Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week The Light Welcome back
Speaker 1: to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris and on this
Speaker 1: podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest players
Speaker 1: in television. Each episode you will get a front row
Speaker 1: seat with content makers like executive producers, writers, editors and
Speaker 1: casting agents, plus the talent we see on our screens.
Speaker 1: TV Reload reloads the shows that you're 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 the
Speaker 1: latest unmasked celebrity from Channel tens, the mass singer Australia,
Speaker 1: and this guest has been in our cinemas and on
Speaker 1: our TV screens for decades. It is pa Miranda. While
Speaker 1: the song was an unusual choice for the pint sized
Speaker 1: Australian actor, it was a great disguise because no one
Speaker 1: seemed to guess who was behind the mask. I thought
Speaker 1: Bindy Irwin, Carla Bonna and so many other celebrities that
Speaker 1: somehow I missed all the clues that matched with one
Speaker 1: of my favorite Australian stars. I have loved Pea's unpredictable
Speaker 1: at times, but consistent career from Looking for Ala Brandy,
Speaker 1: Secret Life of Us went Worth to Australian Survivor. There
Speaker 1: is so many iconic twists and turns to Peer's career
Speaker 1: and what an opportunity to talk to her about it. Today.
Speaker 1: We will talk about if she would ever return to
Speaker 1: Australian Survivor, what song she had planned next from Bachelor Girl,
Speaker 1: what her family thought of her secret involvement in The
Speaker 1: Mass Singer, and I will also get a backstory on
Speaker 1: her famous role as Josie Alla Brandy. However, let's get
Speaker 1: started with today's special guest. Pea Miranda is here ready
Speaker 1: to unpack her unmasking on the Mass Singer in Australia.
Speaker 2: Who do you think? It is a new and imagine
Speaker 2: if that was.
Speaker 1: You last time on Australia's Wildest singing show.
Speaker 2: And there's a little bit of TV magic as far
Speaker 2: as meet getting it off.
Speaker 1: It was an incredible performance.
Speaker 2: It was I like some reality I really do obviously, Survivor.
Speaker 2: It's like.
Speaker 1: You've lived in the public eye. Are you were neighbors
Speaker 1: from when you were a kid. You're looking for Ala Brandy?
Speaker 1: You want to wards all over the place, what's it
Speaker 1: been like to be anonymous?
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if anyone's going to fall for my
Speaker 2: nonsense twice.
Speaker 3: Frandi where we're neighbors.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you want Survivor.
Speaker 2: It's just one of those beautiful moments in your life
Speaker 2: when he thinks of you just know some really specials.
Speaker 1: About Tappan Hypier. How are you?
Speaker 2: Hello, I'm good. How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm really well? And congratulations on the mask singer. I'm
Speaker 1: going to start off by saying I had no idea
Speaker 1: it was you.
Speaker 2: I don't think anyone did. Actually, those clues were very random.
Speaker 1: And look, you know you've played some amazing characters. Is
Speaker 1: adding a thong to your resume at this point something
Speaker 1: you never saw coming.
Speaker 2: I didn't think I was going to be wearing a
Speaker 2: thong on TV, but it was a career highlight for me.
Speaker 1: You know what's really funny was watching last night's episode
Speaker 1: with my Irish friend who is staying with us. He's
Speaker 1: just arrived yesterday never being here to Australia and had
Speaker 1: not seen the first two episodes, so I was quickly
Speaker 1: catching him up on the show. So when I said
Speaker 1: one of the masks was a thong, he had this
Speaker 1: really strange look on his face, because in England and Ireland,
Speaker 1: in Europe, a song is something very different.
Speaker 2: It's very different. Yes, so for him it was a
Speaker 2: flip flop. But yes it was a thong. But maybe
Speaker 2: when I got to America, I can be like, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, I wore a song on Telly once.
Speaker 1: Being a pair of nickers would have been a little
Speaker 1: bit risque for the time slot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so those days wrote for me.
Speaker 1: You know, you mentioned your desire to be on the
Speaker 1: mast Singer Australia and that you wanted to surprise your kids.
Speaker 1: How did that play out? Did they work it out
Speaker 1: before the reveal? Could you keep it a secret?
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm good at keeping secrets, and so I
Speaker 2: did keep it from them. It was really weird because
Speaker 2: my son and I were sitting on the couch and
Speaker 2: we thought all the video his reaction, and then just
Speaker 2: before it happened, I went, who do you think it is?
Speaker 2: And he went, imagine if that was you, And I
Speaker 2: don't know why he said that, He's never said that before,
Speaker 2: and then when it was me, his little brain exploded.
Speaker 2: He was just like, I said that as a joke.
Speaker 2: I said that as a joke. So it was the
Speaker 2: cutest moment. He's I take can't believe I said it.
Speaker 2: And my daughter is a teenager, so she was like, yeah, cool.
Speaker 1: Don't be embarrassing on TV. Mom.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I go to a school tomorrow and
Speaker 2: everyone's going to know your song.
Speaker 1: Out of all the masks, yours had me stumped with
Speaker 1: how you were going to even take the mask off,
Speaker 1: because I was wondering if they're going to lift a
Speaker 1: panel off the front or is there some sort of
Speaker 1: line we couldn't see. How hard was it to be
Speaker 1: in that costume and how hot was it in there?
Speaker 2: Ah, it was a big costume. There was a little
Speaker 2: bit of TV magic as far as you know, meat
Speaker 2: getting it off, and it was sort of one of
Speaker 2: those things where I didn't really have much to work
Speaker 2: with her. I had hands and feet. So the first
Speaker 2: like run through that we did, because you know, I
Speaker 2: used to be a dancer, I was like, I'm going
Speaker 2: to dazzle everyone, my dad, and then I danced my
Speaker 2: heart out. Then we watched it back on screen and
Speaker 2: it just looked like I was just standing there because
Speaker 2: I was all hips and you know, so I thought, okay,
Speaker 2: I've just got to do lots of footwork.
Speaker 1: Have you had a chance to chat to Lisa or
Speaker 1: Ryan and swap stories on what it's like to be
Speaker 1: on the show. Yet.
Speaker 2: The cute thing in my package was that they had
Speaker 2: one of the clues was Ryan it was the night
Speaker 2: and they had the night and the thong falling in
Speaker 2: love and Ryan and I were on Neighbors together and
Speaker 2: I was his first girlfriend on Neighbors. I was Toby's
Speaker 2: first girlfriend. So I loved that it was in the package,
Speaker 2: And when I found out he was on it, I'm like,
Speaker 2: that's so sweet. What a great way to book and
Speaker 2: neighbors for myself.
Speaker 1: That clue made me think maybe Carla Bonna for some reason, right,
Speaker 1: you know, do you have any idea on who Blowfly is?
Speaker 1: Just because of what we saw in that battle. You
Speaker 1: obviously got to interact with Blowfly. Did you hear anything?
Speaker 1: Do you have any guesses on who you think it
Speaker 1: may be?
Speaker 2: No, I feel like it's a singer because I could.
Speaker 2: One day, I sneakily heard Blowfly practicing in one of
Speaker 2: the rooms, a beautiful song with a lovely voice, and
Speaker 2: then I kind of went into my practice room where
Speaker 2: I was like n no, no naa, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: like singing a pink song. So I feel like it's
Speaker 2: a singer. I don't know who it is, but maybe
Speaker 2: not like a pop singer, like maybe someone who's more
Speaker 2: of a kind of like a country or rock singer.
Speaker 1: When you are that close, is there any chance that
Speaker 1: you can hear each other talking or murmuring or maybe sweating?
Speaker 1: I don't know. Is there any chance of being able
Speaker 1: to hear each other?
Speaker 2: You can't. I mean, we would all wave to each other,
Speaker 2: but you can't really hear anything because you have earpieces
Speaker 2: in your ears that are locked off when you're not
Speaker 2: performing or talking to someone, so you kind of you
Speaker 2: sort of can't hear anything, and you can't see anything,
Speaker 2: and you can barely move. So it's pretty much you're
Speaker 2: just a lone soldier out there.
Speaker 1: And are you now playing along with the rest of Australia?
Speaker 1: Are you trying to work out who the other masks are?
Speaker 1: Do you have any guesses so far that you're even
Speaker 1: allowed to share?
Speaker 2: I honestly know as much as everyone else, like, they
Speaker 2: don't give you any hints or anything like that. You're
Speaker 2: also quested, so it's a surprise to me so I
Speaker 2: can enjoy it like anyone else. I kind of felt
Speaker 2: like one of my things was I saw Kyle Richards
Speaker 2: out here, you know, from Beverly Hills Housewives, and I
Speaker 2: was like, maybe she was on it. Maybe that's why
Speaker 2: she's actually here, because she was just here like meet
Speaker 2: and greet, and I went, maybe, just maybe Kyle is
Speaker 2: one of them. So that's one of my I don't know,
Speaker 2: weird random guesses. Apart from that, I have no idea.
Speaker 1: Do you watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I
Speaker 1: love that show, you know.
Speaker 2: I don't want to out myself, but everybody needs some downtime.
Speaker 2: And as much as I love, you know, watching a
Speaker 2: great drama, I also do enjoy watching a little bit
Speaker 2: of trash every now. And the one I really like
Speaker 2: is The New Jersey because they're so Italian and that
Speaker 2: there's some in jokes in that for Italians. It makes
Speaker 2: me laugh. But yeah, sometimes I watch Jerseys, sometimes I
Speaker 2: watch Beverly Hills just for a little bit of a laugh.
Speaker 2: You know. I've got some guilty flats housewives. Some I
Speaker 2: like some reality I really do obviously, is like my.
Speaker 1: Number one was, Yeah, well, I'm gonna ask you a
Speaker 1: survivor question at a second, but you know, I just
Speaker 1: wanted to say, sadly, you were the person leaving the competition.
Speaker 1: Last night, Ryan and Lisa, as they left the competition
Speaker 1: revealed what song they had planned next. Can you tell
Speaker 1: me if there was another song in your playlist that
Speaker 1: we've just missed out on seeing.
Speaker 2: Yes, I was about to sing Bachelor Girl. I was
Speaker 2: about to sing Buses and Trains.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that was my.
Speaker 2: Next song, which I felt like, yeah, it would have
Speaker 2: been fun to do. But yeah, they were taking the
Speaker 2: tone down a little bit from Pink and Footloose.
Speaker 1: They were still they were so fun to watch, Like,
Speaker 1: I think there were great selections of songs for you,
Speaker 1: being that you're not a recognizable singer, you never released
Speaker 1: an album or anything like that, just your authentic voice.
Speaker 1: I thought it was very cute.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm hoping to release a Christmas album called
Speaker 2: Christmas Songs.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be massive. It's gonna be huge, yep.
Speaker 2: But I'm available if anyone wants to sign.
Speaker 1: I absolutely loved Abby chat Field's comment about looking for
Speaker 1: Ala Brandy because that Molina Minchedda book was my favorite
Speaker 1: book as a teenager. I always wanted to know, though,
Speaker 1: with your relationship with that book. Had you read the
Speaker 1: book prior to playing that iconic role, Like, what was
Speaker 1: your relationship with that book?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean obviously before I did the job, but
Speaker 2: I hadn't. We didn't have it on the curriculum in Melbourne,
Speaker 2: so it was a Sydney thing, so we didn't really
Speaker 2: know about it. The first time I heard about it
Speaker 2: was when I was walking on the street and I
Speaker 2: saw bumped into Kick and he was telling me he
Speaker 2: was auditioning to this film. So when I finally got
Speaker 2: the audition, Kick lent me his book and that's the
Speaker 2: first time I read it, which is so sweet, and
Speaker 2: then I kept it, never returned it, and we both
Speaker 2: ended up being Josie and Jacob. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know, I remember when your name was announced for
Speaker 1: the film, you know, and I remember the audition process.
Speaker 1: I remember there was a lot of people auditioning for
Speaker 1: that role. Do you know any of the other actors
Speaker 1: that you beat out to play Ala Brandy?
Speaker 2: I mean I was there on one of those massive
Speaker 2: cattle call days, you know, when it's like hundreds and
Speaker 2: hundreds of people and then it was like a dance
Speaker 2: audition because I used to be dancer. And then you'd
Speaker 2: go wait and then they'd call out the people who
Speaker 2: they wanted to see next. So it was really brutal.
Speaker 2: So I didn't know too many people who were going
Speaker 2: for Josie, but I did know a lot of people
Speaker 2: that had gone for Carlin and some of the other roles.
Speaker 1: I just remember that it was like it was this
Speaker 1: huge thing in Melbourne, right across the country with this
Speaker 1: massive search. It was almost like casting Big Brother or Idol.
Speaker 1: You know, there was just it felt like that.
Speaker 2: It felt like that it was just so many people.
Speaker 2: It's audition, and then I was really late because I
Speaker 2: was not in my teens and they just didn't want
Speaker 2: to see me. And then they didn't realize I had
Speaker 2: that weird child woman thing going on. It's a bit creepy,
Speaker 2: but so I was like late in the process. It
Speaker 2: was hundreds of people, and then you know, by the
Speaker 2: end of that day, it was just me left at
Speaker 2: the end, and then Kick walked in and it just
Speaker 2: kind of felt really quite amazing. It's just one of
Speaker 2: those beautiful moments in your life when you think something,
Speaker 2: you just know something really specials about Tapping.
Speaker 1: People who loved that movie are just gonna love hearing
Speaker 1: you talking about it like that.
Speaker 2: So do you know My favorite thing about the movie
Speaker 2: is that I think I'm really worried as an Italian
Speaker 2: Australian that grew up in the eighties when it wasn't
Speaker 2: called to be Italian Australian, I'm really worried that like
Speaker 2: people are going to forget about the good rooms or
Speaker 2: the furniture covered in plastic because it doesn't seem to
Speaker 2: exist that much anymore. And I love in the film,
Speaker 2: like as an Easter egg that you can go and
Speaker 2: see Anna's good room. She's still got a good room
Speaker 2: and all the furnitures covered in plastic. That was how
Speaker 2: I grew up, Like a good room that you weren't
Speaker 2: allowed to go into, but it was the only room
Speaker 2: with their conditioning, and so you try and sneak in there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it felt very much like my high school.
Speaker 1: I went to Doncaster High in Melbourne and basically, you know,
Speaker 1: everyone was Italian at that school, Like it was so bizarre.
Speaker 1: So I connected to it a lot because I had
Speaker 1: friends that had parents that had the good room. You know, sad,
Speaker 1: the good rooms being phased out.
Speaker 2: I know I don't want it to be. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: have to start it up again.
Speaker 1: Also, massive fan of Australian Survivor, so massive fan of
Speaker 1: this show, and I just wanted to ask how did
Speaker 1: that happen for you? Because when that was announced that
Speaker 1: you were part of that show, everyone was like, Pa,
Speaker 1: Miranda's going to being in Survivor, this is incredible, and
Speaker 1: then you went on to win it. But how to
Speaker 1: producers know you were a super fan of that show
Speaker 1: that you were willing to do it.
Speaker 2: It was really random. Obviously I never planned to do
Speaker 2: reality all of a sudden, I'm popping up everywhere. But
Speaker 2: it was one of those random things where I was
Speaker 2: doing an interview with TV tonight and it was one
Speaker 2: where he asked, you know, you had to do a
Speaker 2: Q and A and it was like it was on
Speaker 2: New Year's Even, It was like, what is your guilty
Speaker 2: pleasure on television? And I just went, oh, obviously Survivor.
Speaker 2: And I went on this whole rant about how Survivor
Speaker 2: for twenty years and I'm really obsessed with it, which
Speaker 2: I really really was never missed a season. Blah blah blah.
Speaker 2: I sit on the couch and I reckon I could
Speaker 2: win it and I'd drive people crazy. And anyway, the
Speaker 2: next day after it got printed, they called and said, well,
Speaker 2: actually we're doing a new season. And my heart just
Speaker 2: sank because I thought, I can't say no, but I
Speaker 2: really don't want to go do this. Yeah, and Australian
Speaker 2: Survivors brutal. You know, it's fifty days, which is a
Speaker 2: really big difference to America's twenty six. I think South
Speaker 2: Africa's thirty six. Fifty days is a huge difference as
Speaker 2: far as how you cope with that mentally and physically,
Speaker 2: it's a lot. So it was a really you know,
Speaker 2: hats off to anyone who does it twice.
Speaker 1: You got paid pretty well considering you got the prize money,
Speaker 1: so you'd never go back. You'd never go back.
Speaker 2: I would never say never. I'm a huge fan of
Speaker 2: the South African franchise, which is you can watch on
Speaker 2: teenplay at the moment if you like Survivor, it's really good.
Speaker 2: I would never say never. I'm not sure if anyone's
Speaker 2: going to fall for my nonsense. Twice, Like a lot
Speaker 2: of my game plan was pretending to people I didn't
Speaker 2: know what was going on and then whispering in people's ears,
Speaker 2: going how about you go tell that person to do this,
Speaker 2: and then going woll, what's happening. So you know, everyone
Speaker 2: was kind of onto that by the end, so I
Speaker 2: don't know if they'd fall for that twice. For someone
Speaker 2: like me to get to merge in Australia, it is
Speaker 2: extremely hard because Australian Survivors very much about brute strength
Speaker 2: in the first half of the game, so it's you know,
Speaker 2: smaller people tend to get but not so much smaller people,
Speaker 2: but people who aren't, you know, very athletic. It's really
Speaker 2: it's really difficult to make that merge. And there's a
Speaker 2: part of me that just would love to go to
Speaker 2: my grave with my torch unsnuffed. You know. I love
Speaker 2: the fact that my torch never got snuffed. It's just
Speaker 2: it really means a lot to me. I mean, it
Speaker 2: was it was a rough journey for me on the
Speaker 2: Survivor obviously if you were around for that time, but
Speaker 2: it just means a lot. It really means a lot
Speaker 2: to me to win that show and to be a
Speaker 2: part of it. I am a nerdy nerdy nerdy mega fan.
Speaker 1: I'm the opposite. Like, you know, I did Big Brother
Speaker 1: and One Big Brother in Australia, and I always thought,
Speaker 1: because I'm annoying, that I would be I would get
Speaker 1: the very iconic it's time to go Benjamin, and so
Speaker 1: I never got it. So I want to go back
Speaker 1: and do it again because I want to know what
Speaker 1: it's like to be evicted, right.
Speaker 2: I know what you're saying. There's a little part of
Speaker 2: me I feel like it wouldn't mean. The only time
Speaker 2: I would really get like all gooey inside is if
Speaker 2: Jeff said it to me, you know, if Jeff is
Speaker 2: like the tribe has spoken.
Speaker 1: What did you think of Melbe's comment? I mean she
Speaker 1: called you a boss bitch.
Speaker 2: I just want to say I thought you on and
Speaker 2: you were like a bad boss bitch.
Speaker 1: I watched that series. I just I don't know if
Speaker 1: boss bitch was what I walked away with.
Speaker 2: The super fans really were just so incredible to me
Speaker 2: on that show. You know, I cocked a light. I
Speaker 2: think it's really hard to play a game like that
Speaker 2: as a woman. You know, a woman used to get
Speaker 2: these just incessant just nonsense on your Instagram and tweeter
Speaker 2: like you lied, you lied, and then the boys. I
Speaker 2: don't want to be like boy girl, boy girl, but
Speaker 2: the boys will get You're amazing. You lied. It's just
Speaker 2: it gets really hard, and for me it was extreme
Speaker 2: at one point. And just to have those super fans
Speaker 2: just really get your game and really stick by you
Speaker 2: and really be obsessed with your game was just always
Speaker 2: something that was incredible to me. But I think people
Speaker 2: can take your game different ways. Some people see you
Speaker 2: as a boss bitch, some people see you as like,
Speaker 2: you know, a cool, sneaky manipulator. Some people just there's
Speaker 2: lots of nuances in the edit and in how people
Speaker 2: see you. And certainly if they listen to lots of podcasts,
Speaker 2: they pick up a lot more as well, because obviously
Speaker 2: only like one percent of the show show was on screen.
Speaker 2: But I didn't mind her saying that, you know, I'll
Speaker 2: own it.
Speaker 1: The chemistry between the panel this year on the Mark
Speaker 1: Singer is just so amazing. I love all four of
Speaker 1: those people quite a lot deeply. I really do. Do
Speaker 1: you think some of those clues were a little bit
Speaker 1: hard for them?
Speaker 2: Ah? Yeah, I mean I'm the same. I feel like
Speaker 2: the panel of Mark Singer this year is so lovely.
Speaker 2: There was a lot of warmth coming towards you from
Speaker 2: that panel. I grew up with Chrissy, so I was
Speaker 2: really thinking that perhaps she was going to guess me.
Speaker 2: But I think some of the clues were hard. But
Speaker 2: then it's one of those things that if you like
Speaker 2: know who the person is and then you go back
Speaker 2: and watch the clues, it will make more sense. There
Speaker 2: was a couple I didn't get. There was one about fish.
Speaker 2: I didn't know why I said I loved fish. I
Speaker 2: think I mentioned once I really love salt and pepper kalamari,
Speaker 2: so I think that's why they put it in, or
Speaker 2: maybe it was a survivor thing. There's really cute things, like,
Speaker 2: you know, they put up Lily James. My kids are
Speaker 2: called Lily and James. There was like a in one
Speaker 2: of my packages there was someone wearing an eye patch,
Speaker 2: which is a you know, a throwback to Wentworth. There
Speaker 2: was lots of cute little things, you know, and I
Speaker 2: there was the night and the thong falling in love.
Speaker 2: It was just really sweet, little sweet things.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, something that we always ask everyone
Speaker 1: that joins TV reload is what is something from behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, something that we didn't see that we won't
Speaker 1: see from behind the scenes of your experience on the Mastinger.
Speaker 2: Behind the scenes from Mastinger. One of the things that
Speaker 2: was really exciting to me, and I know this doesn't
Speaker 2: sound like a lot, but you've got to remember I
Speaker 2: grew up as a poor actor, is before you start
Speaker 2: the must Singer, they ask you what you want in
Speaker 2: your rider, which is like something that rock stars get asked,
Speaker 2: you know, like what do you want your rider?
Speaker 3: And then you get sunk riss crackers, strawberries, diet coke,
Speaker 3: you know, bananas, jelly beans, and then you walk into
Speaker 3: this little room and it's all the and.
Speaker 2: They refeel it when you exite a lot, and they
Speaker 2: refeel it every day. It was so exciting, and I'd
Speaker 2: just be chilling, because you chill out a lot. I'd
Speaker 2: just be chilling out in between you know, other people
Speaker 2: seeing just snacking away. Knowing that when I came back
Speaker 2: the next day this song going to be really chilled
Speaker 2: again was amazing. I felt like a rock star, even
Speaker 2: though I was just all.
Speaker 1: Of these people who are refilling the jelly beans and like,
Speaker 1: did you know that Pia mirandas for jelly beans, and
Speaker 1: she ate three bags of jelly beans.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was shocking, terrible, like the nuts. I'm just
Speaker 2: I had no control and little mini snickers. That was
Speaker 2: the most sense.
Speaker 1: It is so amazing to chat with you like this
Speaker 1: has meant a lot to me because I am a
Speaker 1: big fan. So you know, good luck. I will always
Speaker 1: be in your audience as Australia is. Do you ever
Speaker 1: go back to Survivor? I'm sure that people will love it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you did the mask singing. Yeah me too, Okay,
Speaker 1: look after self fair, Thank you. I lovely to chat