Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week. Don't welcome back guys
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.
Speaker 2: Yeah, great questions. The show's about the game. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of great television out there in Australia.
Speaker 1: But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers.
Speaker 1: The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't
Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the news and.
Speaker 2: Casting agents they know from a casting point of view
Speaker 2: what they need.
Speaker 1: And editors because that's what we do as editors where storytellers.
Speaker 1: Not to forget some incredible executive producers who are making
Speaker 1: some of the best TV in Australia. I have been
Speaker 1: on the program since the beginning and it's kind of
Speaker 1: in my DNA. So thanks for joining me each week
Speaker 1: and I hope the podcast continues to give you real
Speaker 1: insight into the magic of television today. On the podcast,
Speaker 1: I have Michael Kroker from Australian Survivor, who's the ninth
Speaker 1: person to be eliminated from the Network ten series this year,
Speaker 1: The Global Phenomenon, produced by Enemol Shine Australia has had
Speaker 1: me hooked from day one, and I've been lucky enough
Speaker 1: to get some time with Mick appropriately nicknamed Kroc to
Speaker 1: discuss all the meth in mayhem from his time on
Speaker 1: the show. The NRAL Queensland had joined the competition with
Speaker 1: his sister in law Chrissy, who has proven that while
Speaker 1: she might not be the biggest Australian Survivor superfan, she
Speaker 1: is definitely a super threat. We'll find out what Kroc
Speaker 1: thinks of Chrissy outlasting him, the aftermath of his mate's blindside,
Speaker 1: who he's still in touch with, and why the hell
Speaker 1: is no one flushing Carn's idol. There's plenty more to
Speaker 1: come in the chat and without further ado, let's welcome
Speaker 1: astral And Survivor's scariest looking teddy Bear from Queensland to
Speaker 1: TV reload.
Speaker 2: It is ruthless from the minute you get out on
Speaker 2: that show.
Speaker 1: Rock it's a Survivor super fan.
Speaker 2: I definitely wasn't holding back, but still you'll have to
Speaker 2: play the game. I'm disappointed in Ben. I thought that
Speaker 2: I had his back.
Speaker 1: Maybe he can forgive it, but not forget.
Speaker 2: You'll have to wait and see the football. I was
Speaker 2: trying to get low and get underneath him. I first
Speaker 2: subverted out of blood versus water. Crack. If we're going
Speaker 2: to flush the idol, let's flush it properly.
Speaker 1: Hey mate, how are you?
Speaker 2: I'm excellent. I thought I might have had a few
Speaker 2: nightmares last night. However, I had a good sleep and
Speaker 2: I've worken up feeling pretty good.
Speaker 1: Well, congratulations on your time and survivor. It was such
Speaker 1: a big part of the game. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about it now?
Speaker 2: I'm actually really proud. I had a plan to go
Speaker 2: in there, and you know, I got the feeling that
Speaker 2: I may have been a physical threat. So, knowing the
Speaker 2: game and loving the game, I knew that I had
Speaker 2: certain elements of strategy that I wanted to enact, but
Speaker 2: I didn't want to do that too early, because if
Speaker 2: I'm seen as a physical and strategic threat early, then
Speaker 2: obviously there's an extra target on my back. So I
Speaker 2: was buying my time. I waited patiently. I enacted a
Speaker 2: couple of plans and unfortunately just couldn't execute them.
Speaker 1: Is that to say that, you know, some of those
Speaker 1: earlier challenges where people were expecting you to just destroy
Speaker 1: people were you holding back at that point?
Speaker 2: Oh, I know the ones against mar and the big fellas.
Speaker 2: He's just he's a monster. So yeah, he got the
Speaker 2: better of me. It was frustrating for me. Obviously, I
Speaker 2: don't like losing. I love competing, but it was fun.
Speaker 2: Like he's an x S A soldier, he's a trained killer,
Speaker 2: He's an absolute beast of a man and a machine,
Speaker 2: so it was fun coming up against him. I really
Speaker 2: love that challenge. But yeah, I definitely, I definitely wasn't
Speaker 2: holding back. The only one I would say that maybe
Speaker 2: a little bit, was the first one where I came
Speaker 2: up against Chrissy, But I just I just wanted everyone
Speaker 2: to realize how fiercely competitive she was, and I think
Speaker 2: even if I tried a little bit harder, she still
Speaker 2: would have put up a really good fight.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad you didn't have nightmares last night, but
Speaker 1: I've certainly had nightmares about him because watching the two
Speaker 1: of you in the water, it was literally like two
Speaker 1: crocodiles fighting and it was brutal.
Speaker 2: It was it was fun. Then I would love to
Speaker 2: have done it on land, a bit of a wrestling
Speaker 2: and fight like that, But obviously, you know his military training,
Speaker 2: especially in the water. I saw him walking through the
Speaker 2: water just he was in he was in beast mode.
Speaker 2: You can tell that his balance and everything was really good.
Speaker 2: And myself as a football I was trying to get
Speaker 2: low and get underneath him, but the ground was just
Speaker 2: too slippery. So yeah, his training definitely came in handy,
Speaker 2: and I think I can learn a lot a lot
Speaker 2: of lessons from what they've done in their past. And
Speaker 2: one thing I'm filthy about is I didn't actually get
Speaker 2: a chance to play with the big fellow. And you know,
Speaker 2: I've caught up with him a couple of times since,
Speaker 2: but he's just a great man. I'd love to hear
Speaker 2: more about his stories and his training and his mindset.
Speaker 1: Well, they bring people back in survivors, so you just
Speaker 1: never know. So maybe that'll happen in future.
Speaker 2: I could do it in a heartbeat. I would do
Speaker 2: it every day if I could.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well I can imagine that you would. And well, look,
Speaker 1: let's cross that fingers that it does happen. You know,
Speaker 1: last night it really was brutal for you. How did
Speaker 1: it cope? Well, how did you cope finally getting to
Speaker 1: watch it play out on television?
Speaker 2: I had a feeling I knew, I sort of knew
Speaker 2: what had happened. However, you know, I just I'm disappointed
Speaker 2: in Ben. I thought that, you know, obviously I had
Speaker 2: his back to the vote before I tried to flip
Speaker 2: the votes and get Michelle and caj on board to
Speaker 2: vote out Calm with his idol. I was never going
Speaker 2: to write down Ben's It's been my man since day one.
Speaker 2: And for me then to come to him with a
Speaker 2: plan to vote out the person that orchestrated the blindside
Speaker 2: on him, and for him to go and run straight
Speaker 2: away and tell them to save himself was frustrating. A
Speaker 2: good quite easily go over.
Speaker 1: Crops plan and play it safe, but right now, after
Speaker 1: being blindsided last night, I don't want to play it
Speaker 1: safe anymore.
Speaker 2: And I get it's a bit of self preservation at
Speaker 2: the time, but I think it was just a little
Speaker 2: bit short sided on his behalf. And you know, I
Speaker 2: think if we had a focused on getting Bendor vote
Speaker 2: for Jesse and then getting Michelle in as well, then
Speaker 2: you know, it's a different game. But in saying that,
Speaker 2: I had a hidden community idol. When you're making big
Speaker 2: moves and survive, especially this close to Merge. I noticed
Speaker 2: a few things of tribal I sort of brushed them off,
Speaker 2: and you know, at the end of the day, tell
Speaker 2: me if I play that idol, then I lived to
Speaker 2: fight another day.
Speaker 1: Well, you should know about Sunday morning quarterbacking, you know,
Speaker 1: hindsight it's a beautiful thing, right.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, there's always away think back, but that's the game.
Speaker 2: You need to be so aware of everything that's happening.
Speaker 2: You need to absorb everything, and especially for me, once
Speaker 2: I knew that I was making that move on Jesse,
Speaker 2: I was focusing on how I was talking to people
Speaker 2: or how I was acting because I didn't want to
Speaker 2: receive as the one that was doing something shifty. So
Speaker 2: my focus was on myself and that went away from
Speaker 2: focusing on everyone else and what they were doing.
Speaker 1: Where everyone today wants to know the answer to Chrissy's question,
Speaker 1: are you mad at her?
Speaker 2: No, I'm not mad at Chrissie. I actually thought that,
Speaker 2: you know, once I saw the trailer and we chatted,
Speaker 2: I thought she knew about the throwing the challenge, But
Speaker 2: as it turns out, she didn't really know about it
Speaker 2: until on the mat, and she didn't think too much
Speaker 2: of it because she thought it was just going to
Speaker 2: be a straight play at Bennie. But for me, when
Speaker 2: you're throwing a challenge this supposed to merge, Benny was
Speaker 2: already on the bottom. He didn't have He only had
Speaker 2: shay Over and the other tribes. So once you get
Speaker 2: to merge, he's only got that one extra number. So
Speaker 2: if I knew that was happening, then there'd be some
Speaker 2: red flags, you know, some alarms lumbell running in my head,
Speaker 2: and I may have been more alert. But yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: definitely not mad at Chrissy. And for her to not
Speaker 2: vote with me, I think as a testament to herself
Speaker 2: as a person and a character. She's truly loyal. She
Speaker 2: built a really good relationship with Jesse, and we spoke
Speaker 2: about it on the day before the votes and said,
Speaker 2: you know, you don't actually have to vote with me.
Speaker 2: If you vote this way, you maintain your relationships and
Speaker 2: moving forward into the merge, then you've got that separation
Speaker 2: from me in terms of your gameplay. So you know,
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm proud that she's actually starting to learn
Speaker 2: and listen and play her own game.
Speaker 1: If anything, I think somehow it's sort of endeared her
Speaker 1: even more to the people watching Blood versus Water has
Speaker 1: really shaken up the game. Do you think that you
Speaker 1: might have stayed in the competition longer had you played
Speaker 1: the game by yourself.
Speaker 2: It's really hard to tell. Obviously. Survivor every day, every
Speaker 2: moment of every day is just a new challenge and
Speaker 2: you have to adapt. And this one thing that you
Speaker 2: find out there is you know, you might have a
Speaker 2: plan or you might think about what's going to happen
Speaker 2: in a challenge, but it's usually far away from the
Speaker 2: truth as possible. So I actually enjoyed playing with Christy
Speaker 2: even when we weren't on the same try, Like waking
Speaker 2: up every morning going to the challenge, seeing her walking
Speaker 2: with a smile actually gave me that little bit of
Speaker 2: extra boost and confidence that she was doing well. So
Speaker 2: and the only joy of it was knowing that regardless
Speaker 2: at one stage, if we came together, I knew that
Speaker 2: she had my back one hundred percent. So, yeah, if
Speaker 2: Chrissy wasn't there, then you just have to find your
Speaker 2: other people and make sure that you've got other people
Speaker 2: that you can trust as much as you can. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know, Chrissy is easily one of my personal
Speaker 1: favorites this year. I think that she is probably the
Speaker 1: biggest personality in the twenty twenty two competition. I wonder
Speaker 1: if having such a big personality is a risk in
Speaker 1: a show like Survivor.
Speaker 2: I don't think Chrisy is so fun. We've seen she's
Speaker 2: such a good laugh. She's really like she's a mother.
Speaker 2: She's so nurturing, she gets everyone together, but she's also
Speaker 2: there's nobs about her. She tells it how is. We've
Speaker 2: seen a poker face. It's awful. She cannot hide emotion.
Speaker 2: I think it's not going to be the personality to gain,
Speaker 2: So it's going to be her inability to hide the
Speaker 2: emotions and you have a straight face when it comes
Speaker 2: to the point where she needs to vote someone off.
Speaker 2: I hope that she can just get into an actress
Speaker 2: mode or something and realize that she needs to play
Speaker 2: the game and that is essentially to bend the truth
Speaker 2: or lives of people that she needs to at the time.
Speaker 1: Well, I think that she could have easily been cast
Speaker 1: in something like Big Brother or other shows, you know,
Speaker 1: other reality shows that demonstrate where big personalities like that
Speaker 1: really shine. Was this the first TV show or TV
Speaker 1: opportunity that you both discussed together, Chrissy.
Speaker 2: Actually, Christy and her partner Toby were on the block
Speaker 2: decades ago, I don't know how long ago, but they
Speaker 2: got to a point where, oh yeah, there was like
Speaker 2: eight couples and they had to compete, and four couples
Speaker 2: got through to the final spots, and unfortunately her and
Speaker 2: Toby missed out. So I think that was for me.
Speaker 2: Once I realized that there was a bloodburst water theme,
Speaker 2: I was confident knowing that she is a character that
Speaker 2: it's not so much as she loves the limelight, but
Speaker 2: she's going to be comfortable around new people and new experiences.
Speaker 2: So I knew that that would be great for her.
Speaker 2: But I also knew that she was fiercely competitive, and
Speaker 2: I wanted her to test herself in an environment and
Speaker 2: that was so far out of her comfort zone because
Speaker 2: I knew she could do it, and I knew that
Speaker 2: it would help in her day to day life. So
Speaker 2: her life is so structured, so routine. Everything from the
Speaker 2: minute she wakes up to the minute she goes to
Speaker 2: bed is planned, and that's just not for her. It's
Speaker 2: a whole family. So going into Survivor, you need to
Speaker 2: realize that that is impossible. You need to adapt and
Speaker 2: just go with the flow. And I really think that's
Speaker 2: going to be a life changing experience for her.
Speaker 1: Do you think that like a show like Australian Survivor
Speaker 1: could be dangerous for people with relationships? I mean, all
Speaker 1: these people have gone into the show and the dynamics
Speaker 1: have been different couples, brothers and sisters, twins. You know,
Speaker 1: like there's just so many different established relationships. Could going
Speaker 1: on a show like this be dangerous? You know it
Speaker 1: has it been a rocky road for you, you know,
Speaker 1: in the aftermath of the show for Christian.
Speaker 2: And I know you really brought us together. She knows
Speaker 2: that I'm solid. I've always got her back. I've always
Speaker 2: known that about her because her whole family is fiercely loyal,
Speaker 2: and I think just so we're so proud of each
Speaker 2: other in the way that we've played, I think that's
Speaker 2: really bonded us. It's also bonded the rest of our
Speaker 2: family because they saw that our relationship grew and they
Speaker 2: were really tight since. Yeah, in saying that, you know,
Speaker 2: I think if you talk about it in the sense
Speaker 2: you are, it's only going to be an issue if
Speaker 2: you back stab your loved one. If Nina was the
Speaker 2: one that said, you know what, I want to get
Speaker 2: my mom out because I want to make a big
Speaker 2: play and I want to be seen as the big threat,
Speaker 2: then that might have been a different story. I don't
Speaker 2: think Sandra would have taken that very well.
Speaker 1: Well, do we know if everyone's okay?
Speaker 2: I think as long as the couples have had conversations
Speaker 2: leading in, and you know, Christy and I know we
Speaker 2: spoke about at one point in time, if we get
Speaker 2: to it, then we need to figure out what's going
Speaker 2: to be best for us at the end of the game.
Speaker 2: You know, if it came down to one of us
Speaker 2: having to vote each other out, then who was most
Speaker 2: likely to go further and win the sole survivors. Also,
Speaker 2: I think every couple, if you didn't have that conversation
Speaker 2: going in, then you're for.
Speaker 1: For trouble therapy. You need therapy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely a bit of therapy after just sort of
Speaker 2: hug it out, whatever you need to do to move
Speaker 2: forward again. Survivor is such a roller coaster. It's you know,
Speaker 2: you go through this full gamut of emotions and having
Speaker 2: that on your mind as well can be really difficult,
Speaker 2: but at times you just need to cut the emotion.
Speaker 2: Realize that everywhere everyone that's out there sacrifice so much
Speaker 2: to be away from work, be away from their family.
Speaker 2: You know, there's people away from their kids. Michelle and
Speaker 2: mel you know we saw I don't know if we
Speaker 2: saw it on there, but their father passed away a
Speaker 2: month before they went out there, so having to leave
Speaker 2: behind the rest of their family to deal with that grief.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of things that you sacrifice to chase
Speaker 2: your dream and go out there and compete. You've got
Speaker 2: to realize that you're out there for a reason, and
Speaker 2: some stays you're going to have to cut the emotion,
Speaker 2: no matter who you've bonded with.
Speaker 1: I'm actually surprised we haven't seen as much from the twins,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of people talking about it online.
Speaker 1: You know, why aren't we seeing enough? But one of
Speaker 1: the Moana, I think a couple of years back, you know,
Speaker 1: we really saw nothing of her halfway into the series.
Speaker 1: So don't you think it's a little bit less to
Speaker 1: do with people saying it's about race, and it's probably
Speaker 1: more to do with the overall way in which this
Speaker 1: game is going to play out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think we've heard a lot of the
Speaker 2: players say, you know, Michelle and Mell have been sitting
Speaker 2: back a little bit and waiting. I know that. You know,
Speaker 2: for myself been another few members of our original Red tribe.
Speaker 2: We were involving me in a lot of the discussions.
Speaker 2: She was tired with Sandra, you know, we saw that,
Speaker 2: and she has been semi influential in some of the votes, however,
Speaker 2: not proactive, and I think that's why a lot of
Speaker 2: the focus has been on the people that actually enact
Speaker 2: those decisions. But in saying that, I don't know what
Speaker 2: happens for the rest of the season now, so they
Speaker 2: could come out firing it and start pulling triggers and
Speaker 2: making big moves and that's where they get all their
Speaker 2: out of time.
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's funny because if you follow the
Speaker 1: commentary online, you know, Survivor fan base is just they're
Speaker 1: so passionate. They count the pieces to camera, they counting
Speaker 1: the confessionals.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I heard that when we were out there.
Speaker 2: We're talking about so apparently Hailey from last year to
Speaker 2: Queen of Australian Survivor had a spreadsheet of all of
Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. You know, who had airtime, who voted,
Speaker 2: who were had all this information and data, and obviously,
Speaker 2: as a researcher, she could compile all of that and
Speaker 2: understand what was happening at a different times of the game,
Speaker 2: so obviously, and it worked in her favor and she
Speaker 2: played one of the best games I think I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: So I think it does help in some regard for me.
Speaker 2: If I was looking at all that sort of stuff,
Speaker 2: I would do my head in. I overthink too much
Speaker 2: at the best of times. So the less I thought
Speaker 2: about different things, the better it was for me. I
Speaker 2: could actually focus on what I needed to do.
Speaker 1: And Karan is doing really well in the game. And
Speaker 1: it's clear to everyone watching the show that he's a
Speaker 1: big threat. But there's also a lot of discussion in
Speaker 1: the show that he is a big threat. But what
Speaker 1: has stopped people from trying to flash his idol with
Speaker 1: an attempt to boot him from the show and you know,
Speaker 1: get rid of the idol?
Speaker 2: I don't know. We skirted around it, so once we
Speaker 2: had the tribes, we got over there. There's a lot
Speaker 2: of conversation about it. You flippantly throwing a couple of
Speaker 2: votes his way just for the hell of it. But
Speaker 2: one point where we found out they were going to
Speaker 2: vote for Bennie, I was like, why aren't we taking
Speaker 2: this seriously? Like, if we're going to flush the idol,
Speaker 2: let's flush it properly, and you do it as a
Speaker 2: blind side. Put the votes on carn he has no
Speaker 2: idea about it. You make him feel like it's all
Speaker 2: on Benny. He goes home with a nightel in his pocket,
Speaker 2: and that's the ideal situation. So unfortunately, I thought I
Speaker 2: had Michelle and kJ on board for that vote, but
Speaker 2: unfortunately they didn't see it the same way.
Speaker 1: Are you willowed to all talk to each other? Like,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't necessarily know this, but you know,
Speaker 1: since production and you know, while the show's on TV,
Speaker 1: are all the castaways talking to each other during the
Speaker 1: airing of the show.
Speaker 2: I think, So there's a WhatsApp group I think where
Speaker 2: they chat, and there's obviously a lot of people in
Speaker 2: Melvioun so I'm sure they catch up a bit. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm actually not too worried about that. I'm really enjoying
Speaker 2: watching the show. So obviously one episode is two or
Speaker 2: potentially three days of our experience out there. So it's
Speaker 2: really nice to sit down and put some context around
Speaker 2: the conversations that they show and try and understand what
Speaker 2: happened in between and just give them an idea of
Speaker 2: what sort of things we were going through on a
Speaker 2: day to day basis. Yeah, for me, that's been really
Speaker 2: rewarding because it was a really difficult time for my
Speaker 2: family to be without me for however long it was.
Speaker 2: I think it has been about six weeks or something total,
Speaker 2: four or five weeks total. So yeah, it was tough,
Speaker 2: but it's really rewarding now to have them join me
Speaker 2: in that experience.
Speaker 1: And all of these alliances from what you know then,
Speaker 1: you know through the WhatsApp group. But do they reflecting
Speaker 1: or are they reflecting the alliances that happened and that
Speaker 1: were cultivated on the show or you know, have people
Speaker 1: been different away from the cameras or from the experience.
Speaker 1: I should probably.
Speaker 2: Say no, I don't think so. I like I said,
Speaker 2: I don't read too much of that, but I think
Speaker 2: everyone and we heard it from Nina and Sandra, you know,
Speaker 2: their experience from the American Survivor is it is ruthless
Speaker 2: from the minute you get out on that show. After
Speaker 2: each other. They're trying to get people, they're trying to
Speaker 2: talk strategy, whereas Nina and Sandra at one point was
Speaker 2: like she thought we were joking. She thought we were
Speaker 2: convince her that we were really nice, but we're all
Speaker 2: backstating in the background. But after a few days she
Speaker 2: realized that we genuinely enjoyed each other's company and we
Speaker 2: were really fun. We shared some great stories. Sandra shared
Speaker 2: a lot of her life as well, so I think
Speaker 2: it was nice for her to actually feel that and
Speaker 2: recognize that, you know, we are really good company. But
Speaker 2: then when it comes time to play the game, you
Speaker 2: actually need to play the game, and then it was
Speaker 2: the same. I saw her go out tragically with that
Speaker 2: broken foot, but I think it hurt her more knowing
Speaker 2: that she had built so many genuine connections and that
Speaker 2: was I think that was the hardest thing for her.
Speaker 2: But I have no it is no doubt that she'll
Speaker 2: be back at some stage, and I'd love to see
Speaker 2: her back on our screens.
Speaker 1: That's like what is it called, like the teaser for
Speaker 1: a sequel.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I've got no doubt that she'll be the first.
Speaker 2: So Mama win and Nina win one. Nina potentially wins
Speaker 2: it over here and goes to America, and then.
Speaker 1: She has a child, and then that child grows up
Speaker 1: and then wins.
Speaker 2: In correct, and it's just and then they start producing
Speaker 2: her and.
Speaker 1: Their whole life is Survivor get a hobby. Yeah, how
Speaker 1: hard is it to avoid dropping spoilers? Because you know
Speaker 1: people want to know this. You know there's such a
Speaker 1: passion and a thirst out there from the community of
Speaker 1: Survivor fans and the media. You know, how hard has
Speaker 1: it been to avoid dropping any spoilers after being on
Speaker 1: the show? And have people been trying to have a
Speaker 1: crack at you, you know, sliding into your dms. I'll
Speaker 1: give you fifty dollars if you tell me you know
Speaker 1: who goes next? How does that all played out for you?
Speaker 2: Heaps of workmates? But I set the tone really earlier.
Speaker 2: I came back and my family obviously wanted to know
Speaker 2: everything happened and all the challenges and who did this
Speaker 2: and who did that? And I was like, honestly, let's
Speaker 2: unpack it when the show's ahead. I wanted them to
Speaker 2: enjoy the journey of watching it on TV and seeing
Speaker 2: it unfold. So for me, that was the starting point
Speaker 2: It just helped me realize that if I'm not telling
Speaker 2: my family about it, there's no way in the world
Speaker 2: I'm going to tell anyone else. Makes it work and
Speaker 2: stuff asked, you know, who wins? What's this? What happens here?
Speaker 2: But I just I played football, so I say our heaps.
Speaker 2: It can cushion. I can't remember what happened. There was
Speaker 2: a long time ago, so it's pretty easy or flax
Speaker 2: when I've got that excuse.
Speaker 1: Plead the fifth. You know, Twitter at times, Twitter at
Speaker 1: times has been pretty brutal, you know, and you came
Speaker 1: under final and we mentioned it a little bit earlier
Speaker 1: about comments about your ability through the challenges. You know,
Speaker 1: has that changed the way in which you see social
Speaker 1: media after this experience, I.
Speaker 2: Haven't read any of it, so I'm not not overly concerned.
Speaker 2: I just I made my family proud, and all of
Speaker 2: them sort of said, you know, we're really happy with
Speaker 2: that you paid and had some friends who are the same,
Speaker 2: So you know, that's all that matters to.
Speaker 1: Me and has endemols Shine really helped you out throughout
Speaker 1: this experience. How important is the trust between you and
Speaker 1: the creators of this show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've had a great relationship every one of the
Speaker 2: crew from the start of the process to the back
Speaker 2: end of it. On the show, everyone has been so
Speaker 2: supportive and so welcoming and so helpful. So I'm extremely
Speaker 2: grateful for the experience. And you know, every one of
Speaker 2: those members of End of Malshine and Channel ten and
Speaker 2: everyone that's been a part of it, they have helped
Speaker 2: me me enjoy this experience as much as I can
Speaker 2: and every second of it. So yeah, I can't thank
Speaker 2: all of them enough for allowing me the privilege of
Speaker 2: playing this wonderful game.
Speaker 1: It was so good to watch. And my last question
Speaker 1: that I ask everyone on the podcast before they go,
Speaker 1: is you know what's something from behind the scenes that
Speaker 1: we're as an audience didn't see that we might appreciate
Speaker 1: that happened, you know, behind the scenes of your experience
Speaker 1: of Survivor.
Speaker 2: I think it's just the bonds and how much fun
Speaker 2: we have, so especially with our og Red tribe. We
Speaker 2: didn't have fire for three nights, which we had no food,
Speaker 2: So you get to nighttime, you've got nothing else, you've
Speaker 2: got no distractions, You've just got your tribe mates around
Speaker 2: you and you get to know each other, so you
Speaker 2: share stories, you share experiences, you laugh, you cry, people
Speaker 2: get vulnerable really quickly. So you build these deep emotional bonds,
Speaker 2: which I think that element of connection is really you know,
Speaker 2: you just don't see that in the show, you know,
Speaker 2: so you go to the challenge, you come back to camp,
Speaker 2: you don't really understand how tight you can get. And
Speaker 2: I remember watching Brains Braun's and they had the family
Speaker 2: letters and photos and it was in the game it
Speaker 2: was day seven, but on the shows like third episode,
Speaker 2: and you know, everyone was really emotional. And I've always
Speaker 2: been as a fantasy by once the family start comes out,
Speaker 2: I'm a mess. I'm solving, I really really hug my heartstrings.
Speaker 2: So that one I was like, wow, this is really early.
Speaker 2: I don't understand why they're so emotional right now about it.
Speaker 2: And then you get out there and we got a
Speaker 2: family photo album on day seven I think it was
Speaker 2: when we won it day six or whatever it was.
Speaker 2: We won our first reward and every one of us
Speaker 2: are just an emotional mess, you know, into not in
Speaker 2: a sad way, but just you know, tears of joy
Speaker 2: and happiness and remembrance of doesn't seem like it should
Speaker 2: affect you that much. But yeah, when you don't have
Speaker 2: contact with your family for even that short amount of time,
Speaker 2: it makes you realize how much you actually miss them
Speaker 2: and cherish them.
Speaker 1: Well. I hate that sometimes on these shows when they
Speaker 1: bring that out early, because you think, oh god, as if,
Speaker 1: oh as if. You know, they've only been in there
Speaker 1: for eight days, and from my reality TV experience, it's
Speaker 1: just everything is so much more heightened. People can tell
Speaker 1: you that before you go into the show and say,
Speaker 1: you know, you're probably going to react three times more
Speaker 1: in one direction than you normally would, and that's okay,
Speaker 1: But I guess it's not until you're in there that
Speaker 1: you realize that all of those emotions are heightened and
Speaker 1: they are authentic. What you are watching is authentic. You know,
Speaker 1: that is honestly how these people feel.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And it's one thing even in life, you know,
Speaker 2: once one person is vulnerable around you, you're more likely
Speaker 2: to be vulnerable around them. So you know, when you're
Speaker 2: in that tight knit group and you feel really comfortable
Speaker 2: sharing experiences, you know, we have people talk about experiences
Speaker 2: that they never actually shared it with anyone else before.
Speaker 2: So for them to come in and be comfortable talking
Speaker 2: about that makes us feel really comfortable and then we
Speaker 2: can share our experiences. So especially as men, you know,
Speaker 2: you don't share much with other people, and myself, you know,
Speaker 2: bottle things up and try and deal with myself. But
Speaker 2: you know, you get to a point where something might
Speaker 2: come up and you express yourself in a way that
Speaker 2: you know people get around to support you. And yeah,
Speaker 2: it was good therapy. Yeah, my partner wish I could
Speaker 2: do a little bit more at home, but I'm getting there.
Speaker 2: I'm starting to work on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I just want to say thank you so
Speaker 1: much for being here on TV Reload today. But I
Speaker 1: thoroughly enjoyed watching you on Survive Australian Survivor this year.
Speaker 1: I think you did a fantastic job and I think
Speaker 1: you'll stay in the zeitgeist of Survivor fandom for quite
Speaker 1: a while. But yeah, congratulations on the whole thing. I
Speaker 1: was fantastic to watch.
Speaker 2: Really appreciate it. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the show.