Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast.
Speaker 2: Last deep their line Welcome back to TV Reload. My
Speaker 2: name is Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast to
Speaker 2: get all the insight goss on the popular TV shows
Speaker 2: you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our
Speaker 2: TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment
Speaker 2: and very little is known about how our favorite shows
Speaker 2: get made. Each episode, I find guests that want to
Speaker 2: dive just that little bit deeper into the shows they're
Speaker 2: currently making so that you can hear all their exclusive
Speaker 2: stories and gain access to the biggest names in Australian television.
Speaker 2: I want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to
Speaker 2: this podcast. I love hearing your feedback, so make sure
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Speaker 2: I'll make sure you feel as included in the production
Speaker 2: of this show as I possibly can. On today's podcast,
Speaker 2: I have this week's booted castaways from Australian Survivor Heroes
Speaker 2: Versus Villains and what a shock to see Simon Me
Speaker 2: and Nina Twine snuff their torches and join the final
Speaker 2: jury council. With only two episodes left and a finale
Speaker 2: upon us. There is a lot to unpack with these guys.
Speaker 2: Simon was an underdog the whole way through the competition,
Speaker 2: and with so much support from fans and multiple storylines
Speaker 2: going on, I simply can't wait to hear what Simon
Speaker 2: has to say. Simon will talk about his ability to
Speaker 2: keep going while all the odds were against him. We
Speaker 2: will talk about Simon's frustrations with George and how he
Speaker 2: kept his cool, and Simon will also openly discuss his
Speaker 2: alpha male status and why he isn't afraid to cry.
Speaker 2: Nina will then join me to discuss her family ties
Speaker 2: to Survivor and what her mom thought of her time
Speaker 2: back on the show. Nina will talk about her alliances
Speaker 2: and why she is frustrated with some of the things
Speaker 2: we didn't see from her earlier work on the Original
Speaker 2: Heroes Tribe. I'll even find out what Nina thought might
Speaker 2: have happened in Blood Versus Water had she not been injured. Plus,
Speaker 2: we will get plenty of exclusives from behind the scenes
Speaker 2: from both Simon and Nina, including some interesting takes on
Speaker 2: the seventh week of Australian Survivor Heroes Versus Villains which
Speaker 2: you could now catch up on on ten play. Anyway,
Speaker 2: let's bring Simon into the podcast. I'm a huge Simon
Speaker 2: fan and I hope you enjoy his insights into the
Speaker 2: way in which his journey evolved on the most exciting
Speaker 2: series of Australian Survivor yet. I just want to say,
Speaker 2: what a crazy ride this series has been for you
Speaker 2: compared to last time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just a crazy place that I found myself in.
Speaker 1: To make it as far as I did in the
Speaker 1: way that I did is just blown my mind.
Speaker 3: How have you felt watching it back?
Speaker 1: I'm exhausted. I am well and truly exhausted because that
Speaker 1: rollercoaster that I was on. I felt every and relived
Speaker 1: every moment that I did out there. I had some
Speaker 1: huge highs and some huge lows. Everything I tried to do.
Speaker 1: Everything I touched turned to ash, Like it was just
Speaker 1: so heartbreaking, like I couldn't get anything right, but I
Speaker 1: didn't stop trying. I definitely found out how resilient I was.
Speaker 2: I think it's really powerful and I think it's really
Speaker 2: important to never give up. I think that inspires us
Speaker 2: all to like when things keep going to shit, you
Speaker 2: just got to keep trying new things.
Speaker 1: And I really feel for like my poor mother and
Speaker 1: like everyone else who's really been in my corner from
Speaker 1: the start, because it has not been easy for him
Speaker 1: to watch it all back. But it is so important.
Speaker 1: Like at the end of the days, it is a game,
Speaker 1: and it's just a game, but I love it so
Speaker 1: much and it means so much to me. And I
Speaker 1: was never just going to roll over and die. And
Speaker 1: you still have to have some fun like on the
Speaker 1: way through, so you have to be resilient, you have
Speaker 1: to kind of just come up with another plan. I
Speaker 1: just had to keep going. I had to find a
Speaker 1: way to keep going. And like I had nothing that
Speaker 1: like a grab, that was any like any consistency. It
Speaker 1: was all just literally just falling through my fingertips. It
Speaker 1: was hilarious to you to watch it all back, but
Speaker 1: it's like, when is something going to go right for me?
Speaker 1: But it's almost made it to the final five and
Speaker 1: it ends up being a non a limits like it's
Speaker 1: just such a I don't know. It just goes to
Speaker 1: show that it wasn't meant to be. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, it was someone out there was looking out
Speaker 1: for me.
Speaker 2: How does Season one Simon Me compare to Season two,
Speaker 2: will you go back and be like, I'm never watching
Speaker 2: Brains versus broad again, Like, what's the relationship you've got
Speaker 2: mentally with both seasons.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've never watched Braun back again. I just wind
Speaker 1: my Oh. I watched it through once. It was great.
Speaker 1: I just find it, like it's so cringe worthy just
Speaker 1: watching watching myself on TV in general, and I know, like,
Speaker 1: and it's funny, like some of the stuff that came
Speaker 1: out of my mouth and the edit that I got.
Speaker 1: You know, I'd played this game even if it wasn't
Speaker 1: on TV, and it wasn't you know, it wasn't recorded
Speaker 1: and broadcast to the nation. So yeah, it's it's a
Speaker 1: funny thing to be a part of, and you know,
Speaker 1: to watch because I see this person and this character
Speaker 1: and I want them to succeed. I want the best
Speaker 1: for them, and it's really hard watching them fail and
Speaker 1: you know, fall to the ground, flood on their face
Speaker 1: with their hands tied behind their back, but seeing that
Speaker 1: person like get up and keep trying, like I'm really
Speaker 1: proud of that person at the same time. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm proud of what I did and what I achieved
Speaker 1: and just did it in a way that I never
Speaker 1: thought it would have been possible.
Speaker 2: Well, I had tears in my eyes when you were eliminated.
Speaker 2: I didn't see it coming. It was always in my
Speaker 2: vision board that you would be there, right, and I
Speaker 2: kept vision boarding it to the point where I believed
Speaker 2: my own lies and I was like, Simon will be
Speaker 2: in the finale. And then when you left, I literally
Speaker 2: was sitting there on the couch with tears in my eyes,
Speaker 2: and my best friend, who doesn't watch the show, looked
Speaker 2: at me and was like, do you think you're too
Speaker 2: invested in this show?
Speaker 1: Yeah? It was just like it was just crazy, Like,
Speaker 1: you know, you manage to keep scraping through and keep
Speaker 1: on getting by, and yeah, it got to the point
Speaker 1: where I was I believe that if I could just
Speaker 1: scrape through a couple more than I have a real
Speaker 1: crack at winning this thing.
Speaker 3: People want to go back on this show.
Speaker 2: So did you have a postgame conversation last time and
Speaker 2: did they say to you, mate, we're going to reinvest
Speaker 2: in this story.
Speaker 1: There wasn't. There wasn't a direct one. But one of
Speaker 1: the best things that probably could have happened to me
Speaker 1: was to go home with two lights. Just a really
Speaker 1: easy storyline for people to be like, hey, he's the
Speaker 1: guy who went home with two idols and you know
Speaker 1: he didn't make merge and now he's got back for revenge.
Speaker 1: It just it felt like it was going to happen,
Speaker 1: Like I didn't even need to manifest it into reality.
Speaker 1: So on a long enough scale of time that would
Speaker 1: have come to fruition, which is which you can't say
Speaker 1: for everyone. So that's kind of really cool there, and
Speaker 1: it just timing's kind of worked out, and you know,
Speaker 1: the season was there, and opportunity to be a villain
Speaker 1: like that was just just fun. So I threw myself
Speaker 1: into it and the rest is history.
Speaker 2: What did you try and do differently this time around?
Speaker 2: Because I don't know if you've listened to my podcast,
Speaker 2: but I've sort of said a few things about it,
Speaker 2: and I'm like, Simon doesn't really feel to me like
Speaker 2: he's trying to do anything that different, Like he's still
Speaker 2: bossing everyone around at the start, and.
Speaker 3: It's hard to take control.
Speaker 2: I mean, are you literally just turning up on this
Speaker 2: show doing the exact same thing and hoping it sticks better.
Speaker 2: What's your relationship with that? Do you feel like you're
Speaker 2: trying to do things differently.
Speaker 1: I tried to do some things differently, but I some
Speaker 1: things I didn't like. I still played with passion. I
Speaker 1: still played with my heart on my sleeve. And you
Speaker 1: leant into the game and made the most of the experience.
Speaker 1: The big thing for me coming in was like just
Speaker 1: setting things up. I needed the tribe voting unanimously at
Speaker 1: the start. I worked over time to make that happen.
Speaker 1: I didn't really care who was going home as long
Speaker 1: as it was on the returning. At the start, I
Speaker 1: just needed to kind of like get in with everyone,
Speaker 1: like I don't feel like I was. I was like
Speaker 1: embossy like as as such, Like I wanted to make
Speaker 1: people feel empowered and included, and I made sure I
Speaker 1: had it like a personal relationship with everyone, and they
Speaker 1: did end up end up seeing that where it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, you look like I am, and they'll look
Speaker 1: the way I do, and you you know, everyone's pushing
Speaker 1: you into that leadership position. And when you've got a
Speaker 1: job to do, like when you're making the shelter and
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, this guy's played before, this guy's a chippy,
Speaker 1: and everyone else is running off and doing having you know,
Speaker 1: stratchats from day one, it's like, just get in and
Speaker 1: get it done. Like those cards are up in your hand.
Speaker 1: You just got to play with it, deal with it.
Speaker 1: So everyone automatically thought I was the leader. Geordie's pushing
Speaker 1: me into that position as well, and you just you
Speaker 1: just have to like try to bring people up and
Speaker 1: bring them along with you and make them feeling included
Speaker 1: as best you can. So yeah, like I did a
Speaker 1: couple of little like different things there, but like when
Speaker 1: the tribe I was on, I didn't have a lot
Speaker 1: of options, Like it just was was forced that way,
Speaker 1: and you just have to do what you can to
Speaker 1: the best of your ability. It set me up well
Speaker 1: enough to have it all fall apart in my hands,
Speaker 1: So I think the cookie idol might have had something
Speaker 1: to do with that as well.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 2: Non negotiable was you know, leaving with any idols like
Speaker 2: just cannot do that. But I felt like with that
Speaker 2: cookie idol, they do you feel like this as well?
Speaker 2: Do you feel like they've kind of set you up?
Speaker 2: Because you know, you have to really think about the
Speaker 2: fact that it didn't come with instructions. It was fair
Speaker 2: to believe it was an idol, and it was fair
Speaker 2: to see that, it was fair to say that you
Speaker 2: were going.
Speaker 3: To find it.
Speaker 2: Do you think that they knew that you had a
Speaker 2: strange past relationship with idols and set you up to
Speaker 2: have a bit of a I guess a cafuckus with
Speaker 2: that whole thing. Ah, yes, in a word, o't a word,
Speaker 2: so yeah so in a word.
Speaker 1: Aha. Look, but I do feel like you know that
Speaker 1: was that was meant to happen, And I kind of like,
Speaker 1: you know, you're wishing, you're always hoping you find an idol,
Speaker 1: but like God was haunting me in the back of
Speaker 1: my mind. But let's just say I feel like I
Speaker 1: was helped over the line with the survivor gods because
Speaker 1: I definitely had questions around what is this, like the
Speaker 1: green official emblem, that had to be something important, Like
Speaker 1: that's not just a clue, Like that's got to be
Speaker 1: something more. If you had found it in the rice
Speaker 1: or the beans like Ben did, like one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: I reckon like there's something else to it there, but
Speaker 1: you're not having any paperwork and nothing, you know, nothing there,
Speaker 1: but still finding in a reward there was enough things
Speaker 1: to kind of put me on the fence and get
Speaker 1: me excited about that there's still enough red flags. But
Speaker 1: then I just had enough of a nudge in the
Speaker 1: right direction to then be like, Okay, it is what
Speaker 1: it is, this is happening, and all my questions were
Speaker 1: put to rest and we were on from there and
Speaker 1: got it made for some entertaining TV, didn't it, Because
Speaker 1: oh my god, what you can't You can't script that,
Speaker 1: just watch it all happen around me. I just couldn't
Speaker 1: believe it, Like it was so crazy.
Speaker 2: I called it Shakespearean because like, you're right, you couldn't
Speaker 2: have scripted that. But talking about scripting things, my favorite
Speaker 2: Simon moment, favorite for you for the season was you
Speaker 2: rewording your Batman quote. I just thought that was so
Speaker 2: good because in my mind, if you've been on reality TV,
Speaker 2: no matter who you are, and you'll lie to yourself
Speaker 2: about this, but you always think I'll go back the
Speaker 2: first time around, you don't really know reality television, and
Speaker 2: then you go back and watch it and it all
Speaker 2: seems like you could probably control things a little bit better. Yeah,
Speaker 2: what was your relationship with scripting some things? Because some
Speaker 2: of your quotes are phenomenal and.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it came out really well.
Speaker 2: Were you thinking that before going into the show, that
Speaker 2: you're going to script things in your own mind and
Speaker 2: come out with these one liners.
Speaker 1: Look, there are little bits and pieces. Yeah, like I
Speaker 1: know that, you know, you got to lean into the theme, right,
Speaker 1: Like heroes, it's such a fun theme. It's being villains,
Speaker 1: like it's permission to have fun with that. In my
Speaker 1: opening interview, I gave that you that one liner saying,
Speaker 1: you know in Survivor and for me, it's like you
Speaker 1: start as a villain. So I flipped it on purpose,
Speaker 1: like the game of Survivor, you know, you either die
Speaker 1: villain or you live long enough to see something come
Speaker 1: a hero because the hero always wins, and you know,
Speaker 1: so that's always. And then like in my opening chat,
Speaker 1: the producer actually asked me to flip it around the
Speaker 1: other way. Can we get both lines? So that was
Speaker 1: like before the game started and stuff like that. And
Speaker 1: then like just in that moment, I actually I heard George,
Speaker 1: like George would edit himself all the time, just out
Speaker 1: there like in the middle of the senses, just stop
Speaker 1: and go again. And it's like I just had this realization.
Speaker 1: It's like we are not like making TV at times
Speaker 1: like that. And then like, let screw it up that line,
Speaker 1: and you know, I was excited. I was excited to
Speaker 1: say it, like you know it kind of like the
Speaker 1: timing felt right, and yeah, we actually we had a
Speaker 1: moment where the audio was kind of was lost and
Speaker 1: we you know, did that that kind of happened. Happened again,
Speaker 1: but like just at that moment was there and like
Speaker 1: it just it happened, and like as soon as I
Speaker 1: screwed it up, I'm like, oh my god, you know,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'll just do it again. I'll just
Speaker 1: go for it again and think that they'll edit it out.
Speaker 1: And god, it was just one of like the comedic
Speaker 1: gold pieces that like stayed in there, and like it
Speaker 1: was just you know that all the kerfuffles that left
Speaker 1: in that made my characters so enjoyable. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think that kind of it's a little bit endearing
Speaker 1: because you know, I was trying so hard and you
Speaker 1: see you fail, Like it is a nice kind of
Speaker 1: new balance to see, I don't know, to see like
Speaker 1: the alpha male like not just have all the success
Speaker 1: all the time. So that's kind of like a nice
Speaker 1: little balance there.
Speaker 2: Well, speaking about being the alpha male, then you would
Speaker 2: cry did you get a lot of feedback on that
Speaker 2: from the online community, because inside the show it felt
Speaker 2: like people are like, oh my god, it's Simon crying.
Speaker 3: Where the audience loved it.
Speaker 1: This game means something to me, Like I care about
Speaker 1: it and you've got nothing else like stimulating you and
Speaker 1: like you the only twenty four people who get a
Speaker 1: crack at that. Just be in it, be invested, Like
Speaker 1: you've given up so much to be there, how are
Speaker 1: you not? And like, yeah, I am an emotional person.
Speaker 1: I do wear my heart on my sleeve. And look,
Speaker 1: one comment I read on Reddit was like, once you see,
Speaker 1: once you realize that Simon is just a nerd stuck
Speaker 1: in a jock's body, you will never watch the show
Speaker 1: the same way. And I've never felt more understood.
Speaker 2: This is an amazing quality. I think that you have.
Speaker 2: That kind of stuff was all a part of how
Speaker 2: you endeared yourself to the audience.
Speaker 1: And you know what, that's just me, Like I wear
Speaker 1: my heart on my sleeve. I am, I am passionate,
Speaker 1: I am emotional. I do cry quite a lot in
Speaker 1: my in my real, real, real life. And I think
Speaker 1: it's important to be in touch with your emotions and yeah.
Speaker 1: It kind of breaks down a few stereotypes as well,
Speaker 1: like being someone being an awful looking male, like it
Speaker 1: is important to being in touch with that. It's just
Speaker 1: it's who I am. So that was not ever a ploy,
Speaker 1: Like it's it's raw.
Speaker 3: No, you can't fake that. I mean, I get it.
Speaker 1: You can't fake that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't fake that.
Speaker 2: If you watch people cry on reality TV, when they're
Speaker 2: trying to cry, there's never any tears where with you.
Speaker 2: It was a very authentic moment, and that's where reality
Speaker 2: TV works the best, is when you're connecting to something
Speaker 2: on television that you genuinely believe that you're getting that
Speaker 2: fly in the wall moment.
Speaker 1: There's an additional scene on templay that got uploaded last
Speaker 1: night and it's like, you know, Simon Simon says, I
Speaker 1: was like it's Simon as well, that we're just living
Speaker 1: in it, and Liz gives a confessional where she's kind
Speaker 1: of like a little bit shocked that like Simon's won
Speaker 1: this immunity challenge and he's crying. She's like she just
Speaker 1: like didn't get it, and like I get it. If
Speaker 1: you're not like you know, you don't come out as
Speaker 1: a you know, as a first timer, you know, you
Speaker 1: haven't watched a bunch of before, it doesn't mean as
Speaker 1: much to you. She was very confused by why I
Speaker 1: was so emotional about winning an immunity necklace, and but
Speaker 1: she didn't have the context about what it means to
Speaker 1: have this once in a lifetime opportunity and what it
Speaker 1: means to be there, and what it meant to me
Speaker 1: and my journey growing up as a as a kid
Speaker 1: watching Suvivor, Like I watched the US ones as a kid,
Speaker 1: and you know, as a ten year old, I loved
Speaker 1: the challenges. That's why I fell in love with it,
Speaker 1: and I came to fall in love with a strategy,
Speaker 1: the social side of things. So that was just such
Speaker 1: a wholesome moment for me. But if you don't understand that,
Speaker 1: you don't kind of get it there. And so like
Speaker 1: I really having that opportunity and being a fan, I
Speaker 1: always felt like I've got to make the most of
Speaker 1: being out there and represent all the people on the
Speaker 1: couch who have applied or wanted to go at this game,
Speaker 1: and to appreciate it in the moment because like all
Speaker 1: these new players and you know, you go out there,
Speaker 1: they have a new appreciation for it, but only after
Speaker 1: the fact. It's like, this is your moment. Now we
Speaker 1: are here, now, do not waste this, And that's why
Speaker 1: you come out and so many people like, yeah, I'd
Speaker 1: love to return. I can't wait to return, being like
Speaker 1: you just missed your opportunity, Like that was that was it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, But you know, I'm not a psychologist. I'm going
Speaker 2: to try and step around this as best I can.
Speaker 2: As much as you represented the alpha male, you then
Speaker 2: showed a sensitivity that is related to being female, and
Speaker 2: then that was the opposite for Liz, Like I think
Speaker 2: the same thing happened where she's this beautiful woman, but
Speaker 2: then she had some alpha male tendencies about her. It's
Speaker 2: just packaging things up differently and showing how far we've
Speaker 2: come in twenty twenty three that what you see is
Speaker 2: not always what you get.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a beautiful part of the game,
Speaker 1: is right. You get a you get such a cross
Speaker 1: section of society and people from such different backgrounds and
Speaker 1: views on it all like it it's really incredible. And
Speaker 1: I've been blown away by Liz and the fact that
Speaker 1: she could be so blunt, so sharp and just call
Speaker 1: a spade a spade and tell her tell us how
Speaker 1: it was, and complain about food and complain about me
Speaker 1: and her. Oh you can play about other people but
Speaker 1: just be so blunt and thought about it and be
Speaker 1: able to get away with it. And it's just like
Speaker 1: it's just such a weird dynamic, and the dynamic of
Speaker 1: people changes every time, because that in twenty sixteen Liz
Speaker 1: would have been like a first boot, but you know it,
Speaker 1: it changes so much the people that are out there,
Speaker 1: and how like you know that cross section of society
Speaker 1: when they come together, like you kind of a predicted
Speaker 1: And that's just kind of the magic of the show
Speaker 1: and of reality TV, right, Like it makes it special
Speaker 1: when you come.
Speaker 3: I mean, Survivors.
Speaker 2: Still it's owning some of the fibers of reality television
Speaker 2: still twenty years later. There's very few shows that we
Speaker 2: have in reality TV that are pre filmed, prepackaged and
Speaker 2: put together, but still on the essence of it being
Speaker 2: the real realities of what you're watching. I feel like
Speaker 2: with this show, we are still being given the truth
Speaker 2: behind who you will are and a truth behind how
Speaker 2: it all came down.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I do believe that. I think they've
Speaker 1: done a great job of editing this season and pointing
Speaker 1: all together. It's just been it's been awesome to see
Speaker 1: and look, I think that in terms of BLA I
Speaker 1: can speak on my journey, like it was really hard
Speaker 1: watching me at the start and being dehumanized a little bit,
Speaker 1: like the real me wasn't really shown. But like I
Speaker 1: believe that on a long enough period of time, you
Speaker 1: can't hide the real you. So the person that the
Speaker 1: sigmon that you see at the end the same sign
Speaker 1: that I was out there the whole time. It's the
Speaker 1: same sign that everyone hated at the start, and then
Speaker 1: even I was watching him like he let us a flog,
Speaker 1: you know. So it's like when you over that, like,
Speaker 1: I'm glad I was able to develop my develop my
Speaker 1: character and have that story told and it kind of
Speaker 1: completes you there. So the fact that I was able
Speaker 1: to have that and have that shown like that was
Speaker 1: that was really cool. And they do a good job
Speaker 1: of being able to communicate that and not everyone does it,
Speaker 1: but as a whole, I think the Survivor and the
Speaker 1: crew have done such a good job of bringing that
Speaker 1: to life.
Speaker 2: I love you on social media because I feel like
Speaker 2: you are still the sign and that we see on television.
Speaker 2: So often do we watch shows where we then follow
Speaker 2: them as well, and then we see a different side
Speaker 2: to them. They're very different where I feel like what
Speaker 2: you're tweeting and what you're posting on Instagram all feels
Speaker 2: like it's connected to the narrative of who you are
Speaker 2: and it makes us go, oh, he is that guy.
Speaker 2: But you did tweet this one thing with JLP on
Speaker 2: Twitter where you said, you know, waiting to tell people
Speaker 2: that this was all planned and this is a strategy.
Speaker 2: I was playing to the bottom. I can't remember I'm
Speaker 2: paraphrasing here with that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, but what did.
Speaker 2: You mean by that? I mean, what were you waiting
Speaker 2: to tell Australia that wasn't being shown, you know at
Speaker 2: that time and to.
Speaker 1: The start of that, like I, you know, I had
Speaker 1: to lean in, Like when when your carriage is getting
Speaker 1: ragged through the mard, you have to have some fun
Speaker 1: with it, and you know, you got to take the
Speaker 1: piss out of yourself. That's kind of a bit of
Speaker 1: like a you know, that's the endearing thing you bring
Speaker 1: yourself back down to size. The jail peachweek was like
Speaker 1: I felt like it was being you know, kind of
Speaker 1: being kicked a little bit when I was when I
Speaker 1: was down and not being able to like show my
Speaker 1: side of the story where like, you know, yeah, I
Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of control, and you know, yes
Speaker 1: I was on the bottom, but like I was actively
Speaker 1: playing to the bottom at that stage, like coming into Merge, I,
Speaker 1: you know, I chose to withdraw from conversations, to let
Speaker 1: them all run off and do their thing and stuff.
Speaker 1: So I I wanted to manage my threat level and
Speaker 1: to do that, I pushed myself to have no agency
Speaker 1: and it was really hard to not like run out
Speaker 1: and be part of those conversations, but it was important
Speaker 1: for me to actually it enabled me to matge it,
Speaker 1: to manage my threat level and get and put myself
Speaker 1: in a position where like I'm in halfway through Merge,
Speaker 1: I'm a big challenge threat, but I'm not a threat
Speaker 1: at all in this game, and everyone on the jury
Speaker 1: is agreeing and barracking for me to win. Like it
Speaker 1: was such a unique position for me, and it's hard
Speaker 1: not explaining some of those things at the time, and
Speaker 1: when it's like, you know, you just like this lovable
Speaker 1: himbo as it's kind of coming across like you you
Speaker 1: want to defend some of the things that you kind
Speaker 1: of do and have done. Yeah, you know at the time,
Speaker 1: it's just frustrating, but yeah, it is what it is.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of the part, like you know, you
Speaker 1: get to play that game and you do forego control
Speaker 1: and you just have to know rather the lightning at times,
Speaker 1: and yeah, it's hard, but it is what it is.
Speaker 2: Well, Sean was saying to me when I asked him
Speaker 2: about this, because you know, as he was eliminated, that
Speaker 2: was when the tweet came out, and he said, well,
Speaker 2: I don't really know whether that's true because why would
Speaker 2: anyone play to the bottom. And then I want to
Speaker 2: throw something on top of that to sort of push
Speaker 2: that a little bit to the side of bearing that
Speaker 2: in mind, and that is that is there any truth
Speaker 2: that maybe there wasn't that much strategy. But now when
Speaker 2: you look back and this happens in real life, this
Speaker 2: happens to me as well, where I'll be like, I
Speaker 2: had no idea what I was doing, but then when
Speaker 2: I looked back, it looked like I always planned that.
Speaker 3: So I'm just going to say that's what it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So that there's definitely like like like little bits
Speaker 1: and pieces of it, Like I as soon as we
Speaker 1: got to merge, I'm like managed for a level pull back,
Speaker 1: pull back, But like every time I tried to do something,
Speaker 1: I wanted to be part of something, so like I was,
Speaker 1: I wanted it to change and I wanted it to
Speaker 1: blow right open and part of the whole, like but
Speaker 1: it never never worked for me. So it's like, as
Speaker 1: I kept, look, if you try to take a step
Speaker 1: and keep going back to the bottom, like it wasn't
Speaker 1: the worst thing. So I'd like be I'd have to
Speaker 1: pick my avenue about where I take my next step.
Speaker 1: But you know, when you hit your head, try to
Speaker 1: try to try to get off the floor, like it's
Speaker 1: always tough. Yeah, Like there's definitely a little bit of
Speaker 1: like a retrospective. I guess you're looking back being but
Speaker 1: you notice that trend. It's like, okay, well that's not
Speaker 1: working for me. But I was on the Vigilantes, but
Speaker 1: I was still on the in the bottom there. I
Speaker 1: never wanted to take control of an alliance like I
Speaker 1: wanted to like join the bottom. So it was you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't like I was trying to like put myself
Speaker 1: in the premiere position because it just was it's never
Speaker 1: going to happen, So like I just just enough to
Speaker 1: be able to get through to like scrape in to
Speaker 1: be like you guys battle it out above me. But
Speaker 1: you know, it really helped me manage my threat level there.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and look at it worked.
Speaker 2: Then I think as well that there's another way of
Speaker 2: looking at that, and that is that you know, was
Speaker 2: it a strategy to always be in the bottom or
Speaker 2: did you just have no choice?
Speaker 1: Yeah? It was. Look, I had no choice. It was made.
Speaker 1: My decision was made for me. With the Cookie Idol
Speaker 1: being a fake idol, I burnt trust with everyone. I
Speaker 1: burnt trust a little heroes, and I ended up in
Speaker 1: that position. So when I ended up down there and
Speaker 1: no one trusted me, I played that up. So you know,
Speaker 1: I'm like, this is where I am now, and I wasn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to go like back up. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I want to like, let's let's keep this on the
Speaker 1: bottom for now. So like, yeah, my bed was made,
Speaker 1: and I had to live with the consequences of my
Speaker 1: actions or the Cookie Idol as it crumbled my way.
Speaker 1: And that's that's where I was that's where I ended
Speaker 1: up at Merged when no one won. You wanted a
Speaker 1: bar of me, and I was, yeah, just on the bottom.
Speaker 2: I think we have to just briefly talk about the
Speaker 2: most famous tribal council in the history of survivor from
Speaker 2: around the world, and that I show down with you
Speaker 2: and George.
Speaker 3: It was such an iconic moment of television. You know.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people were saying, you know,
Speaker 2: how did you not knock George out? Because there's two
Speaker 2: ways to look at any story, but it did sort
Speaker 2: of look like he was really antagon you in that situation.
Speaker 2: How do you I mean, it just seems like that
Speaker 2: relationship that you have with George could be really toxic
Speaker 2: at times. Were you always able to say this is
Speaker 2: just a game, this is just a game, or were
Speaker 2: there times where you were thinking, I'm really going to
Speaker 2: have to tell this man that this is not okay.
Speaker 1: It was really hard, and I felt like I was
Speaker 1: actually on the defense of the whole time, like I
Speaker 1: had to be reactive to the way that George was
Speaker 1: acting and coming at me like I did. I felt
Speaker 1: like I didn't have an option, and so it was
Speaker 1: the second pilot the question.
Speaker 2: I just I just feel like, you know, he was
Speaker 2: definitely antagonizing you, min you his lines back to you
Speaker 2: and he's antagonizing of you was beautiful television. It was poetry,
Speaker 2: like he's so good at it, so good at it,
Speaker 2: so like, I absolutely I'm not taking him to task
Speaker 2: on that. I'm just talking about you and the universe
Speaker 2: because I could Mom was antagonizing me like that that
Speaker 2: I would be so close to just being like I'm
Speaker 2: going to push this guy over. I feel like the
Speaker 2: producer is going to have to come and come and
Speaker 2: grab me because I lose my mind, Like how do
Speaker 2: you say stay separated and stay in the game without
Speaker 2: letting it become too personal and wanting to knock this
Speaker 2: person out for sure?
Speaker 1: And look, it's really hard. At the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I love this game and I knew what I needed
Speaker 1: to do to get through, and it is just a game.
Speaker 1: And as frustrated as you can be at times, like
Speaker 1: when you feel it boiling up inside you, you have
Speaker 1: to remind yourself that it is just a game and
Speaker 1: that I didn't want to let a toxic relationship ruin
Speaker 1: this experience for me, Like so I knew I needed
Speaker 1: to be the bigger person even when I was being
Speaker 1: antagonized consistently, and I just had to let it flow
Speaker 1: like water off the duck's back because I love this game,
Speaker 1: and if I left with the sour taste in my
Speaker 1: mouth or like withdrew from everything, like, I wouldn't want that,
Speaker 1: and it can be hard to patch all that together.
Speaker 1: But I just need to let it go so I
Speaker 1: can still have fun and still be part of this
Speaker 1: community and this game which I love so much, because otherwise, yeah,
Speaker 1: I would have lost my call and completely pulled back
Speaker 1: from it, and it's not where I wanted to end up.
Speaker 1: So some things are just some things are bigger than
Speaker 1: the game, and at the end of the day, it
Speaker 1: is just a game, very real game. But like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you just had got to find a way to cope
Speaker 1: with it.
Speaker 2: Well, people kept seeing you out with George or you
Speaker 2: kept posting photos as well socially with George, and so
Speaker 2: I think there was a real confusion from everyone because
Speaker 2: everyone was like, oh, well, those two they don't like
Speaker 2: each other, and then you would post you two laughing
Speaker 2: and having a good time. You know, was that really
Speaker 2: surreal for people that you saw in the real world
Speaker 2: seeing you two hanging out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really was and very confusing, but it also
Speaker 1: adds like that's the human element to it. Like at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, George loves this game just
Speaker 1: as much as I do, and despite all our differences,
Speaker 1: that is something that we will always share in common,
Speaker 1: and we will always be bonded by being on not one,
Speaker 1: but two seasons together. So like this, George will follow
Speaker 1: this game in my experience will always be tied. So
Speaker 1: I need, you know, it's it's important for me to
Speaker 1: just to ensure that like I can, like I'm okay
Speaker 1: with it, Like with what happens in the game. What
Speaker 1: happens in the game happens in the game. I will
Speaker 1: only ever judge someone by how they treat people in
Speaker 1: the in the real world. And George is a nightmare
Speaker 1: to play with, like and he's so good of what
Speaker 1: he did, and you've got to full credit to him.
Speaker 1: But like you know, I will only judge him by
Speaker 1: what we see in the in the outside world, and
Speaker 1: he's been been quite supportive and checked in on me
Speaker 1: from time to time. So yeah, I'm impressed by the
Speaker 1: real George on the outside.
Speaker 2: What if we missed in this finale. I know, Simon
Speaker 2: finale is a devastation for me and for audiences. What
Speaker 2: were you mentally preparing and what did you foresee happening
Speaker 2: had you not been eliminated?
Speaker 1: Yeah, the best final pitch since Christy Bennett in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: It would have been It would have been huge and
Speaker 1: it would have been special. I try not to think
Speaker 1: about it too much now because I know that I
Speaker 1: could have won, and I knew that I had the
Speaker 1: narrative to be able to win, and I actually think
Speaker 1: I could have beaten George, believe it or not, Like
Speaker 1: it's actually crazy that that those words are etten coming
Speaker 1: out of my mouth. But I think with George's during management,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's you know, he's played the best
Speaker 1: social game. Then I think he's chosen TV moments over
Speaker 1: social relationships. And I mean, look that it's very entertaining
Speaker 1: and very good, but like when someone's telling you, you
Speaker 1: know you've made another like a dumb move or you're
Speaker 1: the worst player in Survivor history, like you can't do
Speaker 1: you really want to reward someone like that half a
Speaker 1: million dollars? So you know, I.
Speaker 3: Had the end if he's left with.
Speaker 2: As far as I'm concerned, I'm maybe a bit bold
Speaker 2: by saying this, but if George is left with Jerry
Speaker 2: and Matt, then I think George can win because with
Speaker 2: Jerry and Matt, did they you know? I think the
Speaker 2: trouble Council be like, well, did Jerry and Matt really
Speaker 2: do as much in this game as George? Where had
Speaker 2: it been a you and George finale, I think that
Speaker 2: and a showdown between the two of you, I think
Speaker 2: you would have won because you are right, you did
Speaker 2: play the social game better and you still gave us
Speaker 2: the TV moment. You can still give TV moments in
Speaker 2: shows like this without completely destroying your game.
Speaker 1: He gets it, and yeah, I agree, Yeah, there's there's
Speaker 1: there's a way to do it in a way to
Speaker 1: you know, to do it tackley and tastely. At times,
Speaker 1: I think that it would have been interesting and well
Speaker 1: and like, it will be interesting to see how it
Speaker 1: all kind of comes out in the end. And yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a real battle of head versus heart.
Speaker 1: But if someone can get up there and pitch about
Speaker 1: why they can stand on their own two feet outside
Speaker 1: of you know, outside of George then you know, they'll
Speaker 1: they'll they'll put up a compelling a compelling argument. But
Speaker 1: like when I was out there, I wasn't privileged to
Speaker 1: the inner workings of it all. But like if they
Speaker 1: if someone can prove it, then yeah, we'll just have
Speaker 1: to wait and see if they can. If that's an
Speaker 1: to sway the jury.
Speaker 2: When you came out of the show, not what you
Speaker 2: know now, but like that moment where your torch is snuffed,
Speaker 2: did you think was most likely to win?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't know at the time. Like you
Speaker 1: just got to come into terms that it's not you.
Speaker 1: So I just hoped it was Nina. I hope that
Speaker 1: she would be like, you know, like the last freedom
Speaker 1: fighter to you know, to take down George and you know,
Speaker 1: just to be the last one to overcome being on
Speaker 1: the bottom for so long. And you know, it's just
Speaker 1: frustrating when there's a lot there was a lot of
Speaker 1: talk for so much about from you know, Jerry, mattin
Speaker 1: Liz about doing something and making these moves, but then
Speaker 1: it just never acting on. It's just frustrating there. So
Speaker 1: you know, Nina, you shared a couple of things to
Speaker 1: her resume ready, like you're a Hailey vote under a
Speaker 1: belt like she tried, She'd done different things, and there's
Speaker 1: no doubt that George is by the best strategic game ever.
Speaker 1: But I hope that you know Ninick and works in
Speaker 1: magic and get her way through to the to the
Speaker 1: end from here.
Speaker 2: And then we talked about at the start about being
Speaker 2: a returning player, and and I felt like I knew
Speaker 2: for a fact that your story wasn't finished. How do
Speaker 2: you feel about this now?
Speaker 3: You know? Do you feel like your story is finished?
Speaker 3: I mean, of course you would go back.
Speaker 2: I don't even need to ask you that question, But
Speaker 2: do you feel like your story has finished with Australian Survivor?
Speaker 1: I think, for now like it has. I have closed
Speaker 1: a chapter which is which is wholesome. You know, it's
Speaker 1: nice to be able to get to that point because
Speaker 1: I feel like after Brains be Brawl and going home
Speaker 1: with two idols, like it wasn't done, but for now
Speaker 1: it's a really nice way to close it all off.
Speaker 1: Like you know, I came sixth I got a car,
Speaker 1: I got an edit, I left nothing out there and
Speaker 1: I left. Ultimately, I wanted to leave a mark on
Speaker 1: this game and come away with a couple of friends,
Speaker 1: and I think I've done that so I can very
Speaker 1: much so sleep easily at night knowing that you know
Speaker 1: my day. My time should have ended on day sixteen,
Speaker 1: and here I was twenty something thirty some days later,
Speaker 1: like a pretty special Simon.
Speaker 2: I want to thank the Survivor gods for your efforts
Speaker 2: this season. You were so fantastic and honestly, I don't
Speaker 2: think anyone could have come across any better. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for chatting with me today and unpacking some
Speaker 2: of this. It's just been so amazing.
Speaker 1: Oh, Benny, it's it's been great. Been looking forward to
Speaker 1: this one. So yeah, thank you for your support, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it's good to good to have you behind you know
Speaker 1: the magic that is Survivor.
Speaker 2: A hell of a good chat with Simon. I thought
Speaker 2: his takes on the whole series were typically Simon, and
Speaker 2: I couldn't have asked for more. Anyway, Let's bring Nina
Speaker 2: into the podcast. I'm really excited to chat with her
Speaker 2: for the first time about blood versus Water.
Speaker 3: And heroes versus villains. Hi, Nina, how are you hey?
Speaker 4: I'm good, Thank you, how are you well?
Speaker 2: Thanks for coming onto the show and unpacking your time
Speaker 2: on the series. How has Heroes Versus Villains.
Speaker 3: Gone for you?
Speaker 4: It's been amazing. I'm having I had such a great time,
Speaker 4: continuing to have a great time being able to see
Speaker 4: everyone outside of the show. So it was a great
Speaker 4: experience and it continues for me, which is awesome.
Speaker 2: You know, I've been following you guys. What is the
Speaker 2: deal with all of the Australians survive contestants? You guys
Speaker 2: will look like one big giant family.
Speaker 4: I don't know what it is. I guess everybody just
Speaker 4: gets along. But I also think it's like a part
Speaker 4: of the Australian culture.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 4: In the States version, we're like going in. Everybody else
Speaker 4: is like can I get to know you a little bit?
Speaker 4: And I think that for me that's really good for
Speaker 4: my game because I love relationships in general. I'm a
Speaker 4: people person. I love to talk, but it also gives
Speaker 4: me the chance to get to know other people and
Speaker 4: let them get to.
Speaker 3: Know me well.
Speaker 2: Growing up in the Survivor world, I can you know,
Speaker 2: I feel that this show is in your DNA. Does
Speaker 2: knowing the game inside out actually help? Or is the
Speaker 2: show so unpredictable that no amount of inside knowledge can
Speaker 2: really help you.
Speaker 4: I think it's I don't want to sound corny, but
Speaker 4: genuinely fifty to fifty because there's times up until last night,
Speaker 4: I made a rooky mistake not realizing thinking I am
Speaker 4: genuinely fighting for my life. I am done, I'm going home.
Speaker 4: What's the last thing that I can do? Not realizing
Speaker 4: what was actually happening. But that's the tricky part of
Speaker 4: the game. That's what you don't know. But there's so
Speaker 4: many other parts that got me to that point that
Speaker 4: my knowledge of the game helped me with, whether it's
Speaker 4: a puzzle challenge that I'm just like, Oh, I love
Speaker 4: practicing puzzles. I've done this before with my mom and
Speaker 4: the family at home, to the social cues and things
Speaker 4: that my mom taught me about or that I learned
Speaker 4: from her, just watching her interactions with people that got
Speaker 4: me further in the game. And then the game is
Speaker 4: so unpredictable. You don't know what people are actually thinking.
Speaker 4: All you can do is sit back, watch their actions,
Speaker 4: their moves. And my perspective, which is so important in
Speaker 4: the game, was I am completely done. There's nothing else
Speaker 4: I can do except fight, and that's what I did.
Speaker 4: I stand by it because every single person that night,
Speaker 4: including myself, did what they thought was best for their
Speaker 4: game just didn't line up with what I thought was best.
Speaker 2: When I was watching you last night, I was thinking
Speaker 2: to myself, this is the season of Survivor that we
Speaker 2: kind of expected to get from you, you know, last year,
Speaker 2: and then you know you hurt yourself and you had
Speaker 2: to come out of the competition.
Speaker 3: You know, what do you think looking back?
Speaker 2: Do you think if you hadn't hurt yourself, do you
Speaker 2: think you would have gotten as far in last year's series.
Speaker 4: I'm going to entertain you because I sometimes like it's
Speaker 4: hard for me to do like that hindsight thing because
Speaker 4: I don't want to think about like what I missed
Speaker 4: out on. But genuinely, yes, I had quite a few
Speaker 4: people as well tell me, dang, I wish you were
Speaker 4: still there because you could have had it in the
Speaker 4: bag for one reason or another. But I genuinely I
Speaker 4: know I would have made merged at the least. Anything
Speaker 4: after that might have been dicey, because I felt like
Speaker 4: some people were just on this straight and narrow path,
Speaker 4: which we also see a little bit in this season,
Speaker 4: and I would have again tried my best to switch
Speaker 4: things up. I just think that at least in my
Speaker 4: last season I would have had a little bit more
Speaker 4: relationships and ends with people that would have allowed them
Speaker 4: to feel a little more comfortable making those moves. Where unfortunately,
Speaker 4: being the final five, Jerry and Matt didn't really have
Speaker 4: super super strong relationships with them. I tried, but it
Speaker 4: just didn't work out. Maybe I was too little, too late.
Speaker 4: Where last time I at least had relationships with almost
Speaker 4: every single person from the OgH Water and a few
Speaker 4: of the new Blood tribe, and I had some decent
Speaker 4: relationships with them that I could at least have to
Speaker 4: end with other people.
Speaker 2: Was it always locked that you would come back? I mean,
Speaker 2: that was the question I had for you. I mean
Speaker 2: they definitely said, you know, you've hurt yourself, would love
Speaker 2: to see you back on the show. But you know,
Speaker 2: at what point did you find out that you would
Speaker 2: be a part of heroes Versus Villains?
Speaker 4: I didn't know one hundred percent until I think two
Speaker 4: months before I actually like flew out. Of course, I
Speaker 4: was always hopeful, which is why I continued to do
Speaker 4: my best at exercising rehability take myself as quickly as
Speaker 4: possible just in case. But in all honesty, I didn't
Speaker 4: hold my breath. I mean I was filling out job
Speaker 4: applications and redoing my resume, getting ready to leave because
Speaker 4: I went to retail just to kind of hold myself over,
Speaker 4: to give myself time to process and like rehabilitate and relax.
Speaker 4: Then they call and I'm like, oh my god, is
Speaker 4: this actually happening? Like I thought you guys were just
Speaker 4: kind of entertaining me, making me feel better, But they
Speaker 4: were serious, and I'm glad that they were.
Speaker 2: I think the question that everyone wants to know, you know,
Speaker 2: out of the Survivor universe at the moment, is what
Speaker 2: did your mom think of your time on the show.
Speaker 4: Oh she's so proud, so happy. She's just astonished in
Speaker 4: a way, like she expected me to do well. But
Speaker 4: you know, once you see it, then you believe it.
Speaker 4: I got my little wind that she didn't get, so
Speaker 4: I got to do a little bit that she never
Speaker 4: got to. Also, of course making the jury, which was awesome,
Speaker 4: But she overall was like, you know what you did,
Speaker 4: And maybe not exactly the same way, but she was like,
Speaker 4: you did what I would have done, I think to myself,
Speaker 4: and she has before I'm going home, I'm gonna stir
Speaker 4: some shit up and I'm gonna try. And that's what
Speaker 4: I did.
Speaker 2: I want to know about the pressure, because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm putting myself into your shoes the whole way through
Speaker 2: this season watching you, and I'm thinking, where does the
Speaker 2: most amount of pressure come from? Is it your fans?
Speaker 2: Is it your mom? Is it the pressure that you
Speaker 2: put on yourself? What was the pressure and where was
Speaker 2: it coming from?
Speaker 4: Always myself? Always, always, always, I don't know why, but
Speaker 4: I tend to be able, even in just a few moments,
Speaker 4: to distance myself from anything that I cannot control. I
Speaker 4: can't control what my mom says or thinks, what fans
Speaker 4: say or think. I can't control a lot of aspects
Speaker 4: of the game or other people in the game. What
Speaker 4: I can't control is myself. So I have a lot
Speaker 4: of internal thoughts. I mean, you see me at travel
Speaker 4: colousm I'm like, like just thinking, you know, so most
Speaker 4: of the pressure comes from myself. I think, Please, don't
Speaker 4: f this up. Okay, put the emotion to the side.
Speaker 4: Let's be logical. What have you seen, what have you heard?
Speaker 4: What have you felt? From other people? And take that
Speaker 4: and run with it. So far, it had worked every
Speaker 4: single time until last night. But of course we're forty
Speaker 4: four days in. I'm seeing collar phones and things everywhere.
Speaker 4: I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm frustrated. I'm so frustrated because
Speaker 4: one should have went home, went to isolation. Two should
Speaker 4: have went home, but switched my vote, which which you
Speaker 4: know caused the time, didn't go home. So now I'm like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, I've been trying and trying and trying.
Speaker 4: This is not going anywhere. Nice Nina is gone. Me
Speaker 4: Nina's coming out, but maybe nice eness should have stuck around, right.
Speaker 2: It's so hard to work out though, But you made
Speaker 2: a very good point, and that is that when you're
Speaker 2: in a situation that is unusual, being that you know
Speaker 2: this show is unusual, it's you know, a long time
Speaker 2: to be in there. You are hungry, you are tired,
Speaker 2: and you're not thinking straight. So you can't exactly expect
Speaker 2: because the audience are watching it, and the audience are
Speaker 2: watching it going oh, well, this is.
Speaker 3: What I do.
Speaker 2: But they're in the comfort of their home, and you
Speaker 2: know the pressure that you guys are on too. It
Speaker 2: means that your decision making ability must be compromised, considering.
Speaker 4: My mom did the show, and I've heard the backstories,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, oh my god, they never showed that.
Speaker 4: That is such an important aspect. I always remind myself
Speaker 4: anytime somebody has questions, I'm more than happy to answer
Speaker 4: to explain what I can. But I also remind myself
Speaker 4: they're not there. When I meet other survivors or people
Speaker 4: from any other show, I'm like, can you tell me?
Speaker 4: Was there more to that? And ninety nine point nine
Speaker 4: ninety nine or nine percent of the time, there is
Speaker 4: so love answering questions, love being open to discussions. But
Speaker 4: I also remind myself, you're on the couch. You're seeing
Speaker 4: what I never ever knew. I'm watching the show, seeing things,
Speaker 4: and it's been you know, a little bit of time.
Speaker 4: No one told me that I saw something Simon said,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, I'm coming to your home shortly. You
Speaker 4: didn't think you should tell me that you know what
Speaker 4: I'm saying. So there's a lot of things that I
Speaker 4: have no idea about, never had an idea about, that
Speaker 4: the fans are seeing for the first time and thinking,
Speaker 4: oh that you know, look at the conversation, right, I'm
Speaker 4: like I was nowhere near that conversation. Guys, don't forget it.
Speaker 4: I'm paranoid. I'm over here running around with so and
Speaker 4: so trying to make sure things are happening on this side.
Speaker 4: I don't have ten heads. I'm not able to duplicate myself,
Speaker 4: so it's a little bit frustrating. But most most people,
Speaker 4: once you tell them a little bit, they're like, oh
Speaker 4: my god, I totally did it. And that's what I
Speaker 4: really try to get people to understand, and it's very
Speaker 4: refreshing when they do.
Speaker 2: I have to ask you, you know, what was the
Speaker 2: most shocking thing watching it back as a TV show
Speaker 2: that you didn't say and that you didn't know.
Speaker 4: So just because it happened. We have so many episodes
Speaker 4: and I've been traveling, so just because it happened last night,
Speaker 4: genuinely did not think George was even considering doing anything
Speaker 4: with me. And then, oh my god, there was one
Speaker 4: that I was really shocked by. It had something to
Speaker 4: do with Simon and Haley had having a private chat
Speaker 4: that I had no clue about that was before the shango,
Speaker 4: and I'm sorry that I can't remember exactly what the
Speaker 4: words were, but I was like Oh my god, they
Speaker 4: were conspiring. I knew they were closed, but I didn't
Speaker 4: realize they were that close. So again, loved Haley really,
Speaker 4: really genuinely wanted to work with her. But I'm glad
Speaker 4: that I didn't make the decision I made because I
Speaker 4: didn't realize her and Simon were way closer than I
Speaker 4: ever thought.
Speaker 2: You know, they might be getting ahead of myself by
Speaker 2: asking this question, But has there been a lot of
Speaker 2: interest in you doing other versions from around the world, because, like,
Speaker 2: you was so great on this series and you have
Speaker 2: this background, you have this history, this family tie to
Speaker 2: this series. Has there been interest from other versions of
Speaker 2: Surviva for you to do them?
Speaker 4: No, not from them fans of course, which I'm loving.
Speaker 4: I'm like, yes, tell them, tell them to call me please.
Speaker 4: Don't watch the last night's episode, but tell them to
Speaker 4: call me please, Like I'm trying. I would love to
Speaker 4: because Australia Survior has done so much for me in
Speaker 4: filling this hole in my heart hearing you know what
Speaker 4: your parent has done their entire life and always wanting
Speaker 4: to have that experience. I now had that experience. I
Speaker 4: had it across the water with some amazing people. Everybody
Speaker 4: has accent. So I'm like, oh my god, I love
Speaker 4: this and they welcomed me with open arms. But at
Speaker 4: the same time, I'm an American and I haven't even
Speaker 4: done the American version. You know what I'm saying, like,
Speaker 4: I would love, love, love to do it, and by
Speaker 4: all means any other country, please, I'll be your first American.
Speaker 4: I'd love to do it.
Speaker 2: How did it come about for you? I mean, did
Speaker 2: they bring your mom last year to do last year's
Speaker 2: series and then they said to her, can you bring
Speaker 2: a family member? I mean, like, how did this show
Speaker 2: come about? Had your mom reached out to the Astralian
Speaker 2: version and put a hand up.
Speaker 4: My understanding is because I was at work. I remember this.
Speaker 4: She got a call from somebody saying, hey, somebody else
Speaker 4: is trying to reach you, but you know, she doesn't
Speaker 4: answer numbers that she doesn't know. Got the call, she
Speaker 4: was like, ooh, you guys are really physical, and as
Speaker 4: you know, my mom is not known for being very physical,
Speaker 4: and she was like, I don't know about that. And
Speaker 4: they're like, I mean you might be able to bring
Speaker 4: somebody with you. I don't know. You know, they can't
Speaker 4: confirm or deny anything, and her Survivor brain is like
Speaker 4: blood versus water or some kind of teen like they're
Speaker 4: doing something with partners. She called myself while I was
Speaker 4: at work and said answer the phone and hung up,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, I see Australian. I'm thinking to answer
Speaker 4: the phone for Australia. I had no idea to like, Hey,
Speaker 4: this is so and so from Survivor Australian. I'm like, hello,
Speaker 4: Like what are you talking about? So that was amazing.
Speaker 4: They loved me. She had my aunt as well talks
Speaker 4: in but they preferred me. Sorry Auntie, but yeah, that's
Speaker 4: how it came about. They just admired her, admired her legacy,
Speaker 4: wanted to bring her along, and she got to bring
Speaker 4: me along. And I'm so glad that she put me
Speaker 4: forward that I was her first option.
Speaker 3: I love it. I've always wanted to know that.
Speaker 2: So it's really exciting to be able to ask you
Speaker 2: specifically and get the real story. There has to have
Speaker 2: been a lot that we didn't say early in the show,
Speaker 2: because you know, the villains kept going to tribal council.
Speaker 2: You know, what is something that you felt like we
Speaker 2: missed from your story because a lot of the other
Speaker 2: people that have come on the podcast so far have
Speaker 2: actually mentioned you and said, you know, there are some
Speaker 2: relationships that Nana was able to form and storylines that
Speaker 2: happened for her that you know, we're never shown. You know,
Speaker 2: what is something that you feel like we really missed
Speaker 2: out on saying it would have.
Speaker 4: Been a lot to show. Don't get me wrong, but
Speaker 4: my way of building relationships and the ones that I've
Speaker 4: built and how they interconnected because I'm like, okay, day one,
Speaker 4: connect with Sean Haley Flick. We are attorneys, we're a minority.
Speaker 4: Try and chat to Sam. You know, see how that's going.
Speaker 4: And that was from the jump. Then I start connecting
Speaker 4: with some of the newbies. Here's Ben, Ben and Haley
Speaker 4: are okay. So there's two people right there. Here's Matt.
Speaker 4: Matt and I get along really well. We actually had
Speaker 4: a secret alliance that of course never gets shown. He's
Speaker 4: in with the Metre. That's amazing. So here's two avenues.
Speaker 4: Then I get with David completely and utterly my number one.
Speaker 4: He is the core, like one of the core. Meet Trey.
Speaker 4: So not only do I have him as my number one,
Speaker 4: I have Matt as a backup to tell me something
Speaker 4: if they choose to not tell me so I'm aware.
Speaker 4: Then I have Haley over here on the complete other
Speaker 4: side getting to know these people, and I'm trying to
Speaker 4: also get to know them a little bit. Then we
Speaker 4: have Flick. Flick is really close with Paige, and I
Speaker 4: never like created a really really close bond with her,
Speaker 4: but I have Flick to kind of bring us together.
Speaker 4: I had multiple conversations where you see page I actually
Speaker 4: get upset about the whole challenge thing. Flick brought us
Speaker 4: into that conversation. I'm so glad she did, because here's
Speaker 4: a vulnerable person, unfortunately, but vulnerability creates an opening. And
Speaker 4: then there was one other thing, Jarnie. We started connecting
Speaker 4: just a little bit because unfortunately, you had a cast
Speaker 4: member who a lot of people weren't getting along with,
Speaker 4: but she was, which was great. And because of that,
Speaker 4: I had a lot of open discussions with her, like, hey,
Speaker 4: maybe you should start thinking about how that relationship might
Speaker 4: hinder you or might benefit you. So yeah, I had
Speaker 4: a lot of relationships built where I would I would
Speaker 4: be able to double check a lot of stories.
Speaker 2: Is there a person that you feel that maybe you
Speaker 2: made an alliance with or maybe just a genuine friendship
Speaker 2: with that you know, you were disappointed to see was
Speaker 2: sent home too early, Like was this someone that you
Speaker 2: felt deserved more time on the show?
Speaker 4: David one thousand percent because he I hate that you
Speaker 4: didn't get to see a little bit more of him
Speaker 4: when I tell you he thought about things so clearly.
Speaker 4: And maybe I'm being a little bit like biased because
Speaker 4: he was very open with me, But I also value
Speaker 4: that I don't I don't want to say it like that.
Speaker 4: When I see some serious potential in someone, I'm like full,
Speaker 4: like I'm all in. I want to know what you're thinking,
Speaker 4: what you're talking about, and why. And he was actually
Speaker 4: very open about that, and so we were able to
Speaker 4: bond not only over the game but life and just
Speaker 4: get along and laugh and felt very nice to have
Speaker 4: somebody that I would consider a friend, you know, in
Speaker 4: the game like that and outside of the game. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I really really wish not only did you get to
Speaker 4: see a little bit more of his thought process, is
Speaker 4: because he's a part of the metri and that's all
Speaker 4: you get. He is so smart and a lot of
Speaker 4: people really did enjoy his presence, and I feel like
Speaker 4: he went home way too soon.
Speaker 2: Well, I was looking back at your gameplay and writting
Speaker 2: it all down and you know, creating my notes, and
Speaker 2: I really want to know, did you spend time rate
Speaker 2: thinking that message in a bottle from Higley to Sam?
Speaker 4: Yeah? I did. In our honesty, I believe her right,
Speaker 4: But I'm sitting there and I'm trying to be analytical.
Speaker 4: I can't soundboard off of Haley anymore. I need to
Speaker 4: do this myself. And the fact is she flipped. She
Speaker 4: didn't really talk to us. She based on previous conversations,
Speaker 4: was very adamant and animated about certain things. So when
Speaker 4: I'm sitting there next time she's like this, Yeah, you
Speaker 4: should do this, I'm like, that's weird, Like you're not actually,
Speaker 4: you know, like really coming out there like you normally do.
Speaker 4: Not only that she knows I was coming for her.
Speaker 4: So if she sees an opportunity to blindside me, and
Speaker 4: she's gonna take it, and what better way than to
Speaker 4: fool me. She didn't know I had the idol. And
Speaker 4: what's funny is it literally was like sitting right here,
Speaker 4: And that's why when I'm talking to her, I'm like
Speaker 4: this and I'm like, we're back, but I'm thinking to myself.
Speaker 4: I want to believe her, but my heart is believing her,
Speaker 4: my mind isn't. Then I go to the boys and
Speaker 4: I'm like, dude, I don't know. I feel like she's
Speaker 4: telling the truth. And they're adding on top of Nna,
Speaker 4: but don't forget this, this that we were coming after her.
Speaker 4: Why wouldn't she get rid of us? Why wouldn't she
Speaker 4: do this? She would be lying also, you know, of
Speaker 4: the three of us, Sam, like you would think she'd
Speaker 4: come after Sean, you know, like it was kind of
Speaker 4: one of those. And so my heart then just kind
Speaker 4: of sank and I was like, oh my god, I
Speaker 4: think she's trying to fool me. Last part of the
Speaker 4: thought process was me panicking at tribal like what do
Speaker 4: I actually do? And I got taken out by injury
Speaker 4: last time. I don't want to play an idol for
Speaker 4: somebody else and send myself home. I feel like that
Speaker 4: would almost be more devastating. So I said, you know
Speaker 4: what self preservation, Sam said, Nina, seriously, play it for yourself.
Speaker 4: Sean Saidnina, play it for yourself. We are okay with that,
Speaker 4: which is really important for my relationship with them. Sean
Speaker 4: will go last and he can make, you know, kind
Speaker 4: of the final call. But I get why he did
Speaker 4: it too. He has a family back home that he's
Speaker 4: fighting for, you know what I'm saying. So it was
Speaker 4: frustrating watching back, but hindsight is always twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: It's one of my moments of the series that really
Speaker 2: shocked me. I was like, why are they playing these idols?
Speaker 2: But as you said earlier, you know, we at home
Speaker 2: don't really know everything that's happened. We haven't seen every interaction,
Speaker 2: every you know, facial gesture that someone's given you to
Speaker 2: make you believe a certain thing. You know, there's so
Speaker 2: many things happening on the beach, which means that us
Speaker 2: as an audience, we can't completely understand the threat that
Speaker 2: you must have felt to play that idol. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, I was like, Nina, do not play
Speaker 2: the idol? Why are you doing this?
Speaker 4: As I was on the plane on the.
Speaker 3: Way here, like this, look you know it is it
Speaker 3: is what it is?
Speaker 6: You know?
Speaker 3: Interesting? I was reading on the fan forums last night.
Speaker 2: A lot of people are saying now that whilst George
Speaker 2: has been really celebrated through the game, it seems like
Speaker 2: people are getting a lot of George fatigue. Do you
Speaker 2: think that the show has had too much George storyline?
Speaker 4: I think that every story that has been told should
Speaker 4: have been told. I would not even for me, but
Speaker 4: for anyone. I would have loved a few more perspectives,
Speaker 4: just so you can kind of get the full picture
Speaker 4: of why certain things happen the way they happen. But
Speaker 4: based on the way the show is going, production made
Speaker 4: the right choice. They're doing what needs to be done
Speaker 4: for the show. He has a really good perspective, or
Speaker 4: really analytical one, a very strategic one. But yeah, I
Speaker 4: do kind of wish you got a few more people,
Speaker 4: just for the sake of every single person who was
Speaker 4: out there deserved to be out there, and I think
Speaker 4: their voices should have been heard just a little bit more.
Speaker 4: But when I mean even I'm watching George's confessionals and
Speaker 4: I'm like, holy crap, you know, like I'm entertained as well.
Speaker 4: But there's sometimes even me, I'm messaging people like why
Speaker 4: was that? Why did you say that? And I feel
Speaker 4: like there's just a few little gaps that could have
Speaker 4: been filled.
Speaker 2: Was there ever going to be a chance that you
Speaker 2: could have played at your case and won the game
Speaker 2: with your resume? How do you made it to the
Speaker 2: final three?
Speaker 4: I genuinely, even based on the chats that I've had,
Speaker 4: I know I would have gotten at least one vote.
Speaker 4: Depending on who I'm against, of course I would have
Speaker 4: at least gotten one too, maybe even three votes. And
Speaker 4: if you ever watched like my Jury Villa entrance, like
Speaker 4: you'll see they were like, Mina, we were rooting for you.
Speaker 4: And I think my pitch would have been those relationships.
Speaker 4: Because one thing that you don't see is every time
Speaker 4: I talk to someone and I told them like a
Speaker 4: full story, a truth, and I mean the truth. At
Speaker 4: the end of the chat, I would say, if you
Speaker 4: choose not to work with me, you made that decision,
Speaker 4: not me, and you can cross check everything I'm saying,
Speaker 4: so you know who's the liars and who's on your side.
Speaker 4: And like Flick made a very good point when I
Speaker 4: entered the jury village, she was like, girl, you told
Speaker 4: me everything. Like I appreciate that. You don't know how
Speaker 4: much that means to me. So I would have definitely
Speaker 4: played on that. Now hypothetically, say I'm next to George.
Speaker 4: He has these huge moves, he did all these things
Speaker 4: and he had really good relationships, but he still burned bridges.
Speaker 4: I can at least have the relationship story, the fighting
Speaker 4: from the bottom and never giving up, always making sure
Speaker 4: you guys were on my side, and letting you know
Speaker 4: I was on yours. So I would have definitely gone
Speaker 4: for more of the emotion and the fact of don't
Speaker 4: forget that I never pushed you to the side, even George,
Speaker 4: you know, like that would be my pitch. Whether it
Speaker 4: would work or not, I don't know, but I definitely
Speaker 4: think I would have at least gotten one vote, which
Speaker 4: would be nice.
Speaker 2: Then well, not what you know now, but you know
Speaker 2: what you knew what you thought coming out of the competition?
Speaker 3: Who did you think was going to win? With the
Speaker 3: fall that we've gone, Like.
Speaker 4: If they went to the final, the finale.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we walking out at this point of the competition,
Speaker 2: who are you thinking is going to win?
Speaker 4: Looking at it from a strategic standpoint, George, hands down.
Speaker 4: I mean there, no matter how you feel about him,
Speaker 4: you cannot just credit what he has done and continues
Speaker 4: to do. And then I look at Liz and I
Speaker 4: feel she's a very independent person who has her own thoughts,
Speaker 4: who is able to step from behind George, not as
Speaker 4: if she ever was. She was always next to him.
Speaker 4: But come from that and say this is what I
Speaker 4: want to do and we're going to do it. She
Speaker 4: was never, ever, ever scared for that. Matt and Jerry
Speaker 4: they're there for a reason. They're still playing the game
Speaker 4: and they're doing a good job. If they weren't, they would.
Speaker 1: Have been gone.
Speaker 4: But from what I saw, from what I felt, I
Speaker 4: don't feel like they have a story that they can
Speaker 4: tell that really pulls them out of George's shadow. But
Speaker 4: I'm also excited because I'm watching the show seeing things
Speaker 4: that I don't know. I want to hear. Whoever makes
Speaker 4: it their pitch, Matt and Jerry might have some really
Speaker 4: really good stories that I didn't even realize they had.
Speaker 2: Are they going to win everyone's I mean out of Liz,
Speaker 2: Matt and Jerry. If one of them takes George out
Speaker 2: and he doesn't make the final whoever takes George out
Speaker 2: surely is going to get the Jerry's vote, right.
Speaker 4: Not necessarily, I don't know how, So I think it's
Speaker 4: all about how they frame it. If you're like I
Speaker 4: had to wait to the last minute because of X
Speaker 4: y Z, then of course, Like me, I'm gonna be like, well,
Speaker 4: why do you wait so long? You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 4: you better answer properly.
Speaker 5: But I think everybody, as long as you own what
Speaker 5: you've done, explain it in some way, shape or form
Speaker 5: that we can understand. Because at this point in time,
Speaker 5: I think we're all returneys on the bench, right, So
Speaker 5: you're gonna have.
Speaker 4: To make sure Yeah, yeah, so you're gonna really especially
Speaker 4: if it's like the newbies, you're really gonna have to
Speaker 4: tell us from a strategic standpoint why you did what
Speaker 4: you did and then hopefully we'll understand.
Speaker 3: But if not, Sorry I got confused.
Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, so, yeah, the returneys are all
Speaker 2: in the jury, is what you're saying. Yeah, right, Because
Speaker 2: we have Liz, Jerry and Matt. Their all newbies, you know,
Speaker 2: and then you have George.
Speaker 6: So at this point in time, me entering into the
Speaker 6: jury the law, I'm like, oh, ever makes it to
Speaker 6: the end, they got to think about who they're pitching
Speaker 6: to because at this point all of us are returnees,
Speaker 6: Like you got to start thinking, even George himself, he
Speaker 6: knows how to pitch.
Speaker 4: Or you have to.
Speaker 3: Remember who you're talking to Nina.
Speaker 2: I am obsessed with you. I think you are so
Speaker 2: fantastic and even talking to you today, I love how
Speaker 2: well you can explain yourself. You are so well at
Speaker 2: being able to articulate yourself.
Speaker 3: You've been fantastic to.
Speaker 2: Watch on the show, and I really am rooting to
Speaker 2: watch you in another series.
Speaker 3: America. First, come on, thank you.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Thanks for the chats that, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no problem, Thank you for having me