep and he's emotionally intelligent. Fucking hell, sign
Speaker 2: me up.
Speaker 1: And then there was this woman. At the start of
Speaker 1: the first episode, I'm like, oh god, she's not going
Speaker 1: to get picked or she reminds me of my best
Speaker 1: friend Kathy. Oh she's not going to get picked. And
Speaker 1: then two or three episodes in, I'm like, I only
Speaker 1: like the Kathy woman, like she is. She's the only
Speaker 1: what I'm rooting for, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 1: it's amazing that if you if you're willing to be
Speaker 1: taken on a journey with a real love boat, I
Speaker 1: hope people do it. We are kind of running out,
Speaker 1: a little running out of time here, a little bit
Speaker 1: just to go back to your point on being on
Speaker 1: Celebrity Apprentice, Has that changed the way in which you
Speaker 1: see reality television now that you've been a contestant.
Speaker 2: No, I mean I was always aware of what happened
Speaker 2: on the other side of things. You know, I did
Speaker 2: the voice for so many years. What I felt was
Speaker 2: quite interesting with Celebrity Apprentice is you've got people who've
Speaker 2: worked in the industry for years. There. You know, you've
Speaker 2: been to colossal or like award winning actress. You've got
Speaker 2: ari award winning singers and motivacial speakers and you know
Speaker 2: rugby league legends. I was an actor in a TV host,
Speaker 2: you know, like, you know, people who are very familiar
Speaker 2: with this industry. Yet like a couple of the producers
Speaker 2: on that, I think we're very green and probably had
Speaker 2: come off shows where they'd been working with people that
Speaker 2: never been on television before and probably just wanted to
Speaker 2: be famous. Whereas we were on there, we've all got
Speaker 2: industries in our own, our own right. When they speak
Speaker 2: to you like a certain way, it was like, mate,
Speaker 2: don't speak to me like that. Who the fuck do
Speaker 2: you think you are? Like, you're barely out of high
Speaker 2: school and I've been doing this for eighteen years. I
Speaker 2: know how television works, and I know what you're trying
Speaker 2: to do, and I know what you're trying to manipulate
Speaker 2: out of me, and I'm not going to fucking say
Speaker 2: that for your sound grab. So I did get really
Speaker 2: frustrated with some of the younger producers on that, and
Speaker 2: that did give me a bit of an insight into
Speaker 2: perhaps how they acted on other shows as well, and
Speaker 2: how other people might have fallen for that had they
Speaker 2: not been television wide exactly.
Speaker 1: Know, you know, everyone who joins the podcast, ask them
Speaker 1: a question, what's something from behind the scenes that we
Speaker 1: won't say because it will never be shown on television,
Speaker 1: like a behind the scenes sacred from your time on
Speaker 1: the Real Love Boat.
Speaker 2: You know what. Like I've actually pushed for a lot
Speaker 2: of the behind the scenes stuff to get put back in,
Speaker 2: and they're doing that. I mean, everyone's on the same
Speaker 2: page for that. So there is a lot of stuff
Speaker 2: that goes back in, like needing an attacked by a
Speaker 2: monkey in the middle of a link and all that
Speaker 2: kind of stuff in Tibolta, just like you know, Katie
Speaker 2: saying the wrong name and all that kind of really
Speaker 2: rid stuff. We did Leaven and all the other stuff
Speaker 2: that isn't left in. I've actually asked Digital to send
Speaker 2: it to me and I'll will put it on Digital
Speaker 2: or we'll put it on my Instagram. So look, it
Speaker 2: is a pretty open show. As I say, we're breaking
Speaker 2: that fourth wall. It's something that we were all pretty
Speaker 2: keen to do and welcoming that audience in. And Stephen
Speaker 2: Taate Channel ten is all over the show's phenomenal as well.
Speaker 2: He's all about that too, and he's very excited about
Speaker 2: this show and how different it is from other things
Speaker 2: have done.
Speaker 1: That is the best behind the same secret. Let me
Speaker 1: tell you, I think that's a brilliant answer, because that
Speaker 1: is very much how it feels. You know. It feels
Speaker 1: like a lot of other networks would have cud all
Speaker 1: that stuff out, but they come across as being my
Speaker 1: favorite things on the show. I love that you were
Speaker 1: attacked by that monkey. It was fucking hilarious. That's what
Speaker 1: people are here for, Darren. I have to say, I
Speaker 1: am such a big fan of yours and I have
Speaker 1: been a fan of yours because so I think that
Speaker 1: you are a breath of fresh air in the Australian
Speaker 1: television industry, very much like this podcast You'll lose. You
Speaker 1: are real interesting and you have got some fantastic things
Speaker 1: to say. Good luck with a real love boat. I
Speaker 1: hope they make ten more seasons and you can buy
Speaker 1: a big million dollar mansion, but mostly we can.
Speaker 2: Get a lift blower. Amazing man. Thanks, you appreciate all
Speaker 2: the tame words, and yeah, I just hope people stick
Speaker 2: to the show as a cracker and it just gets
Speaker 2: better and better and better as it goes on, and
Speaker 2: you fall in love with these people. So fingers crossed
Speaker 2: and we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 1: Mate, Thanks so much for the chat.