Speaker 1: People who go on these shows are just normal people.
Speaker 1: Some people might watch the show and we completely horrified
Speaker 1: that they are the villain. Like they might just have
Speaker 1: said stuff that you know, sounds completely normal, but when
Speaker 1: you put the music behind it, or you cut it
Speaker 1: up or I don't know your zoom in's the eye
Speaker 1: rolls or whatever it is, they're like really shocked, and
Speaker 1: I don't feel like there's enough support. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of alcohol, as you can imagine. Producers love it when
Speaker 1: you drink because your filter goes and you know you
Speaker 1: don't care what you say. There's no sex on the show.
Speaker 1: There's no sneaking out, there's no where to go. You're
Speaker 1: like locked in this apalgion. I actually got off the
Speaker 1: show and did not use social media before. In a harder.
Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to a special edition about Spoken. You're
Speaker 2: joined by journalists Sophie and Amy Torbuth. Have you ever
Speaker 2: wondered what it's really like to be.
Speaker 3: A contestant on The Bachelor?
Speaker 2: Well, today we've been given an all access passed by
Speaker 2: former Bachelor contestant Ali Hammert, who appeared on Blake Garvey's
Speaker 2: season of the Bachelor. Ali is a successful lawyer, but
Speaker 2: was introduced as an intruder and top fashion blogger on
Speaker 2: the top rating program.
Speaker 3: On today's episode, we discovered just how.
Speaker 2: Much control the producers actually have, how the drama really unravels,
Speaker 2: and how you're treated once your fifteen minutes of fame
Speaker 2: is up. Well, officially, welcome to the show. I'm so
Speaker 2: excited for this chat because Sophie and I are tragic
Speaker 2: fans of The Bachelor and I feel like there's going
Speaker 2: to be a lot of tea spilt in this episode.
Speaker 2: So thank you for joining us.
Speaker 1: I was super excited to be here now.
Speaker 2: You appeared on the second series of The Bachelor with Blake,
Speaker 2: also known as the Dirty Street Pie.
Speaker 3: What was it that enticed you to apply for the
Speaker 3: show in the first place.
Speaker 1: Yes, so, a lot of my friends at the time
Speaker 1: This was six years ago, so this was the second
Speaker 1: series in twenty fourteen, and a lot of my friends
Speaker 1: at the time had just been on a reality TV
Speaker 1: show randomly, So I had a few friends who had
Speaker 1: been on Australia's Next Top Model, ends have been on
Speaker 1: The Amazing Race, and I honestly just wanted to experience
Speaker 1: what it would like to be on reality TV show'd
Speaker 1: obviously watched heaps of shows as a viewer, but onced
Speaker 1: you experience it from the inside and see what really happened.
Speaker 1: I also actually didn't apply for the show. I randomly
Speaker 1: got an email one day saying, would you like to
Speaker 1: be a part of a TV show? And I had
Speaker 1: no idea what it was for. And I caught a
Speaker 1: cab from work, went to the meeting and they said,
Speaker 1: do you want to be an intruder on the Bachelor? Like? What?
Speaker 1: Sur random? Like I thought people applied for this. I'd
Speaker 1: heard like rumors that you apply and you go through it.
Speaker 1: I don't know, weird anyway, So yeah, and I remember
Speaker 1: calling my mom, and my mom is the most private
Speaker 1: person on the planet and like the last person that
Speaker 1: would ever if I would to have made like hometowns
Speaker 1: for instance, have appeared on a show like that. So
Speaker 1: she was like, are you crazy, Like it is the
Speaker 1: worst idea in the world. Do not go on that show.
Speaker 1: But I always knew I'd be in it for a
Speaker 1: very quick time, if I'm honest, wasn't I guess in
Speaker 1: there for the right reasons because I went on there
Speaker 1: to promote my blog to experience it, and I guess
Speaker 1: if I found love, that would have been great. But
Speaker 1: I think you know, anyone who applies to the show
Speaker 1: like thinking they're going to find love, well, I don't know.
Speaker 1: That's great, and many people do. Many people are successful
Speaker 1: families out of it. It just wasn't really why I
Speaker 1: went on the show. If I'm completely well.
Speaker 2: It seems a bit unfair when people do question some
Speaker 2: of the people's motives because, as you say, you didn't
Speaker 2: even apply, you were approached.
Speaker 1: Exactly, so how could anyone say, oh, you're in here
Speaker 1: for the right reasons? Because I quite candidly was known
Speaker 1: as the fashion blogger. I quite candidly told the producers like, well, no,
Speaker 1: I won't say that, I'm not sure, but I mean,
Speaker 1: very quickly after the show I met my now husband
Speaker 1: and married with a kid. So were my intentions one
Speaker 1: hundred percent to find the love of my life. I
Speaker 1: guess if I found the love of my life, it
Speaker 1: would have been great, But it was more about promoting
Speaker 1: my blog, if I'm honest, and just experiencing it. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to be in the house for a really
Speaker 1: short time and see what really goes on and come
Speaker 1: out and six years down the line, like now, be
Speaker 1: able to say I've been on a reality TV show
Speaker 1: and watch TV with a very different lens.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you do.
Speaker 2: So you said you'd wanted to find out what really
Speaker 2: goes on. You actually kept a journal, So does that
Speaker 2: sort of does your journal give a good insight into
Speaker 2: the reality of reality TV?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's pretty random. Like when I first
Speaker 1: started speaking to you guys, I went to my parents'
Speaker 1: house and dug up. I remembered I had this journal,
Speaker 1: and I remember all the girls the intruders wrote in
Speaker 1: this journal, and I kept it while I was in lockdown.
Speaker 1: So actually two days prior to going in the house,
Speaker 1: I think it was at the Star City Casino from memory,
Speaker 1: and you go into lockdown and that was like the
Speaker 1: weirdest thing in the world because you felt like a
Speaker 1: fifteen year old kid again. You had like a producer
Speaker 1: with you all the time. I guess the idea behind
Speaker 1: that that two days was around finding out well, first
Speaker 1: of all, like fitting fitting you and seeing what dress
Speaker 1: you're gonna wear, and getting your hair and makeup tested out,
Speaker 1: all that kind of thing, but also interviewing you, finding
Speaker 1: out if you've got any phobias, anything, you're scared of.
Speaker 1: For instance, like Lorena, as we know, she likes like
Speaker 1: fine dining, and I guess this dirty street par example,
Speaker 1: like was her ultimate worst nightmare for a day, and
Speaker 1: they would have known that and obviously put out for
Speaker 1: that day. Or for me, I have a fear of heights.
Speaker 1: I actually didn't tell them that because it would be
Speaker 1: my worst nightmare to jump out of a plane.
Speaker 3: You're too clever.
Speaker 1: I'm a lawyer. I remember, they didn't tell anybody that
Speaker 1: I was just a stupid fashion blogger. So yeah, the
Speaker 1: journal was interesting and reading back on it made me
Speaker 1: laugh and maybe cringe a little bit because it's quite Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know. My experience of the show wasn't experienced definitely,
Speaker 1: but something I look back on and think, like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, like why did I do that? It's a
Speaker 1: bit weird that that you put yourself in that position
Speaker 1: and give up all control and sign a contract away
Speaker 1: that basically you're signing a life away. You're giving the
Speaker 1: producers to the opportunity to make out whatever they want
Speaker 1: of you. So yeah, I came in as the fashion
Speaker 1: blogger you know, however, and has the little title. I
Speaker 1: made it really clear to the producers that I'm a lawyer.
Speaker 1: I was working on a huge global law firm and
Speaker 1: wanted that to come out. But I guess there were
Speaker 1: so many I think there were two other lawyers at
Speaker 1: the time, and one of them was an intruder. So
Speaker 1: I just got you know, the fashion blogger.
Speaker 2: And in your diary you spoke about how you couldn't
Speaker 2: believe how emotionally invested some of the girls seemed. On
Speaker 2: the first night. What was that initial dinner party really
Speaker 2: like cocktail cocktail party?
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, yeah, that was completely eye opening for me.
Speaker 1: I guess as an intruder. We came in I think
Speaker 1: two to three months in. These girls had been in
Speaker 1: the house for a really long time, and when you
Speaker 1: go in the house, they strip you down of anything
Speaker 1: any contact to the outside world, like pretty much you
Speaker 1: get a roundom call here and they're back to home.
Speaker 1: But you don't have access to newspapers, you don't have
Speaker 1: access to calling people around on the social media. You know,
Speaker 1: you can read a book and you can sit around there,
Speaker 1: but you have what's called a voxy every morning, which
Speaker 1: is like a two hour interview. I guess with the
Speaker 1: producers are two hours well really long. I don't feel
Speaker 1: like ten hours. It's crazy.
Speaker 2: It's crazy because they obviously only take snippets of such
Speaker 2: a long chat.
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly, but yeah and everything. You have to answer
Speaker 1: everything in full sentences, so you know, for an example,
Speaker 1: if they say are you attracted to Blake, you can't
Speaker 1: say yes. You have to say I'm so attracted to Blake,
Speaker 1: or yes, I'm attracted to Blake, or I think Blake
Speaker 1: is amazing, because obviously they can't use yes in a show.
Speaker 1: So I guess when you're sitting around a house and
Speaker 1: every morning you're being asked about Blake and all the
Speaker 1: girls are talking about Blake and the only topic of
Speaker 1: conversation is Blake, and Blake is amazing at that time
Speaker 1: because he's wooing you and he's dressed nicely and he's
Speaker 1: taking you on dates. So everyone's just becomes so obsessed
Speaker 1: with him, and having come in fresh, I wasn't obsessed
Speaker 1: with him at all, and I was just so shocked.
Speaker 1: It felt like they were so brainwashed, and it was
Speaker 1: so like it felt so genuine that they were actually
Speaker 1: in love with this guy because you're on a TV
Speaker 1: show thinking about him and he's like the one who
Speaker 1: comes and like, if you're lucky enough, you get time
Speaker 1: with him. So I was quite shocked that, Yeah, it
Speaker 1: wasn't that they fell in love with him the first
Speaker 1: night because I was an intruder. They'd been and there ready,
Speaker 1: But I was shocked at how emotionally invested they had
Speaker 1: grown to be over the course of the two to
Speaker 1: three months. I'll never forget Sam Frost. I think it
Speaker 1: was either Sam or Louise, but I'm pretty sure it
Speaker 1: with Sam Frost had just been on a single date
Speaker 1: and was really really threatening to leave when we came
Speaker 1: in because she was just so distraught that like the
Speaker 1: new people would come in and they all felt really territorial,
Speaker 1: and the girls were so lovely, like they were nice people.
Speaker 1: I just think being in a house and not having
Speaker 1: that contact outside, well, like you know, you're not working,
Speaker 1: you're not doing anything, you're just sitting around thinking about Blake.
Speaker 1: It felt like they were really invested in him, and
Speaker 1: that shocked me.
Speaker 2: Do you think it was the producers who were fueling that,
Speaker 2: Like do they tell you sort of on the sly,
Speaker 2: hey you know, Blake said this about you?
Speaker 1: Or do they try it because no, I mean, of
Speaker 1: course they have these people in there who I didn't
Speaker 1: even know what they call it. I guess producers, but
Speaker 1: they sort of live with you in the house. They
Speaker 1: don't like go home at night, and they feel like
Speaker 1: you're best friends. Of course, they like tell you all
Speaker 1: these week things and and they're actually really nice people, like,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, this is a show,
Speaker 1: it's going to be They want it to be good,
Speaker 1: and they want the girls to be invested. I mean,
Speaker 1: have you ever seen a contestant ever walk in and
Speaker 1: say like, oh, this guy's not for me. It's not
Speaker 1: really it doesn't happened of them, so so yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: of course it's manipulated a little bit. It's not all reality. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And you also spoke about you kind of termed it
Speaker 2: that you felt like a puppet for TV ratings in
Speaker 2: your journal. Just how much control do you think the
Speaker 2: producers did have in the final edit over what you said?
Speaker 1: Did you?
Speaker 2: Was there something that you said that got totally taken
Speaker 2: out of context?
Speaker 1: One hundred percent? So you know, the filming goes for hours.
Speaker 1: Like to give you an idea, my Row ceremony, So
Speaker 1: when I was an intruder, I came in, we met
Speaker 1: Blake we walked down the aisle as if it was
Speaker 1: the first night, same same as you would on the
Speaker 1: first night, and met Blake and then you know everyone
Speaker 1: had they won on one time, and then there was
Speaker 1: a road ceremony that actually went till four in the morning,
Speaker 1: over two nights, same hair, same makeup, over two nights.
Speaker 1: Like you saw that episode air and I don't know,
Speaker 1: it looks like an hour or something that these are
Speaker 1: really long. Yeah, the filming goes on for a long time,
Speaker 1: and you're exhausted, Like half the time when you when
Speaker 1: the camera focuses on someone rolling their eyes and a
Speaker 1: rose some or anything, you're just really exhausted or your
Speaker 1: feet hurt from wearing heels founding around, but you're just
Speaker 1: over it, like you might not even want a rose.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but yeah, you've got to remember, like
Speaker 1: there's hours and hours of filming and the boxes that
Speaker 1: I spoke about earlier. You know, you might be speaking
Speaker 1: for two hours or one hour or whatever it was
Speaker 1: at the time. I actually remember, but it was a
Speaker 1: long time and they might just take one grab of
Speaker 1: what you've said, So yeah, they can make out of
Speaker 1: it whatever they want. And when you speak, they can
Speaker 1: put music on in the background, or they can focus
Speaker 1: in on your licking your lips or rolling your eyes.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but they can really create the picture
Speaker 1: of you whatever they want. Of course you have to
Speaker 1: say the stuff, but they can also keep asking it.
Speaker 1: And it's not like that you're locked in a room
Speaker 1: for the boxy. But until you really give them what
Speaker 1: they want, I mean, I don't know. You can get
Speaker 1: it done a lot quicker if you just answer the
Speaker 1: questions in full sentences and cooperate.
Speaker 2: And yeah, and is there a lot of alcohol flowing
Speaker 2: at these cocktail parties.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually don't drink, which is I never drink.
Speaker 1: I never taken a drug in my life, so I
Speaker 1: am also someone who loves control, so I made the
Speaker 1: decision obviously drink on the outside world, so I didn't
Speaker 1: drink on me in the mounsion. But yes, there is
Speaker 1: a lot of alcohol. As you can imagine. Producers love
Speaker 1: it when you drink because your filter goes and you
Speaker 1: can say, you know, you don't care what you say.
Speaker 1: You sort of forget about the cameras, Like I remember
Speaker 1: telling myself that my own brain like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: you're being filmed. Watch what you say, you know, don't
Speaker 1: say anything stupid, but really quickly it gets to be
Speaker 1: the new norm and you forget about the cameras and
Speaker 1: you just you just do say stuff, even though there
Speaker 1: are cameras everywhere. I imagine, like the girls are whatever.
Speaker 1: Months like, you just get so used to it. I
Speaker 1: don't know, so alcohol definitely was flowing. I don't know
Speaker 1: now if they've got limits or anything, but yeah, they
Speaker 1: loved they loved offering you a wine and they were
Speaker 1: a little weighted. Who came up?
Speaker 2: And how much time do you actually get to spend
Speaker 2: with the batchelor. I know you're an intruder, but if
Speaker 2: you are in there for a while, did they actually
Speaker 2: have enough time to grow a significant relationship with that person?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a really good question. Like, look, I wasn't
Speaker 1: there for long enough to tell you that very little.
Speaker 1: On a cocktail party, as I mentioned, like that would
Speaker 1: be film till three four in the morning sometimes and
Speaker 1: it's really long because Blake would go into a room
Speaker 1: and he'd have his boxy interviews and they'd interview each girl.
Speaker 1: And I mean, when let's say my private chat, that
Speaker 1: was probably fifteen minutes or you know, when I walked
Speaker 1: down the aisle and I said my little spill to
Speaker 1: him in the beginning, like it's five or ten minutes.
Speaker 1: The girls would be waiting around for weeks between, you know,
Speaker 1: if they didn't have a single day. I don't know
Speaker 1: that there's not that much time, So not a huge amount.
Speaker 1: Unless you're there till the very end and you've done
Speaker 1: hometowns and you've had single dates and you've done many
Speaker 1: group dates. It's really not a lot because there's so
Speaker 1: much that goes on in between that. Yeah, there's not
Speaker 1: a huge amount of.
Speaker 3: And on the same kind of topic.
Speaker 2: For instance, in America, I feel like they've got the
Speaker 2: fantasy suite and I feel I don't know, I feel
Speaker 2: like they must spend a lot more time with that
Speaker 2: person because all those relationships seem a bit more genuine
Speaker 2: behind the scenes. Is there time for girls to sneak
Speaker 2: out and go and see the bachelor or spend time
Speaker 2: with him overnight?
Speaker 1: Okay, like absolutely not. I don't know as well, like
Speaker 1: my series was a long time ago, it was twenty fourteen,
Speaker 1: but completely not. I think the US one is, Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no sex on the show, there's no sneaking out,
Speaker 1: there's no where to go. You're like locked in as
Speaker 1: a bouncin. Definitely not.
Speaker 3: I was gonna.
Speaker 2: I just had a thought with the producers. I did
Speaker 2: hear a rumor a while ago that they had baby
Speaker 2: monitors in rooms so they could listen.
Speaker 3: To what is true? Would they go to that extent to.
Speaker 2: Find out what you guys are talking about?
Speaker 1: I never saw a baby monitor as such. That would
Speaker 1: be great advertising. No, but no, I never saw that.
Speaker 1: But you just got minders who hang out with you
Speaker 1: all day and they listened to you. I'm not I
Speaker 1: remember feeling really anxious about keeping my journal in case
Speaker 1: someone would go through my bags and find it, Like
Speaker 1: I filtered what I wrote sometimes, So I remember that
Speaker 1: feeling of like there are people everywhere, there are cameras everywhere,
Speaker 1: everybody is listening to you all the time. Like let's
Speaker 1: say you're hanging out with the girls. The producer would
Speaker 1: come up to you and be like, oh, guys, can
Speaker 1: you talk about like today, how you felt when you
Speaker 1: came in and this person went crazy, you know, or whatever,
Speaker 1: and they like give you conversation starters kind of thing,
Speaker 1: and then they would film it. But I don't know
Speaker 1: about the baby monitor things. I think that's the rum.
Speaker 1: There are real cameras.
Speaker 2: Do they stay in touch with you guys after the
Speaker 2: show or is it sort of as soon as you're gone,
Speaker 2: they're gone.
Speaker 1: It's pretty degrading if I'm honest. I mean, you're chucked
Speaker 1: in it, like when you don't get the rose and
Speaker 1: the music comes on, do do Do? Do do do?
Speaker 1: You're walked out, shoved in a car, you're asked how
Speaker 1: you feel. I mean it is there's a camera like
Speaker 1: shoved in your face, Like the cameras aren't fat like
Speaker 1: you literally you know, you're in a car. So if
Speaker 1: you can imagine someone to producer in the front seat
Speaker 1: being like, oh, you're upset you didn't get a rose,
Speaker 1: like you know, if you say like, oh, you don't
Speaker 1: care because you weren't attracted to Blake in the first place,
Speaker 1: then you just look like a you know, like you're
Speaker 1: just upset and you look silly. And if you say,
Speaker 1: how do you win? Like you can't win on these
Speaker 1: showscuse matter what you say, you just look like an idiot.
Speaker 1: But I guess you've got to realize that going in
Speaker 1: and no matter how much like you think, you might
Speaker 1: get portrayed, well I think, I mean, how many people
Speaker 1: on the show. How many girls you watch on man
Speaker 1: you're like, oh my god, she's so cool, Like there's
Speaker 1: it's not that many. You're always like an idiot or
Speaker 1: a villiant villain or there, well hits really nice girls
Speaker 1: on the show, like they're all Some were smart, some
Speaker 1: were great girls. But I don't know. I don't think
Speaker 1: you can really come out winning. Some ross was great.
Speaker 1: There have been many examples, but I don't know, just
Speaker 1: been should be mindful when you're on these shows, Like
Speaker 1: you think you're going to be really cool and you're
Speaker 1: gonna be yourself, but they can just make cut it
Speaker 1: and edit you to be whatever they want, and it's
Speaker 1: not going to be an interesting show if you're just
Speaker 1: a normal person. It's going to be an interesting show
Speaker 1: if you are dramatic and you are emotional, and you
Speaker 1: do get emotional and dramatic because you've been stuck in
Speaker 1: a house for weeks. So yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: No, that's such a good point. I think that's important
Speaker 2: for anyone listening that might be thinking of entering. There's
Speaker 2: been a lot in the news recently, I suppose, with
Speaker 2: the tragic death of Caroline Flack, although she wasn't on
Speaker 2: a reality show as a contestant. It's brought up obviously
Speaker 2: Sophie and Mike, who committed suicide after the show. Do
Speaker 2: you think there is enough care in place for people
Speaker 2: in Australia who have been on reality shows.
Speaker 1: It's so fascinating to me because you know when I
Speaker 1: went on in twenty fourteen, you know how now you
Speaker 1: get instant fame. I mean, you get off the show
Speaker 1: or even during the show, they're posting heaps on Instagram,
Speaker 1: they're tagging you. Really wasn't like that in my day.
Speaker 1: I already had a following from I mentioned my blog.
Speaker 1: That's why when I'm a show, to promote my blog
Speaker 1: one of the reasons. But yeah, back in my day,
Speaker 1: like we didn't. It's not like they tagged you on Instagram.
Speaker 1: You got this instant following. So I really when I
Speaker 1: got off the show, it was just it's went back
Speaker 1: to my normal life. Like as well, I wasn't on
Speaker 1: there very long, so but yeah, I mean people who
Speaker 1: won the show, what went hometowns and were more memorable,
Speaker 1: they need a lot of care, like especially now that
Speaker 1: that news of Caroline Black is horrific and it just
Speaker 1: shows you the gravity. Like people who go on these
Speaker 1: shows are just normal people. I know it's just the host,
Speaker 1: but the contestants or whoever you are, they're just normal people.
Speaker 1: Like they don't have any idea that after the show
Speaker 1: that some people might watch the show and we completely
Speaker 1: horrified that they are the villain. Like they might just
Speaker 1: have said stuff that you know, sounds completely normal, but
Speaker 1: when you put the music behind it, or you cut
Speaker 1: it up or I don't know your zoom in's the
Speaker 1: eye rolls or whatever it is, they're like really shocked,
Speaker 1: and I don't feel like there's enough support. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I find it fascinating as well, because I watched these
Speaker 1: girls come off The Bachelor and all these shows and
Speaker 1: like interact with the fan so much. I'm thinking, like
Speaker 1: why just like ignore it, just block your comments. I
Speaker 1: actually got off the show and did not use social
Speaker 1: media for four and a half years. I completely it
Speaker 1: was the end for me. It was like the tipping
Speaker 1: point where I'd been blogging and I'd been in Miss Australia,
Speaker 1: which is a joke. I'd been on The Bachelor done
Speaker 1: all this stuff which was just superficial, and when I
Speaker 1: got off the show and met my now husband, who
Speaker 1: absolutely hates all of that stuff, like the fact that
Speaker 1: even had a date with me that I after I'd
Speaker 1: been on the Bachelor. It's like the biggest joke because
Speaker 1: he just despises all these fake situations. So I really
Speaker 1: feel like, yeah, just get off social media, like, have
Speaker 1: a cleanse of it. I know it's really hard, but
Speaker 1: far out if anyone. If anyone couldn't do it, it was me,
Speaker 1: and I did it for four years, So I don't
Speaker 1: know engaging with it all and reading the comments, just
Speaker 1: like the people who write this stuff are so low
Speaker 1: and I don't think they understand the gravity of what
Speaker 1: they're doing because yeah, I mean move Islander's Testament to that,
Speaker 1: and you wouldn't say them in the real world, Like
Speaker 1: no one would ever come up to these people in
Speaker 1: public and say this stuff, so why they're writing it online?
Speaker 1: But there needs to be so much more care. We
Speaker 1: had a psychologist on the show who apparently we could
Speaker 1: reach out to after, but I always got the feeling
Speaker 1: like maybe this was wrong and maybe I was just
Speaker 1: paranoid as mentioned with my diarial, scared that that would
Speaker 1: be found. But they told us that we could always
Speaker 1: call the psychologist after and you know, but I don't know,
Speaker 1: you feel like it's so contrived that you're a bit
Speaker 1: worried to do anything. It's like, well it's rather papermones
Speaker 1: colleges if I needed want because I don't know what
Speaker 1: they're going to feedback or I don't know. It's just
Speaker 1: when I got off the show that that was it.
Speaker 1: I think I bumped into one of the producers once
Speaker 1: after Westfield and I actually lived with my room at
Speaker 1: the time, was the silist on the show. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: I had a bit of like, I mean, you're not
Speaker 1: allowed to talk about anything that goes on. I didn't
Speaker 1: even over won it, but yeah, my situation was a
Speaker 1: little bit different. You know, you see all these girls
Speaker 1: like after band together and they become really you know,
Speaker 1: they go out together, they build their followings and whatever.
Speaker 1: I took a completely different route. I was just over it.
Speaker 1: I'd been blogging for seven years already before this, before
Speaker 1: Every Man and their Dog had a blog. So my
Speaker 1: my reaction was probably pretty rare because I just was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: I'm done with all this stuff. I don't speak to
Speaker 1: any of my friends who've really been on reality TV
Speaker 1: shows anymore and just got married and had a kid
Speaker 1: and went back to my work life. So yeah, but
Speaker 1: more care needs to be taken. It's pretty scary how
Speaker 1: emotionally unstable you can see now as well with stories,
Speaker 1: things like that didn't exist when I don't think stories
Speaker 1: existed yet twenty fourteen on Instagram. But it's just scary
Speaker 1: to watch the contestants get so constant because at the
Speaker 1: end of the day next year, they're going to be
Speaker 1: forgotten and there'll be a new match. I don't remember
Speaker 1: who I am. I walked down the street. I mean,
Speaker 1: I wasn't a huge part of the show. It was
Speaker 1: on a couple of episodes, but I don't know. I
Speaker 1: think I feel like you think everyone's going to care,
Speaker 1: but no one does, just being part of a show
Speaker 1: like so, yeah.
Speaker 3: That's so true.
Speaker 2: And when we're going to see that, you know, with
Speaker 2: the Maths contestants this year, everyone's going to forget about
Speaker 2: Jess and Martha and we've got I mean, it even
Speaker 2: disturbs me seeing how some of the people have been portrayed.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you're watching it, obviously your husband's
Speaker 2: not a big fan, but it is that whole it
Speaker 2: is that whole kind of disposable aspect of the show.
Speaker 2: And as you were saying earlier, you're a lawyer, but
Speaker 2: you also used to write a blog. Do you feel
Speaker 2: like they really wanted to pigeonhole you into what they
Speaker 2: probably deemed as it somewhat superficial job title.
Speaker 1: Of course. I mean they had two lawyers on the show.
Speaker 1: One of the intruders, I don't. I think one other
Speaker 1: one I kind of remember, but yeah, it was the
Speaker 1: fashion blogger. I was pitched up against Lorena to be
Speaker 1: like the one who's got to come in, and like,
Speaker 1: it's just they just paint you whatever they want to
Speaker 1: paint you. And I like, my blog was a huge
Speaker 1: part of my life, don't get me wrong. Like I
Speaker 1: ended up quitting law and actually doing my blog as
Speaker 1: a business. This was well before even anyone knew what
Speaker 1: a blog was. People like, what are you doing? They
Speaker 1: couldn't understand why I was posting this random stuff. But yeah,
Speaker 1: they just they make of you whatever they want, and
Speaker 1: I really feel like they decide that at that very
Speaker 1: first meeting, you know, when I went in there and
Speaker 1: I caught a cab from work and I met them
Speaker 1: for the first time they said do you want to
Speaker 1: be on the show? They knew already, Like I believe
Speaker 1: then they would know they'd cast you in their brain.
Speaker 1: They're very good. They're amazing the producers. They produce a
Speaker 1: really popular show. I mean, The Bachelor is a very
Speaker 1: popular show for a reason. It's funny, it's hilarious. I
Speaker 1: still watch it. I don't watch maps, but I do
Speaker 1: watch The Bachelor, and it's sort of addictive and funny.
Speaker 1: And even I fall into the trap of paying out
Speaker 1: the girls or like laughing. And so many times I
Speaker 1: sit with my husband and I say, like, why would
Speaker 1: someone go on this? Any woman going this? That is
Speaker 1: like fab you did. But I just have to remember
Speaker 1: these people going it for a reason. It's I'm sure
Speaker 1: many people have the dream of falling in love unless
Speaker 1: they get the dud Vauchelotte like I did. Just like
Speaker 1: it was just the worst Bachelor ever, Like, come on,
Speaker 1: if I'm doing this, give me someone good.
Speaker 2: We're touching on your blog, it's pretty impressive because you
Speaker 2: worked your way up to work with the Kardashians.
Speaker 3: Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, sure, So I had a blog for about seven years.
Speaker 1: It was kind of something. I started it just as
Speaker 1: like an online fashion journal. While I was at UNI.
Speaker 1: I was kind of bored studying commerce law, and it
Speaker 1: was a creative outlet for me. My dad has always
Speaker 1: been in fashion I so I get a lot of
Speaker 1: clothes from all the supplies that he would sell to,
Speaker 1: and then very quickly built up quite a large following.
Speaker 1: And I literally used to get shoes and bags and
Speaker 1: accessories and everything just landing off on their doorstep from
Speaker 1: every single PR company. They would I've got a photo,
Speaker 1: I have to dig it up, but like piles and
Speaker 1: piles of stuff to liver to my door and people
Speaker 1: would expect me to blog it. And I was made.
Speaker 1: This was like what I was doing for work at
Speaker 1: the time, and making quite good money out of it.
Speaker 1: And I'll never forget. One day, the Kardashian collection arrived.
Speaker 1: The whole bunch of stuff that was about four pairs
Speaker 1: of shoes and three hand digs or something. They arrived
Speaker 1: on my doorstep, and they called the PR company. And
Speaker 1: it didn't want to sound bitchy or anything. There was
Speaker 1: just like, hey guys, all this stuff's arrived on my doorstep.
Speaker 1: We didn't really talk about it prior so idn't select it,
Speaker 1: and my blog was quite genuine, very genuine, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to ensure that what I blogged was stuff that
Speaker 1: I liked. So I just kind of called them, was like, hey,
Speaker 1: what is this stuff? And like what am I getting
Speaker 1: out of this? Like if I do choose to post it,
Speaker 1: like normally get paid for this kind of thing. So
Speaker 1: I sent them my kids and whatever. Anyway, So a
Speaker 1: couple of days later, after I'd posted it, Chloe Kardashian
Speaker 1: actually posted it on her Instagram and my webs I
Speaker 1: just went crazy. I've got a million hits to my
Speaker 1: website in a couple of minutes. I was actually in
Speaker 1: a meeting at the time, and when I got out,
Speaker 1: like I just remember, so many of my friends like
Speaker 1: messaging me like holy shit, oh my god, have you
Speaker 1: seen this? Oh my god. And I didn't know what
Speaker 1: they were talking about because they didn't screenshot or anything,
Speaker 1: and they didn't mention Chloe or anything like that, so
Speaker 1: I had no idea what was going on. And then
Speaker 1: I went on my Instagram and just saw it completely explode.
Speaker 1: And that's when I saw that Chloe had posted that.
Speaker 1: I mean, this does not happen these days because she
Speaker 1: would probably get I don't know, two hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: We like promoting someone or you know, a brand, so
Speaker 1: I was pretty rare that I don't know. I was
Speaker 1: shocked and I called the PR company. I was like, whoa, thanks,
Speaker 1: like you guys organized. This was pretty cool for my
Speaker 1: business and I was inundated with other brands wanted to
Speaker 1: work with me, and that's kind of how my blog
Speaker 1: really took off. So that was cool. And then after
Speaker 1: that I just started blogging for the Kardashian Collection on Instagram.
Speaker 1: That yeah, I would they would send me stuff, I
Speaker 1: would photograph them, and then they would use the content
Speaker 1: and post it about it and they would tag me,
Speaker 1: so it was pretty cool. There was no money involved,
Speaker 1: but it was a really cool collaboration where for a
Speaker 1: few months they would promote me and I'll promote them,
Speaker 1: but normally, you know, you're kind of featured on their
Speaker 1: site as well, so it was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: So how many extra followers do you get when one
Speaker 2: of the kut ashy and shares your post?
Speaker 1: It was crazy a watch. Yeah, as I mentioned, like
Speaker 1: my website completely crashed. I actually ended up, like as
Speaker 1: I mentioned, stopping my Instagram for four years, but a
Speaker 1: lot of many thousands back in those days. She I
Speaker 1: think Sally had like only but I think she had
Speaker 1: like one point five million followers or something, so it's
Speaker 1: not now like she has twenty five million. This was
Speaker 1: years and years ago, so it was way before The Bachelor.
Speaker 1: This would have been like when Instagram was not fresh,
Speaker 1: but I don't know, probably eight years ago now, so yeah,
Speaker 1: to give you an idea, Yeah, she had on one
Speaker 1: point three million followers or something, so I got a
Speaker 1: fair few thousand. But yeah, after The Bachelor disabled it
Speaker 1: all and kind of annoys me sometimes I wish I
Speaker 1: kept it because well that's the other thing actually, when
Speaker 1: you go on a Bachelor, As I mentioned, I went
Speaker 1: on there to promote my blog, but it ended up
Speaker 1: doing me a really bad injustice because I actually signed
Speaker 1: a contract saying that I wouldn't post anything until I
Speaker 1: was out of the mounsion and from the time that
Speaker 1: you go in the mounsion till when it's released, sorry
Speaker 1: to when it's released, I couldn't post till when it
Speaker 1: actually aired. Wow, that was several months. Yeah, so I
Speaker 1: think it was about seven months of not posting anything.
Speaker 1: And as you can imagine, a blog relies on like
Speaker 1: new contents. People come into my page and it was
Speaker 1: just nothing there. I remember I put a post saying like,
Speaker 1: hey guys, I'm I'm not going to be around for
Speaker 1: a little while. Like I couldn't I couldn't close anything
Speaker 1: because it was just like, hey, I'm taking a little
Speaker 1: time out. It never came back, like six or seven months.
Speaker 1: So The Bachelor actually was the worst thing for my
Speaker 1: following because the whole thing in those days was to
Speaker 1: just keep on, you know, putting content out there. So
Speaker 1: it didn't help me at all. But yeah, the Kardashian
Speaker 1: definitely did.
Speaker 2: Does the does the contract say anything about dating? Are
Speaker 2: you allowed to continue dating when the show's on?
Speaker 1: I can't remember. I definitely did. The second I got
Speaker 1: out of that house, I called my now husband. I
Speaker 1: was like, I'm an idiot. I don't know why.
Speaker 2: I did.
Speaker 1: Never have gotten that cop on that show. Please date me?
Speaker 1: So did he we went on a date? Because did he? No?
Speaker 1: He said he never did. I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: think he did. Honestly, he's just not interested in that stuff.
Speaker 1: Like I dragged him to watch The Bachelor now, but
Speaker 1: he hates it, so I honestly don't think I was
Speaker 1: portrayed pretty like an idiot on there. I don't think
Speaker 1: he would have dated me if he watched it. Watched
Speaker 1: it nothing too bad, just like a superficial blogger, which
Speaker 1: there is a lot more depth to me than just
Speaker 1: fashion which if you see me now, I've got a kid,
Speaker 1: I've always got like milk all over me. I'm not
Speaker 1: very fashionable. It's not always what you see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Now I've got to ask, because I was a
Speaker 2: huge fan of Blake series of the Bachelor, and of
Speaker 2: course it ended quite controversially with him proposing to Sam
Speaker 2: Frost and then dumping her for Louise.
Speaker 3: Did he propose to him?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he proposed to Oh no, it was a third
Speaker 2: season with the ugly ring, but yeah, she did propose
Speaker 2: to her. Do you have any inside gos like was
Speaker 2: that a huge surprise to you and the other contestants
Speaker 2: when all of that happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't have inside gos. I was completely shocked.
Speaker 1: I remember watching it with my roommate, who she's a
Speaker 1: stider that she obviously knew, but she's completely couldn't say anything,
Speaker 1: but I was shocked. I don't have any inside gos.
Speaker 1: I honestly put it down to the fact that you
Speaker 1: know you're on this show. You've always got cameras in
Speaker 1: front of you. Everything's all amazing. You're normally going on
Speaker 1: fancy day, it's really nice. You know you're being filmed,
Speaker 1: so you're just not you got one hundred percent true natural,
Speaker 1: like you're not seeing the bachelor on the couch in
Speaker 1: his unbe kind of hanging out, you know, and like
Speaker 1: this setting that is glamorous and lovely. So I don't know.
Speaker 1: I guess maybe when camera's off and stop rolling, I
Speaker 1: don't know who knows what happened. And you know, when
Speaker 1: you break up with someone, I guess you always think like, Okay,
Speaker 1: well I had this really great bond with Louise, for instance,
Speaker 1: maybe I can stir that back up. I have no
Speaker 1: idea what happened, so I can't comment, but I guess
Speaker 1: it's just one of those things that maybe it didn't
Speaker 1: work out with them. And yeah, if you ask me
Speaker 1: if it was like all predecided. God, I hope not
Speaker 1: that level of like manipulation. I don't think so, but
Speaker 1: I can't comment. I don't know. To be fair, I
Speaker 1: was shocked.
Speaker 2: To be fair to Blake, it seems like they don't
Speaker 2: actually know each other that well, so you could kind
Speaker 2: of see if the one relationship wasn't working.
Speaker 3: Again, if you don't know someone that well, don't propose
Speaker 3: to them as well. Ye, you get very true.
Speaker 1: You get like I totally agree that you don't know
Speaker 1: them that well. For sure. You do not know them
Speaker 1: in a natural true self in the natural environment. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes they're not even living in the same state, so
Speaker 1: it's really awkward and you're like, Okay, now what with
Speaker 1: like to move in with you? Like, how do you
Speaker 1: even do? It? Is the long term thing, but the
Speaker 1: producers definitely, Like I remember the first time I met Blake,
Speaker 1: he had an earpiece in his ear, and he knew
Speaker 1: a lot about me, like details like I don't know
Speaker 1: I mentioned when we were in the lockdown at the
Speaker 1: Star City Casino before I went into the Mountaion. You're
Speaker 1: interviewed and you tell them everything, like like you I
Speaker 1: told him, I've got a teeny tiny little dot tattoo
Speaker 1: literally on my ankle, Like Blake knew everything like he
Speaker 1: had it, because how's probably expected to even remember everybody's names,
Speaker 1: you know, there's five or six new intruders, like I
Speaker 1: wouldn't remember five people's names, and another twenty in the house.
Speaker 1: So like he's got a microphone, he had an airpiece,
Speaker 1: like you don't know. Yeah, it's I don't know. My
Speaker 1: best piece of advice go watch this show on stand
Speaker 1: called Unreal. You will knack your head off. I mean
Speaker 1: it's a little bit traumatized. That definitely don't go to
Speaker 1: that extent.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean there were no drugs though, but yeah,
Speaker 4: it will give you a t and I'm sure you
Speaker 4: guys can imagine, like they stay like, oh, why don't
Speaker 4: you propose?
Speaker 1: It will make for such great ratings or I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe they had a sponsor with engagement ring that I
Speaker 1: have no idea, but they definitely you get swept up
Speaker 1: in it all. I'll say that much.
Speaker 2: And apart from watching Stan, what would your last piece
Speaker 2: of advice be for women who are applying for the
Speaker 2: show this year?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess it's different nowadays. I know a lot
Speaker 1: of people want the fame, or they go in there
Speaker 1: to promote the business or to just have the experience,
Speaker 1: and all those things are fine. Or if you go
Speaker 1: in there to find love like good luck. I don't know,
Speaker 1: like it's an interesting way to find love, but it
Speaker 1: has worked, so that's another valid reason. I guess it's
Speaker 1: the premise of the show is to go in there
Speaker 1: and find love. But just remember, like after, you know,
Speaker 1: you think you're gonna be like husually famous, and they
Speaker 1: are very There are people who come out there big
Speaker 1: followings that you do. You can become an influencer. That's
Speaker 1: your dream, But I don't know, there's a lot modern
Speaker 1: life than just being on a TV show. And I
Speaker 1: had a great experience and I love being on the show.
Speaker 1: It was funny. I wasn't in there for very long
Speaker 1: and it's a story that I always have. But yeah,
Speaker 1: just like you know, you've got to be pretty mentally
Speaker 1: strong as well, and not everyone's going to like you
Speaker 1: on the show. You might not come across what you think,
Speaker 1: So yeah, I wouldn't get too caught up in it
Speaker 1: after and just don't replied all these trolls just to
Speaker 1: get off Instagram. Why waste It's such a waste of life, Like,
Speaker 1: go on there. I'm on that. I'm back on there
Speaker 1: now because I've got a daughter I'm super proud of
Speaker 1: and if you're so cute, and I enjoy a post
Speaker 1: like real things that happen in my life. But just
Speaker 1: be mindful. You're signing a life away. And when you
Speaker 1: go on those shows, you have to remember that the
Speaker 1: idea of the show is to get ratings and to
Speaker 1: get people watching the show and enjoying the show. And
Speaker 1: if you're happy to be a part of that, and
Speaker 1: you don't mind how you're portrayed, go on it. It
Speaker 1: was fun. I loved it. But you're not in control
Speaker 1: of how you are portrayed as much as you feel
Speaker 1: like you can be, or that you might not drink
Speaker 1: alcohol like I did, or you know, you can still
Speaker 1: be portrayed in other ways. And there's nothing damn drink
Speaker 1: to me. I don't care how was portrayed. It was,
Speaker 1: it wasn't here, looked more there. It was fine. But
Speaker 1: just be really mindful of what you are going into.
Speaker 1: And also it's a huge commitment, like you've got to
Speaker 1: quit your job or put your life on hold for
Speaker 1: potentially several months, you know, like it's not unless you
Speaker 1: go in and as an intruder. Oh that's pretty fun,
Speaker 1: do that, brather, because I don't think intruders ever win,
Speaker 1: and you know the bonds have already been formed. So
Speaker 1: going in as an intruder I guess, but yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: be prepared to experience things that you've never seen or
Speaker 1: you'll be battled. Keep a diary, it's really interesting to
Speaker 1: look back on it later.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for joining us. I've had
Speaker 2: such a great time chatting with you, and I know
Speaker 2: Sophie has two.
Speaker 3: I loved all the thank you with us.
Speaker 1: Oh no, column, We do hope.
Speaker 3: You did enjoy listening to the show. If you did,
Speaker 3: please leave us a review and as we said, just
Speaker 3: be kind out there. Thank you so much for stay