Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast.
Speaker 2: Last week, don't I welcome back guys to TV Reload.
Speaker 2: My name's Benjamin Norris and on this podcast I go
Speaker 2: behind the scenes with the biggest players in television.
Speaker 1: Yeah, great questions. The show's about the game. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of great television out there in Australia.
Speaker 3: 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 casting agents.
Speaker 3: They know from a casting point of view what they need, and.
Speaker 2: Editors because that's what we do as editors where storytellers.
Speaker 2: Not to forget some incredible executive producers who are making
Speaker 2: some of the best TV in Australia.
Speaker 1: I have been on the program since the beginning and
Speaker 1: it's kind of in my DNA.
Speaker 2: So thanks for joining me each week and I hope
Speaker 2: the podcast continues to give you real insight into the
Speaker 2: magic of television today.
Speaker 3: On the podcast, I.
Speaker 2: Have Alex Reid, who is the latest reality TV sensation
Speaker 2: from the Netflix series Byron Bass.
Speaker 3: This show has.
Speaker 2: Been given more flak than any series of the record.
Speaker 3: From the announcement to the launch.
Speaker 2: Everyone can't stop talking about the polarizing nature of this
Speaker 2: doco reality series. That is said and Byron and centers
Speaker 2: around influences. To say that you like this show publicly
Speaker 2: is almost social suicide. But for me, I'm just going
Speaker 2: to wave my freak flag and say that this is
Speaker 2: a great snapshot at a world that I don't really
Speaker 2: take too seriously and therefore I thoroughly enjoyed my binge
Speaker 2: watch of the first series made by Eureka Productions. In
Speaker 2: today's chat, Alex has his head around anything I can
Speaker 2: throw at him, and I love his take on the show.
Speaker 2: We will talk about the country's hatred of both Byron
Speaker 2: and influencers, why he joined the show, and if he
Speaker 2: has some sexual chemistry with Jade his series Nemesis. However,
Speaker 2: let's get started. I'd like to welcome Alex Read to
Speaker 2: TV Reload.
Speaker 1: So you have a lot of extreme characters on the show.
Speaker 1: You're an absolute fucking disgrace, absolutely fucking pathetic. I think
Speaker 1: Barron needs to be honest with itself as to what
Speaker 1: it is. Bon Bay has this strong power that if
Speaker 1: it wants you here, it sucks you in the idea
Speaker 1: of an influencer I think upsets people. From the number
Speaker 1: one most followed male influencer of Australia, I'm not the
Speaker 1: best at making friends.
Speaker 3: Do you have a problem with me? I do have
Speaker 3: an issue with you.
Speaker 1: I wanted to be a part of a show that
Speaker 1: hopefully changes Australia's take on docu series.
Speaker 3: Hi Alex, how are you?
Speaker 1: I am great? Thanks, very excited to be here. You
Speaker 1: actually are my first podcast interviews since during the show,
Speaker 1: So you are breaking my podcast, Virginity.
Speaker 3: Would you see belt on mate?
Speaker 1: Go slow?
Speaker 3: I love it?
Speaker 2: So look, you know, I have to ask right off
Speaker 2: about what has the response been to Byron Bays so far,
Speaker 2: the response.
Speaker 1: To by and by you know, it's been going on
Speaker 1: for so long, ever since the announcement last year through
Speaker 1: to today, I guess it's been It's been a wave.
Speaker 1: I think when I first came out, there were so
Speaker 1: many preconceived ideas as to what this show was going
Speaker 1: to be before anyone had picked up a camera. So
Speaker 1: from what people perceived it to be to what it is,
Speaker 1: obviously for me as well, it has gone on a
Speaker 1: journey and I from what it started out to what
Speaker 1: it is now, it's not what I expected for the better.
Speaker 1: To be honest, I actually made some connections with people,
Speaker 1: and I actually formed some friendships on that show, and
Speaker 1: judging by that first press release, that wasn't something I
Speaker 1: think I would do.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, there's just so much to unpack. Let
Speaker 3: me tell you.
Speaker 2: Like a girlfriend of mine sent a screen grab of
Speaker 2: a whole section of you in the first episode where
Speaker 2: you get up and walk away from you know, the
Speaker 2: healing that was happening.
Speaker 1: I've never been to a party where there was sound
Speaker 1: healing before.
Speaker 3: I don't think I can do this. Yeah I can't.
Speaker 3: What are you gonna do?
Speaker 1: You're gonna go?
Speaker 3: And she was like, I'm dead for this guy. That
Speaker 3: would be me.
Speaker 1: It was. There was a lot. But the thing is
Speaker 1: like as an outsider, because you know, for me, I
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time in Bayron. You know, there
Speaker 1: is that side to Byron which I haven't always been
Speaker 1: a part of, and it exists and it's alive and well,
Speaker 1: but I don't know, I just don't have the tolerance
Speaker 1: for it. And I just I don't. I can't. I
Speaker 1: don't have the tolerance for it. So when you see
Speaker 1: me get up and leave, it's not acting there is
Speaker 1: that's generally how I felt. I really wanted to get
Speaker 1: out of there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it does have that reaction with people.
Speaker 2: You know, a show like Byron Bays, I mean this
Speaker 2: style of reality television. You know, it makes a lot
Speaker 2: of noise, and I think that has to do with
Speaker 2: you know, our country's hatred of show ponies. But don't
Speaker 2: you think that there is an unbalanced hatred of influences
Speaker 2: over the popularity of them.
Speaker 1: I think it just comes down to Australia, as you said,
Speaker 1: in Australian mentality of tall poppy syndrome. Like the idea
Speaker 1: of an influencer I think upsets people the fact that,
Speaker 1: you know, the perception that they don't do any wor work,
Speaker 1: but they get paid of this money and they just
Speaker 1: take photos of themselves. Like of course that is just
Speaker 1: a recipe for people to hate them. But I think
Speaker 1: the evolution of what an influencer has become is you know,
Speaker 1: is changing, Like their content credits the creative people they make. Thinks,
Speaker 1: well they're starting to, and I think that shift is changing.
Speaker 1: But look, it's natural. Like if I'd get I'd be
Speaker 1: pissed off too. If my best friend became an influencer
Speaker 1: and had a couple of million followers and you know,
Speaker 1: post a couple of bikini photos and at my yearly
Speaker 1: salary in three minutes. Sure I'd hate them as well.
Speaker 1: So I get the hate. But I think the people's
Speaker 1: perceptions are changing slowly, but they're changing the.
Speaker 2: People who I know that hate influences the most of
Speaker 2: the people you know who would never be followed. Is
Speaker 2: there a secret ingredients of like jealousy that someone being
Speaker 2: so validated in such a gluttony of vanity you know
Speaker 2: bothers people.
Speaker 1: I think it's just intrigue, right, Like I think for
Speaker 1: most people to you know, to be an influencer is
Speaker 1: such a foreign thing, but it feels like something that
Speaker 1: could be so obable, Like the barrier to enter to
Speaker 1: be an influencer is, you know, seemingly low. You're like,
Speaker 1: you know, he needs a phone and an idea and
Speaker 1: you know, you know something different. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people think it's something that anyone can do, and
Speaker 1: there is that jealousy that's inside like you know, well,
Speaker 1: why can't do it? Like why can't I be that
Speaker 1: person or why can't I have that following? And I
Speaker 1: think that's where that jealousy comes from, because it is
Speaker 1: a low barrier to enter to become an influencer, Like
Speaker 1: you don't need a TV station, you don't need a
Speaker 1: TV network, you don't need all these traditional things to
Speaker 1: become famous anymore. Or he needs a phone. So I
Speaker 1: get it why people, you know, do get jealous between
Speaker 1: when they see an influencer doing well, they go, well,
Speaker 1: what's the difference, what's the difference between me and them? Well?
Speaker 2: I think the difference though is, and I know a
Speaker 2: lot of people that do this for work, is that
Speaker 2: they're some of the hardest working people I know, like
Speaker 2: trying to get that content. You may see a thirty
Speaker 2: second clip. What I see when I see, well, someone
Speaker 2: posts that, it's three days worth of work. Because you
Speaker 2: can't just shoot things and it just flies off into
Speaker 2: someone's Instagram perfectly or into the zeitglass perfectly.
Speaker 3: There is a lot instruction, you know, totally.
Speaker 1: And that's why I work with a lot of my
Speaker 1: clients on is you know, becoming an influencer is a
Speaker 1: real job, and to be honest with that, we don't
Speaker 1: like the word influencer. Influencer is a dirty word in
Speaker 1: our world because the guy conjures up those ideas of
Speaker 1: you know, bikini babes selling you know, protein balls and
Speaker 1: coffee scrubs and things like that, whereas we try to
Speaker 1: think the more as content creators. And that's where for me,
Speaker 1: where I find talent is those those individuals that are
Speaker 1: created and can create something. And what's really cool is
Speaker 1: when they can adapt their brand to work with another
Speaker 1: brand to make money. And I think that's where the
Speaker 1: intelligence and the true creativity comes with it, and that's
Speaker 1: what I'm really drawn to when I think of creators.
Speaker 1: That's what I think. And to your point, it does
Speaker 1: take a lot of work to get there and to
Speaker 1: develop and build an audience. Like you know, a magazine
Speaker 1: or a newspaper back in the day, or a TV
Speaker 1: station spends millions and billions of dollars trying to build
Speaker 1: an audience to watch their content. It's the same today,
Speaker 1: but the competition's harder. Like, while the barrier to enter
Speaker 1: is so low, you're also competing with everyone else. So
Speaker 1: what the hell makes you special?
Speaker 2: Well, I think that you and I could work on
Speaker 2: a separate show because I used to have like over
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand people following me on my Instagram and
Speaker 2: I've burnt them by just like literally posting a photo
Speaker 2: of myself, my dog and my partner and just like
Speaker 2: burnt through them really quickly. So I think we should
Speaker 2: do like a side show, which is like how to
Speaker 2: get rid of all of your followers in twenty four hours?
Speaker 1: Wasn't that like that movie, like you know, how to
Speaker 1: Lose a guy in ten days? Like you could just
Speaker 1: change this that the hell is one hundred thousand followers
Speaker 1: in you know, one hundred days. You know I'd be
Speaker 1: great at that, look as you can, as you were
Speaker 1: seeing from the show, I'm not the best at making friends.
Speaker 3: So it's my favorite thing about you. I just am
Speaker 3: living for it.
Speaker 2: And I just hope that people, when they do find
Speaker 2: it on Netflix, that they give it the opportunity to
Speaker 2: like enjoy it beyond episode one. Because if you tip
Speaker 2: past episode one and you get over all your thoughts
Speaker 2: on influences and what you think of Byron Bay people,
Speaker 2: and you just start sort of sipping on the drama,
Speaker 2: you're drunk by episode three and you're having a good time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, And I'd say to a lot of
Speaker 1: people like once when you get hooked on these people,
Speaker 1: because while they are so weird and wacky and different,
Speaker 1: like they're casting on the show, that they're so different
Speaker 1: and like that is one of the first things to
Speaker 1: keep me. I was like, holy shit, who are these people?
Speaker 1: But then in the same breath, you know, just look
Speaker 1: around Byron. Byron has everything from the type of characters
Speaker 1: on this show to you know, like the sixty five
Speaker 1: year old retirees who've sold their media agencies and you know,
Speaker 1: brought some massive hill, massive house in Cooper Shuit. But
Speaker 1: you've also got eighteen year olds moving there, you know,
Speaker 1: with no shoes, just enjoying some kind of like semi
Speaker 1: hippie existence. Like Byron really does have it all. And
Speaker 1: I think you'd be hard pressed to find cross section
Speaker 1: of society or a place in Australia that has such
Speaker 1: a cross section from not only super wealthy, super organic
Speaker 1: and then you know super parties. Like obviously I've used
Speaker 1: the words super way too many times here, but.
Speaker 2: There's such a cross section for brand people that's on
Speaker 2: brand for Byron.
Speaker 3: It's fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot of it's a lot of extremes,
Speaker 1: I think, and that's what this show encapsulates. You have
Speaker 1: a lot of extreme characters on the show, and it's real.
Speaker 1: It's like, that's what they're the type of people that
Speaker 1: didn't have a Byron. And sure there's people who come
Speaker 1: and go from Byron, like Jade and Sarah, but that
Speaker 1: is what Byron is too. It's a transient place.
Speaker 2: I just think it's funny that that sort of hold
Speaker 2: up a mirror against Byron. And don't we all get
Speaker 2: really uncomfortable when someone holds up a mirror about who
Speaker 2: we are? And I think as the production was announced,
Speaker 2: people in Byron will like, get these people out of here.
Speaker 2: But then at the same time, I think that comes
Speaker 2: back to that uncomfortability of not wanting to see ourselves
Speaker 2: like that. And I think this doesn't represent everyone in Byron,
Speaker 2: but it certainly does represent a large portion of it
Speaker 2: at the moment, don't you think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think Byron needs to be honest
Speaker 1: with itself as to what it is. And I think
Speaker 1: trying to hold onto what Byron Bay was in you know,
Speaker 1: the nineties, is just not realistic. Like, you know, you
Speaker 1: can't stop the evolution, and you know, people want to
Speaker 1: come to Byron. People have always wanted to come to
Speaker 1: Byron because it was accepting, and I think that's kind
Speaker 1: of what stings a little bit about the backlash is
Speaker 1: Byron was always a really accepting place that you could
Speaker 1: come and be whoever you want to and you know,
Speaker 1: no shoes, no worries. But all of a sudden it
Speaker 1: just turned into on a hold on a second, no,
Speaker 1: we're full, get out, like we don't want this anymore.
Speaker 1: And I see both sides. I see both sides saying that,
Speaker 1: you know, the protection of what Byron was then and
Speaker 1: the way it could be so open and accepting was
Speaker 1: because it was so free, and now it feels very commercialized.
Speaker 1: But I don't know, I just you know, not to
Speaker 1: quote you know, Muriel's wedding, But you can't stop progress.
Speaker 3: Can I just say?
Speaker 2: As soon as you said that two minutes ago, I
Speaker 2: was like, are we going to get a Billhouset quote
Speaker 2: here in a second? Yes, yes, you know, it would
Speaker 2: have been great if you're wearing a T shirt. We'll
Speaker 2: just tell people that are listening to the podcast they
Speaker 2: can't see. We'll just tell people that.
Speaker 1: That's that's right, I'm doing this. I'm actually doing this
Speaker 1: whole podcast from my local Chinese.
Speaker 3: Restaurant, impoorpersmit.
Speaker 2: What I find really hilarious is that people have an
Speaker 2: objectivity now of Byron, you know, let's say hippies or
Speaker 2: whatever they want to say. But in this show there
Speaker 2: is a similar disdain from you know, Byron locals towards
Speaker 2: the Gold Coast. Why do those universes now clash? You know,
Speaker 2: it's kind of like, ugh, the Gold Coast where the
Speaker 2: rest of Australia at the moment is a bit like
Speaker 2: oh Byron, you know, I don't understand where does the
Speaker 2: clash come from.
Speaker 1: I think, well, look both both look like both those
Speaker 1: cities have changed so much, and I think it's a
Speaker 1: it's a nice polarization. You've got the Gold Coast and
Speaker 1: the glitz and glam and the fake boobs and the
Speaker 1: fake face and everything. But Byron looking at that, going
Speaker 1: oh my god, we would never be like that. We
Speaker 1: are so organic and you know, we're you know, living
Speaker 1: off the land. But like, you know, you take a
Speaker 1: look around the shops in Byron, like you can't buy
Speaker 1: zecchini and buying for less than ten dollars, you know,
Speaker 1: like it's a it's a high and expensive place to live.
Speaker 1: Everything's organic and hand raised by a shaman, but yeah,
Speaker 1: you're paying fifty bucks for a fig It's got the
Speaker 1: glitz and the glamour. People aren't driving Lamborghinis around Byron Bay,
Speaker 1: but you know they can afford to buy groceries there,
Speaker 1: which to me is more of a flex.
Speaker 2: You know, I want to go back to the start.
Speaker 2: I think we've got a little bit ahead of ourselves.
Speaker 2: But that's that's on brand for me, not your fault.
Speaker 2: But how did you get involved in this project in
Speaker 2: the first place?
Speaker 1: So I had obviously I work in I work in
Speaker 1: production space, you know, in my background, and I had
Speaker 1: a phone call from one of the people at Eureka
Speaker 1: that I'm you know, close with, and said, hey, were
Speaker 1: doing the show about influencers set in Byron Bay. I
Speaker 1: was I was living in Byron Bay at the time,
Speaker 1: and you know, it took me a while to get
Speaker 1: my head around the fact where he was interested in
Speaker 1: me being on the show was talent, because I was
Speaker 1: wrapping off as a good manager, does enough talent would
Speaker 1: be great for this show. And he's like, no, mate,
Speaker 1: we would like to, you know, look at you being
Speaker 1: on the show. And at first I was like no,
Speaker 1: but you know, we've just been through a pandemic, and
Speaker 1: I thought, what's the worst that happened. The world's nearly ended,
Speaker 1: I might as well do a reality show. But for me,
Speaker 1: what got me on the show was I have a
Speaker 1: huge amount of respect for the guys at Eureka and
Speaker 1: you know, for me, a big part of saying yes
Speaker 1: to this show was the team that they had put
Speaker 1: on it. And that was a really big decision making
Speaker 1: process for me. And because you know, coming from a
Speaker 1: space where I, you know, have worked as a have
Speaker 1: worked you know, in production, I know how these shows work.
Speaker 1: For me, to put my trust and faith in someone
Speaker 1: as like, to put my trust and face into a
Speaker 1: production team as a talent like was massive. And you know,
Speaker 1: when I found Emma Lamb was involved, that excited me
Speaker 1: because I love her work. But it also terrified me
Speaker 1: because I love her work, So I was kind of
Speaker 1: conflicted there And for me, that was a big part
Speaker 1: of it. I wanted to be part of a show
Speaker 1: that was obviously a first for Netflix. I wanted to
Speaker 1: be a part of a show that hopefully changes Australia's
Speaker 1: take on docu series and these style of shows, because
Speaker 1: Australians love to hate these shows and whether this show
Speaker 1: changes people's perceptions you know, I don't know, but I
Speaker 1: feel like the way that Netflix were prepared to back
Speaker 1: this and the team that youure Can built around it,
Speaker 1: I was like, well, if this show doesn't work, then
Speaker 1: you may as well just like take the docu series
Speaker 1: formatt and blow it up, because if these guys can't
Speaker 1: make it work, then no one's going to make it work.
Speaker 1: Because they had the right team and it wasn't like
Speaker 1: if this show was going on you know, no disrespect,
Speaker 1: if it was going on you know, seven Mate, it
Speaker 1: probably would pass. But the fact that it was going
Speaker 1: on Netflix and had that global audience was really exciting to,
Speaker 1: you know, have a Netflix stamp on an Australian Docky series.
Speaker 1: It was going out to the world. I thought, hey,
Speaker 1: that's pretty cool. And for me it was an interesting experience,
Speaker 1: you know, being talent for them the first time on
Speaker 1: a show and kind of having to surrender myself and
Speaker 1: handover trust and as a massive control free was huge.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, Ricky and Paul and Chris. There's some amazing people
Speaker 2: behind the scenes there at Eureka. So if you're gonna
Speaker 2: do reality television, which is scary, you know, I think
Speaker 2: that's they're the sort of people that you go as,
Speaker 2: you know, I think you say yes to was the
Speaker 2: whole process that are hard to get your head around
Speaker 2: because you know, coming from not being in front of
Speaker 2: the camera instead of pushing people into it.
Speaker 3: I felt watching you.
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe they should it out of sequence, I
Speaker 2: don't know, but I kind of felt like you were
Speaker 2: a natural.
Speaker 3: You just sort of immediately were in it.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: It was how hard was it to sort of get
Speaker 2: your head around it and just be natural in front
Speaker 2: of the camera.
Speaker 1: It took the first episode? Was it was tough and
Speaker 1: I felt stiff because it wasn't It was like it
Speaker 1: was just a world of It was a part of
Speaker 1: Bay and Bay that I was aware of and I
Speaker 1: had dabbled slightly into, but it wasn't my Byron to
Speaker 1: start with. And my whole objective was like, Okay, why
Speaker 1: am I going to stick out with these people? Was
Speaker 1: you know, I'm building a life in Barron Bay and
Speaker 1: unless I want to be at home sad counting my
Speaker 1: expensive zucchinis and figs, like I need to have friends, right,
Speaker 1: Like I need to put myself out there and do
Speaker 1: something so I looked at it went Okay, you know what,
Speaker 1: if I'm going to do it, I'm going to make
Speaker 1: an effort with these people. And once I kind of
Speaker 1: got over myself, it was fine because I realized they're
Speaker 1: they're harmless. But for me, it was just just going, okay,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm doing it. And for me, the
Speaker 1: things I didn't drink on that show didn't have one
Speaker 1: sip of alcohol, which I think really helped me because
Speaker 1: I was very aware of my self the entire time.
Speaker 1: And if anyone is out there doing reality TV, I
Speaker 1: would give them that advice to no.
Speaker 2: No, you know, like a lot of these shows, you know,
Speaker 2: they licking them up. I think it's really smart, you know.
Speaker 2: I remember reading I think it was Erica Jane from
Speaker 2: the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She didn't have a
Speaker 2: sip of alcohol.
Speaker 1: Well, we've got a lot in common.
Speaker 3: There you go. You are Erica Jane again.
Speaker 2: We're on a podcast now and can see it this point,
Speaker 2: so you know, but I yeah, you've got a high
Speaker 2: ponytail and shiploads of makeup.
Speaker 3: I think it's a really good way.
Speaker 2: You know, if you're wanting to be in control of
Speaker 2: your narrative, you know, and you don't want to be
Speaker 2: caught out on things. But at the same time, I
Speaker 2: think that everyone has a different approach and everyone's going
Speaker 2: to do it differently. Some people need to be, you know,
Speaker 2: drunk to be on camera, you know.
Speaker 3: It's not that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, for me, I knew what I wanted to do
Speaker 1: on that show, and you know, and as viewers will
Speaker 1: watch the show, I have an objective there and what
Speaker 1: I wanted, what I want to do. You know, it's
Speaker 1: pretty obvious from watching episodes one and two what my
Speaker 1: objective is there. That's what I wanted to do. So
Speaker 1: for me, I knew my storyline and I knew what
Speaker 1: I wanted to do because that's how I would have
Speaker 1: acted in real life regardless. So I think then be
Speaker 1: feeling naturally in front of the camera came eventually because
Speaker 1: I realized, Hey, Alex, if you were in this environment
Speaker 1: the cameras weren't there, you'd be saying exactly the same shit.
Speaker 2: So which is why I, like, you know, I wanted
Speaker 2: to know though, like I want to be really careful
Speaker 2: about saying villain edit because I don't necessarily think that
Speaker 2: you've been villain edited to be a villain, but I
Speaker 2: think you know, in some ways you are a bit villainers,
Speaker 2: which I love, and I wanted to ask if you
Speaker 2: were aware of thinking, oh am I getting this villain
Speaker 2: edit because I can imagine that you as a person
Speaker 2: are a little bit like me and that we want
Speaker 2: to earn our paycheck. I call it the Lisa Renner effect.
Speaker 2: I want to know, like, as you were in production,
Speaker 2: were you thinking this is a little turned up or
Speaker 2: is that just just genuinely how you are?
Speaker 1: Well, it's good of both. I think I went on
Speaker 1: like I want. I went on there to make an impact,
Speaker 1: and you know, for me, I wh when I said
Speaker 1: yes to the show, I was like, Okay, the worst
Speaker 1: outcome for me is to go on that show and
Speaker 1: to be some background extra that doesn't get any airtime,
Speaker 1: that doesn't actually have a story or a voice. And
Speaker 1: I was like, well, you know, time's precious for me,
Speaker 1: So I'm going to devote in an X amount of
Speaker 1: months to filming this show. I want to make sure
Speaker 1: that I cut through and look, I've if I'm with
Speaker 1: the villain edit. To be honest, I think they did
Speaker 1: edit me as a villain, but they took a lot out.
Speaker 1: I think I was actually worse on the show. So
Speaker 1: I think I might be the only person to go, yes,
Speaker 1: they edited me, but yeah, they make me a bit
Speaker 1: nicer than what I really am, because sometimes like towards,
Speaker 1: you know, after being in that environment for a couple
Speaker 1: of months, obviously your guards down and yeah, what I
Speaker 1: really think came out and if you've watched the show,
Speaker 1: I'm not backwards, in coming forwards. And I got a
Speaker 1: little bit too comfortable, I think because when I was
Speaker 1: watching back the show for the for the first time,
Speaker 1: I was thinking I was watching the scene and then
Speaker 1: my head, I'm going, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,
Speaker 1: I know what I've said. I know what I said,
Speaker 1: And then when it came out, I'm like, oh, you
Speaker 1: know what, it wasn't as bad as I thought.
Speaker 2: I kind of felt like right from the start that
Speaker 2: you were a dog with a bone, and yeah, I
Speaker 2: was like, oh, he is not going to let Jay go,
Speaker 2: you know, like is In You're just going to keep going?
Speaker 3: Is that what you like in real life? Like is In?
Speaker 3: And and are you friends with him? Now? Like after
Speaker 3: this experience, I.
Speaker 1: Think I think I like to stand up for things
Speaker 1: that I believe in and that are important to me
Speaker 1: in a work environment. And yeah, just like you know,
Speaker 1: let me think, let me think on that for a.
Speaker 2: Second, take your time, because we just played the you know,
Speaker 2: the toilet music at the moment, you know, just yeah,
Speaker 2: the bathroom.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for me, it was, it was. It was something
Speaker 1: I wanted to confrontate about. I wanted to have the conversation,
Speaker 1: and I was prepared for all kinds of answers to
Speaker 1: my question, but I didn't get one that I was
Speaker 1: you know, happy for. But the Jade's a really fun
Speaker 1: guy and he's great TV to watch, and you know,
Speaker 1: the whole Faked team make It thing, like I'm a
Speaker 1: big supporter of that. I'm a big fan of that,
Speaker 1: and I think faked tear make It is, we've all
Speaker 1: done it, maybe where he was coming from. But I
Speaker 1: wanted to have the conversation with him about about it
Speaker 1: and to at least give him the opportunity to explain
Speaker 1: it and to talk his way around it and have
Speaker 1: an actual conversation. So I guess that is what it is,
Speaker 1: and the way it plays out is the way it
Speaker 1: plays out. But you know, in real life, I didn't
Speaker 1: know Jade before the show. I don't think I'm on
Speaker 1: the top of his Christmas card list. You know, I've
Speaker 1: got no I have no ill feelings towards the guy.
Speaker 1: He's actually watching the show back. He's incredibly funny to
Speaker 1: watch and he has some great one liners, and I
Speaker 1: think he brings so much to the show. And you know,
Speaker 1: there's a place in the world for Jade, and I
Speaker 1: think he'll do really well out of this.
Speaker 2: Am I also detecting this is like I think it
Speaker 2: was like episode five or something, but I also detected
Speaker 2: a slight sexual tension between the two of you at
Speaker 2: one point, And I want to ask, though, am I
Speaker 2: just thirsty for something that wasn't happening or am I
Speaker 2: onto something?
Speaker 1: Tell you're thirsty for something, have a drink.
Speaker 2: It was just like this one moment where you went
Speaker 2: round and you guys were having a drink together, like
Speaker 2: you brought around the vodka, and I was like.
Speaker 1: Weirdly, you and I are the same in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways, Like you know, going to school, I was
Speaker 1: like the fat, pimply, redheaded kid. I look at the
Speaker 1: people that are around here, and instantly I'm like, I
Speaker 1: don't really fit in here, and look, I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: my natural defensive mechanism when I'm uncomfortable is to kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, go on the offensive and poke fun at
Speaker 1: things because that's my sense of humor. It's like s cargo, Dal,
Speaker 1: I'm a really acquiet taste.
Speaker 3: And I couldn't work out who it was coming from.
Speaker 3: But you know, but I will.
Speaker 2: I will take your advice and I will get a
Speaker 2: drink and not push you into a narrative that never happened.
Speaker 1: No, definitely, definitely nothing in there, Dale.
Speaker 3: Do you think that we're going to get a series two?
Speaker 3: What do you know? What can you tell us?
Speaker 1: Oh? Will let me just pull up the contracts that
Speaker 1: I've gotten the filing cabinet. No, look, there's I don't
Speaker 1: I think with all these kind of shows, you know
Speaker 1: you're going to see what it does, right, you know,
Speaker 1: this show blows up. I'm sure there'd be a conversation
Speaker 1: around it happening again. But that's really like a Netflix thing,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's a who knows what their measure
Speaker 1: of success is. And you know, I enjoyed my time
Speaker 1: on the show and I thought that it was fun,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm sure there's there's still stories to tell. Me.
Speaker 1: The thing with Byron is there's there's always going to
Speaker 1: be new people in Byron. There's always going to be
Speaker 1: something else happening. So if they do do a season two,
Speaker 1: I'm sure they're not going to be stuck for talent
Speaker 1: or come.
Speaker 3: Back, though, would you come back? Can we confirm that?
Speaker 1: Look, it's too early in the day and I haven't
Speaker 1: had a drink, so I'm not prepared to answer any
Speaker 1: of those questions.
Speaker 3: You're going to take that as a yes. So yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm taking that as a yes.
Speaker 2: I've been around the block so many times for reality
Speaker 2: TV people, which now you're in the you know, in
Speaker 2: the mix.
Speaker 1: With am I lumped into that category? Now? Am I guess?
Speaker 1: I am?
Speaker 2: I mean, look, going on reality TV it doesn't always
Speaker 2: define you. And I've seen certain cases that you know
Speaker 2: absolutely that is now not the case. Those people that
Speaker 2: start in reality television, you know, like the Christy Swans,
Speaker 2: like you know, people.
Speaker 3: I think would be a little brutal, brutal.
Speaker 2: If they were saying that she was a reality TV
Speaker 2: start now. But look, I also need to ask, you know,
Speaker 2: let's getting away from what you think. What about the
Speaker 2: rest of the cast. Is anyone out there that you've
Speaker 2: spoken to that it's like, oh my god, why did
Speaker 2: I do that? I'm not coming back.
Speaker 1: No, no one's, no one's No one's directly said that.
Speaker 1: I think throughout the you know, throughout the kind of
Speaker 1: stress and pressure of a reality show, I think everyone
Speaker 1: sort of questions why they're on it. You know, it's
Speaker 1: a pressure cooker environment from having cameras in your face.
Speaker 1: But I think in general everyone had a fun time.
Speaker 1: Like I can't. I don't think there's anyone that would,
Speaker 1: you know, there was there was no sort of like
Speaker 1: hate campaign going on or any sort of nastiness about
Speaker 1: about the show. Like I think everyone had a fun time.
Speaker 1: I think for a lot of them it was a
Speaker 1: new experience being on a reality show. Obviously, like the
Speaker 1: Eliases and the Nathans who've done these type of shows before.
Speaker 1: But if you look at the cast, there's so many
Speaker 1: of them, a lot of them, this was a whole
Speaker 1: new experience, and you know, I don't know, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of them would have learned a lot. I
Speaker 1: certainly learned a lot, but yeah, I don't know some
Speaker 1: of them look at the experience and go, hey, I
Speaker 1: want more of that, or you know, you can go
Speaker 1: you know what did Reality TV? Can tick that box
Speaker 1: and I can go back to normal life.
Speaker 3: Well, I just what was the show they made? The Shire?
Speaker 2: You know, I don't think it's the Shire, like I
Speaker 2: remember the Shire came in. God, it's not that, you know. Like,
Speaker 2: So for people listening to this podcast who probably thought
Speaker 2: they'd never tune into something like this, I honestly think
Speaker 2: give it a go because it is really fun. Maybe
Speaker 2: it was the wine, maybe it was that I was
Speaker 2: in front of the fire watching the show, but I
Speaker 2: just thoroughly enjoyed every single second. Someone on Twitter, yes
Speaker 2: that they told me that I had no soul because
Speaker 2: I just am so obsessed with the show. And to
Speaker 2: those people, I just think they need to not take
Speaker 2: themselves too seriously. We're here for some good entertainment.
Speaker 1: It's twenty twenty two. The world's nearly ended like four
Speaker 1: times in the past six months. Like if you can't
Speaker 1: sit down and watch a bit of reality TV for
Speaker 1: like six or seven hours, like what can you do?
Speaker 1: Turn on ABC and watch Death and Gloom. Just turn
Speaker 1: it on and have a loll because that's what this
Speaker 1: show is. It's just it's easy to watch and it's
Speaker 1: just watching a bunch of people that hopefully people can
Speaker 1: see themselves in one or two characters or no one
Speaker 1: at all and still find it entertaining. But it's just
Speaker 1: sit down and you know, have a drink, have a lull,
Speaker 1: and you know, watch Byron Bays.
Speaker 2: My last question that I ask everyone who joins the
Speaker 2: podcast is what's something from behind the scenes that we're
Speaker 2: as an audience didn't get a chance to see from
Speaker 2: the making of the show. Have you got like a
Speaker 2: little headline?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so catering, right, Everyone's painful about catering, and I'm
Speaker 1: painful about catering, right. So at the start, I was
Speaker 1: like doing some Keto diet and so I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: can I have like no bread or no sugar? And
Speaker 1: then they'd change it around, and you know, they would
Speaker 1: do it, and then I thought, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: going to fuck with this. I can I only have
Speaker 1: no sugar, no rise, and nothing green and sloppy. And
Speaker 1: it would change again, and I just started making my
Speaker 1: dietary requirements as ridiculous as possible, and to the point
Speaker 1: where I would get breakfast and one day it was
Speaker 1: just a lettice leap with one piece of baby, and
Speaker 1: that was I think Catering's way of telling me to
Speaker 1: get the fuck over myself and eat whatever they give me,
Speaker 1: which I started to do. But that was like a
Speaker 1: fun a fun time. Like it was. We were in
Speaker 1: some really weird and fun locations on Byron Bays around
Speaker 1: the area. And yeah, that's one thing I remember was
Speaker 1: my dietary requirement. Says said all these things and then
Speaker 1: nothing green and or sloppy.
Speaker 2: I just love that it turns out from that story
Speaker 2: that you know you are exactly who you are.
Speaker 1: On the show painful.
Speaker 3: No, you're you're a bit of an asshole with a
Speaker 3: sense of humor, and I like that. I just I
Speaker 3: am here for it.
Speaker 1: Say to Jade, I am s Cargo.
Speaker 3: He doesn't know what that is, mate.
Speaker 2: I just want to say thank you, you know, thank
Speaker 2: you so much for taking the time to have this chat.
Speaker 2: I think you are as I said on Twitter, you
Speaker 2: are fantastic on the show. So whatever this experience becomes,
Speaker 2: I just hope that you really enjoy it because you've
Speaker 2: brought a lot to the audience that are watching it.
Speaker 1: So thanks, thanks, Ben, really appreciate it. Thank you for
Speaker 1: your time too.