Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last week.
Speaker 2: They might welcome back to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin
Speaker 2: Norris and on this podcast I go behind the scenes
Speaker 2: with the biggest players in television. Each episode you will
Speaker 2: get a front row seat with content makers like executive producers, writers,
Speaker 2: editors and casting agents, plus the talent that we see
Speaker 2: on our screens. TV Reload reloads the shows that you
Speaker 2: were currently watching and gives you a better insight at
Speaker 2: our television industry and streaming services today. On the podcast,
Speaker 2: I have the latest eliminated Big Brother OG and I
Speaker 2: have been simply dying to get him on the podcast
Speaker 2: ever since this latest series began. It is the one
Speaker 2: and only Farmer Dave. David Graham swore he would never
Speaker 2: re enter the Big Brother House, but as the show
Speaker 2: celebrates twenty one years on Australian screens here, he is
Speaker 2: back to play the mother of all reality shows in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. So why did David come back? Well,
Speaker 2: the mission was quite simple. He wanted to promote Rough Track,
Speaker 2: a program that David has been super passionate about and
Speaker 2: heavily involved with for a number of years. We will
Speaker 2: also talk LGBTI housemates, how different Big Brother is these days,
Speaker 2: why he nominated Trevor, and why he felt that it
Speaker 2: was time to go. However, let's get started with today's guest.
Speaker 2: I'd like to welcome farmer Dave to TV reload.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you need a break and why not do it
Speaker 1: in the Big Brother House this year? It's my twenty
Speaker 1: first birthday. My sexuality was not even a thing this
Speaker 1: time around, and I've invited housemates both new and legendary,
Speaker 1: because I really, really, really genuinely thought that he was
Speaker 1: safe as houses will experience be enough to take on
Speaker 1: the next generation of housemates. Wow, Dave, this is a
Speaker 1: cutthroat dog eat dog game and the new contenders out
Speaker 1: a Big Brother royalty. Whatever you say, be prepared to
Speaker 1: do it yourself and go one better and actually do it.
Speaker 1: This is Big Brother.
Speaker 2: Hey Dave, how are you?
Speaker 1: God? I Ben I feel like I feel like you know,
Speaker 1: when you get water in your ear and you get
Speaker 1: it out and you've got all that relief and you
Speaker 1: just feel so much better, like better than before you
Speaker 1: had the water in there. That's how I feel like.
Speaker 1: I feel a lot of relief and I feel reliefedel like,
Speaker 1: I've just got out of North Korea.
Speaker 2: Kids, Great, we're already there. Okay, great. I have to say,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm shocked to my very foundation. Not to
Speaker 2: quote Kylie Minogue, but then you're out of the house.
Speaker 2: How did you feel walking out of the Big Brother
Speaker 2: House this time around compared to last time?
Speaker 1: Last time around, the reality of it hit me, like
Speaker 1: thousands and thousands of people screaming my name, and the
Speaker 1: going down that game plank with people just going ballistic,
Speaker 1: and the amount of support, and it was just you
Speaker 1: were a rock star. And then it never really let
Speaker 1: up for years and years and years. But this time around,
Speaker 1: it was just, oh, thank god, I thank god. It's
Speaker 1: like I kind of constantly likened this game to playing rugby,
Speaker 1: and at forty two years of age, you know, you
Speaker 1: just get off the field and you're like, oh, thank god,
Speaker 1: that's over. Like I need to get to the change
Speaker 1: rooms and wash this shit off me, the mud of
Speaker 1: the blood, the sweat, the tears, because it was grueling.
Speaker 1: It was absolutely grueling.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it would be really impossible for me
Speaker 2: to not to start with this quote from three years
Speaker 2: back on your social media you said I'd rather swallow
Speaker 2: glass than go back into the Big brother House. And
Speaker 2: I have to ask you, do you remember writing that
Speaker 2: on social media?
Speaker 1: Well? Absolutely, because that's what I felt for fifteen years,
Speaker 1: was there was just no way. You know, I did
Speaker 1: a lot of TV work, and you know, I started
Speaker 1: in the you know, in the game of being in
Speaker 1: the spotlight very young. You know, I was modeling around
Speaker 1: the world when I was I was twenty, so you know,
Speaker 1: I ticked all of those those boxes, and I just
Speaker 1: thought I could never do that because you just can't
Speaker 1: be yourself out in public again, and it's really hard
Speaker 1: on your friends, you know what it's like. And I thought,
Speaker 1: I just, you know, I finally got my life back
Speaker 1: the last few years and doing doing a job that
Speaker 1: is just so real and so raw and so valuable
Speaker 1: that like, why why would I put myself in those circumstances.
Speaker 1: But then as the universe does, it all opened up
Speaker 1: and everything just seemed to point in this one direction,
Speaker 1: so that when I spoke to the EP, it just
Speaker 1: all said yes. And I spoke to my team at
Speaker 1: rough Track and They're all like, yeah, yeah, absolutely, you know,
Speaker 1: this is all in place, this is all in place,
Speaker 1: and you know, you've worked solid without many days off
Speaker 1: for two years through COVID keeping all the kids alive,
Speaker 1: So yeah, you need a break, and why not do
Speaker 1: it in the Big Brother house? So yeah, never say
Speaker 1: never been is really what I'm.
Speaker 2: Doing, because I'll have written it down and I'll bring
Speaker 2: it up and I'll make you rue the day, Especially
Speaker 2: when it has to do with each brother. I'm always
Speaker 2: reminding you of things that you've completely forgotten. You know,
Speaker 2: are there former are many former housemates out there that
Speaker 2: you think would say no? I mean I heard that
Speaker 2: there was a couple of people, you know, very high
Speaker 2: profile people that may have turned it down, but I
Speaker 2: heard there was an enormous amount of people that were
Speaker 2: sad not to do it. Do you think that there
Speaker 2: are any former housemates out there that would turn this
Speaker 2: show down? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think I think Chrissy and I think See, they've
Speaker 1: got their own lives, a very busy lives, very successful lives,
Speaker 1: and they're in the public eye, so they don't need
Speaker 1: they don't need that kick that you get from it.
Speaker 1: You know, as you know, I've done Big Brother for
Speaker 1: very different reasons to the normal validation and need to
Speaker 1: be seen stuff. But I think I think those guys,
Speaker 1: they're fairly sordid, but they would make for a great comeback.
Speaker 2: Chris, this one's looking great at the moment. I reckon
Speaker 2: she could do some of those challenges, you know, I
Speaker 2: think she could nail.
Speaker 1: She totally do those. She is such a rock star.
Speaker 1: I love her. I just love her as a person.
Speaker 1: And funny enough, I was just watching I think it
Speaker 1: was early this morning or late last night, a video when,
Speaker 1: of course, you know, the guys in the camera run
Speaker 1: during her season were talking about her in a really
Speaker 1: inappropriate way, and I just remember how she stood up
Speaker 1: to that and was like, no, this is this is
Speaker 1: not okay, And so I don't think she'd want to
Speaker 1: get put back in that situation where you are judged
Speaker 1: so much, and even by people in the camera runs.
Speaker 1: I think that was pretty intense, but it really went
Speaker 1: to the heart of who she is as a person,
Speaker 1: which is very strong.
Speaker 2: And funnily enough, she's actually thinner now than those fat
Speaker 2: camera mens. So how the world can change, my friend? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know rough track was the reason that you said yes,
Speaker 2: can you just tell me about how this organization came about?
Speaker 2: How did you get involved? I need to know more
Speaker 2: about rough Track. I think a lot of people want
Speaker 2: to know more about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So we work with kids twenty age of twelve
Speaker 1: and eighteen. Essentially, we've got three jobs. One is to
Speaker 1: keep them alive, two is to keep them out of prison,
Speaker 1: and three is to give them skills for a secure
Speaker 1: future and break those cycles that have put them in
Speaker 1: the situation that found themselves in, which is making a
Speaker 1: lot of poor choices. And unfortunately, in the incarceration mad
Speaker 1: Australia that we've had for two hundred and fifty years,
Speaker 1: the sad fact is that ninety seven percent of kids
Speaker 1: that are put in lock up will end up as
Speaker 1: adults in prison and that is horrendous statistic. So it's
Speaker 1: the old adage of all these kids falling into the
Speaker 1: river and drowning. Let's stop trying to save them from
Speaker 1: the floods, go upstream and find out why they're falling
Speaker 1: in the first place. And that's what rough track does.
Speaker 1: It's a flexible safety net to bounce kids that have
Speaker 1: fallen through the cracks back up. It's about addressing the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, we've got kids in their teenage
Speaker 1: years that cannot read and write because they've just been
Speaker 1: put at the back of the class, or they're being
Speaker 1: told to go to the head master's office every single
Speaker 1: day and they've just missed the ability to do maths
Speaker 1: and basic English. They can't read a menu at McDonald's,
Speaker 1: they look at the pictures. You know, it's extraordinary that
Speaker 1: we can allow these kids fall through the cracks so
Speaker 1: so far. And one thing that we know is that
Speaker 1: hurt people hurt people, and so working with kids that
Speaker 1: may go on to commit horrendous crimes and have hundreds
Speaker 1: and hundreds of victims themselves, we can heal them and
Speaker 1: give them skills to hear themselves, empower themselves and not
Speaker 1: just not create victims, but not be a victim of
Speaker 1: their own circumstance themselves. So it's everything that you could
Speaker 1: possibly imagine that is required to get a young person
Speaker 1: that doesn't have that safety net that the average highly
Speaker 1: privileged and wealthy Australian has. It's to give them that
Speaker 1: so that they have got the strength and resilience they
Speaker 1: need to be able to exist in the modern world.
Speaker 2: You know what's interesting about you And I'm not sure
Speaker 2: if it's I mean, it has come across I think
Speaker 2: both times on Big Brother, but maybe if people don't know,
Speaker 2: maybe as well as Idea or some of your closer friends,
Speaker 2: you are an EmPATH. Like the way in which you
Speaker 2: connect to people is your currency. And you're emotional, you
Speaker 2: are fragile, you know, you're all of these amazing things
Speaker 2: that makes up an EmPATH. I mean, it's sort of
Speaker 2: how you power yourself and as your friend, I sometimes
Speaker 2: worry about where you find the energy for something that
Speaker 2: would be so so increasingly and incredibly all consuming. And
Speaker 2: some days when I hear what you're doing, I want
Speaker 2: to scoop you up and you know, look after you.
Speaker 2: But then I remember how strong you are. But I
Speaker 2: guess the question in that is where do you find
Speaker 2: this ongoing energy to be able to put into these
Speaker 2: kids who absolutely need you every single moment of the day.
Speaker 1: I look at them, that's it. I look at them
Speaker 1: and I see the gold. You know, when when we're
Speaker 1: mining gold, there was so much rubble, there was so
Speaker 1: much rubble. There's so much fool's gold, and there's just
Speaker 1: tiny specks of gold, and when you're panning for it
Speaker 1: or digging for it, it's about focusing on the goals,
Speaker 1: focusing on the gold, and when you see it, sing, squeal,
Speaker 1: cry eureka, and build it bigger and create a wedge
Speaker 1: and get rid of the bad behaviors and create good
Speaker 1: behaviors because because good habits are just as to break
Speaker 1: as bad ones. And that's what I'm doing every single
Speaker 1: day is my gold, looking for the gold and singing
Speaker 1: about it, and empowering the young person to mind their
Speaker 1: own gold and to find within themselves a reason to
Speaker 1: make a better choice and to be better than they
Speaker 1: wear yesterday, and to focus on the idea of having
Speaker 1: a future in setting goals themselves and empowering themselves so
Speaker 1: that they don't need me anymore. Like every kid that
Speaker 1: comes through rough Track, my job is to do myself
Speaker 1: out of their lives, to give them every skill that
Speaker 1: I possibly can so that they don't need me. And
Speaker 1: I'm not a crutch, I'm a flexible safety in it.
Speaker 1: I'm a trampoline. I'm about bouncing them up to where
Speaker 1: they want to go.
Speaker 2: Is there a bit of a coincidence that you kind
Speaker 2: of look like a god in your presence, Like you're
Speaker 2: a bit zeus, like you're a bit thor. Like people
Speaker 2: make those reference points and you know, there's a lot
Speaker 2: of people out there that say that they'll do something.
Speaker 2: You know, there's a lot of people out there that
Speaker 2: want to kick a tire. But you know you're actually
Speaker 2: doing that. And I mock you for your looks, as
Speaker 2: in you looking like God, but you are very impressive
Speaker 2: in the work that you do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's about acknowledging the amazing words of Teddy Roosevelt,
Speaker 1: the man in the arena, And you've gotta always remember.
Speaker 1: And this is what I teach the kids every day.
Speaker 1: Get sweat, get blood, get hurt, but do like do
Speaker 1: something because anyone who's sitting in the stands, you're lapping them.
Speaker 1: No matter if you are going so slow that you
Speaker 1: can just get one foot in front of the other,
Speaker 1: you're already beating all the people that are sitting in
Speaker 1: the arena that are still asleep with their dreams. You're
Speaker 1: chasing your dreams and you're lapping them just by putting
Speaker 1: one step in front of the other, and by having
Speaker 1: sweat on your brow, by having blood on you, by
Speaker 1: having tears in your eyes. It means that you're doing something.
Speaker 1: And if it's a failure, well then it gives you
Speaker 1: an opportunity to bounce up and to get up and
Speaker 1: to step up and to have another go. And that's
Speaker 1: failure for me is the great driver. You know, a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, I lost one of our kids
Speaker 1: and it was it was so hard, and you know,
Speaker 1: I leant on you a lot because you've been through
Speaker 1: this and you know what it's like to lose a
Speaker 1: human through their own hand. And you know, I got
Speaker 1: to thank you for that, Ben, like you did, you know,
Speaker 1: through me through all of COVID, when you know I
Speaker 1: had twenty kids relying on me every single day for
Speaker 1: the entire COVID period. You know, You've been an amazing mate.
Speaker 1: And and that's what we've got to be is we've
Speaker 1: got to be there, and when there is a failure,
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity to be able to do it again.
Speaker 1: And that's that's what excites me. You know, probably my
Speaker 1: biggest fear is the idea of winning, because then it's like,
Speaker 1: oh shit, then I've won. Now I don't get to
Speaker 1: do it again. I don't get to you know, I
Speaker 1: don't get to have a goal because I've reached that goal.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe that's my own personal proble, which is
Speaker 1: why I'm so good at my Bob, because failure is
Speaker 1: my driver, it's my fuel, it's my right. We can
Speaker 1: do this again. Come on, we've got this well.
Speaker 2: I just like the fact that you know stone is
Speaker 2: unturned with you, like I love the way that you
Speaker 2: get your hands dirty, and I think it's just impressive.
Speaker 2: And I guess that's the fiber of our friendship, is
Speaker 2: just being able to have you in my life for
Speaker 2: that as well. It's very strange, you know that we
Speaker 2: get to talk like this because in real life, you know,
Speaker 2: with your friends, your friends do things and you don't
Speaker 2: get to sit down and have a moment where you
Speaker 2: can say thanks for this. But this is really quite
Speaker 2: quite something, you know. In something you said before, it
Speaker 2: made me think about how going back to Big Brother
Speaker 2: is also a part of your DNA, Like it's in
Speaker 2: you challenging yourself with something that is I mean, you're
Speaker 2: not that vain. I know this sounds really crazy. You're
Speaker 2: a beautiful man, but you're not the sort of person
Speaker 2: who probably goes into a show like Big Brother for
Speaker 2: the vanity of it, you know. And the reason did
Speaker 2: you see me, Ben?
Speaker 1: Did you see what I wore in Sta? Did you
Speaker 1: see that I yeah, I don't look, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying.
Speaker 2: The vanity of it, though, there's people that go on
Speaker 2: reality shows as a bit of a look at me.
Speaker 2: Where for you, I felt like you did it because yeah,
Speaker 2: you're challenging yourself and the boys could go, oh, look
Speaker 2: this is what he's doing himself, like he's putting himself
Speaker 2: out there. Are the boys that's the best question to ask.
Speaker 2: Are they watching the show and what do they think
Speaker 2: about you being.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, look some of the kids are not watching,
Speaker 1: but they know what's going on. But look, we do
Speaker 1: talk about it each day in circle work where we
Speaker 1: have a check in in the morning and the afternoon
Speaker 1: or you know, it's a good conversational for me to
Speaker 1: bridge with the kids. And yeah, we can talk about
Speaker 1: relationships because there's so many relationships that I have in
Speaker 1: the house, good ones, poor ones, difficult ones, amazing ones,
Speaker 1: and they're conversational starters. And that's all we need, really
Speaker 1: is to be able to start a conversation with a
Speaker 1: young person and to hear them. But yeah, my journey
Speaker 1: on there has been great conversational stats. But it also
Speaker 1: it's me walking the talk like I talk it every
Speaker 1: single day. With them, but I'm actually showing them. Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm jumping out into the arena kids, Like here's the
Speaker 1: fish bowl and I'm in it, and you know, it
Speaker 1: really crosses that bridge whereby I'm not just this you know,
Speaker 1: big man on the farm with all the knowledge and
Speaker 1: everything like that, Like I'm the small fish that's jumped
Speaker 1: into the North Korea of Big Brother House and put
Speaker 1: myself up for all the judgment, but all the challenges
Speaker 1: and the nakedness that is being in that house.
Speaker 2: Well we've seen some nakedness as well, which you know
Speaker 2: has excited the Big Brother fandom. But I want to
Speaker 2: know what did the producers say to you to pitch
Speaker 2: for you to come back to the show. Did they
Speaker 2: need to pitch or was it as simple as can
Speaker 2: you do it? And it's a yes. I feel like
Speaker 2: it's a pitch for you.
Speaker 1: Look, it was a while back, and I was listening
Speaker 1: because I had I had two eyes on the kids
Speaker 1: because you know, I was managing kids. I think it
Speaker 1: was during during lunch break, and that's when I've got
Speaker 1: to watch the kids the most, because you know, they're
Speaker 1: all together, they're around sharp objects and hot things and
Speaker 1: things that can explode. So I was in and out
Speaker 1: of the conversation listening and yeah, just looking around at
Speaker 1: the young people. It was very much so way. I've
Speaker 1: got to walk the walk. I've got to I've got
Speaker 1: to show them that I can step in the arena too,
Speaker 1: that it's it's I've got to be vulnerable as well.
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the great powers that we
Speaker 1: as as elders, for our young people to accept us
Speaker 1: as guides and to trust us and and to allow
Speaker 1: us to be responsible for them at their most vulnerable.
Speaker 1: We've also got to show that you can do that.
Speaker 1: And and it's it's really important. I think that you,
Speaker 1: whatever you say someone else should do, be prepared to
Speaker 1: do it yourself and go one better and actually do it,
Speaker 1: do it yourself, and so that you gained that respect
Speaker 1: through action.
Speaker 2: You had one of the most important moments in Australian
Speaker 2: television history, you know, when you came out in two
Speaker 2: thousand and six on the series How did that come about?
Speaker 2: Can we go behind the scenes of that moment, because
Speaker 2: did the producers pitch that concept to you? Did they
Speaker 2: ask you to pretend to be straight? Did you suggest
Speaker 2: to do that?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely, Australia was a different country back then. Ben,
Speaker 1: You remember, you know, in our lifetimes, I mean you
Speaker 1: would be putting jail for being gay. I'm a Queenslandic,
Speaker 1: you know you could easily be sacked for being gay.
Speaker 1: Legally we were, you know, there's hundreds of laws that
Speaker 1: kept us as second class citizens. And you know I
Speaker 1: experienced the extreme abuse as being a you know, non acknowledged,
Speaker 1: didn't realize it myself, gay person, going through or boys
Speaker 1: boarding school and of course working on stations, the constant abuse.
Speaker 1: You know, that is the extreme homo fabia of the
Speaker 1: bush of the old Australia. And it was an Australia
Speaker 1: that I wanted to change, and it was an Australia
Speaker 1: that I felt needed to change. And the only way
Speaker 1: to do it was to have an honest conversation. And
Speaker 1: the best way to have a conversation with the Australian
Speaker 1: people is in their laund rooms when they themselves are
Speaker 1: vulnerable and open to something and big Brother, you know,
Speaker 1: millions of people would tune in and would watch with
Speaker 1: their families and it would be water cooler, it would
Speaker 1: be a conversation point. They could digest it in a
Speaker 1: way that made sense that you didn't have the ego
Speaker 1: in the bravado of community expectations. It was in their home,
Speaker 1: and I mean back then, it was live on their phones,
Speaker 1: it was live on the computer screens. You could have
Speaker 1: a conversation one on one with every individual that turned
Speaker 1: in and tuned in. And that's what I wanted. That's
Speaker 1: I wanted. I wanted to have a conversation because maybe
Speaker 1: I hadn't had those conversations with the people in my life.
Speaker 1: I didn't have it with you know, my ten siblings,
Speaker 1: my dad, my neighbors, my mates, and maybe I just
Speaker 1: had all this conversation that was pent up inside me
Speaker 1: that needed needed to be heard back then. And so
Speaker 1: it wasn't the producers at all. It was definitely me.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, through the process most of it,
Speaker 1: they didn't know I was gay until I got gay bashed, actually,
Speaker 1: and my eyes were all completely manged up. And I
Speaker 1: went in to one of the auditions right through the process,
Speaker 1: and everyone thought that I was like some hardcore meat head.
Speaker 1: And then I kissed a guy in one of the processes,
Speaker 1: because you know, they're like, oh, you have to kiss someone,
Speaker 1: and I just grabbed the guy next to me and
Speaker 1: gave him a massive pash who ended up of course
Speaker 1: Ben from Brisbane.
Speaker 2: But I heard this, sorry, Ben's a bell as in
Speaker 2: Bed from Brisbane. You pashed. Now you breathe the life
Speaker 2: of big Brother in twim and it never left.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, so they just thought that I was just
Speaker 1: really comfort when my skin I suppose. But then yeah,
Speaker 1: right at the end of the process, I said, hey,
Speaker 1: this is what I want to do. And you know,
Speaker 1: I had the assumption that I would last, you know,
Speaker 1: a few weeks on the show, and then I'd get
Speaker 1: back to my life and you know, hopefully i'd have
Speaker 1: the conversation with Australia and change a few perceptions and prejudices.
Speaker 1: Little that I know it would be such a national
Speaker 1: shift in consciousness and create such mega change as did
Speaker 1: you know your part in that whole shipping away at
Speaker 1: the homophobia, fear and hatred towards gay people that we
Speaker 1: all experienced as young people. But of course now we're
Speaker 1: in the country that has very little of that.
Speaker 2: You know, what's really funny, as well as the honesty
Speaker 2: of just being yourself and the fragility of doing that
Speaker 2: on television, also becomes like this superpower, that you have
Speaker 2: an unintentional superpower because you're unaware of how broad a
Speaker 2: stroke it is. But I can think about exactly what
Speaker 2: I was eating, where I was sitting in my laund
Speaker 2: room as you came out in front of your parents
Speaker 2: and your siblings and the nation, and I just think
Speaker 2: that made me feel confident in some ways. I think
Speaker 2: it was that moment that made me think, I really
Speaker 2: got to do this show. You know, I want to
Speaker 2: go on, you know, I'd love to be able to
Speaker 2: do something like this, you know.
Speaker 1: So that's so that's so cool to hear that, you know,
Speaker 1: and I'm so fortunate to hear it so often and
Speaker 1: daily that and that's that makes you get up each day, Right,
Speaker 1: That's what makes me get up each day in my job.
Speaker 1: Is if you can inspire change and action in at
Speaker 1: least one person, then you've succeeded. Like you've won for
Speaker 1: the day. So thanks, thanks for that, bending thanks for
Speaker 1: giving me that. Well.
Speaker 2: Big Brother has had a really empowering history of former
Speaker 2: LGB to my housemates. You know, I honestly feel like
Speaker 2: that this program was the only space of a time
Speaker 2: where stories about queer people was being told, you know,
Speaker 2: if you think back to two thousand and one, people
Speaker 2: were at work saying, there's a gay man in the house.
Speaker 2: You know's a gay man on national television, on primetime TV,
Speaker 2: and people are having to talk about it. I mean,
Speaker 2: isn't it funny that in twenty twenty two that novelty
Speaker 2: of just that there's a gay man inside Big Brother
Speaker 2: has diluted a little bit.
Speaker 1: And think we're not thank for show? Yeah, well, look,
Speaker 1: I mean I think we owe a lot to Ian Roberts.
Speaker 1: You know, first class footy player, rugby league player ninety
Speaker 1: ninety five came out. He opened up a new door
Speaker 1: into who he could be as a country, and I
Speaker 1: don't think people really fill the void. And that's why,
Speaker 1: you know, it was so important for me, you know,
Speaker 1: waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting until two thousand
Speaker 1: and six to go, Hey, you know, we've got to
Speaker 1: keep this conversation going. You know, we're okay with left
Speaker 1: handed people now. In my parents generation, we certainly weren't.
Speaker 1: And you know, I want I want my kids to
Speaker 1: live in a world where people are okay with gay people,
Speaker 1: just like they are with left handed people. I want
Speaker 1: to there to be no difference, and look, Ben, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the world is totally different. You know, my
Speaker 1: sexuality was not even a this time around, except when
Speaker 1: some of the young people were talking to me about
Speaker 1: my kids and my wife and I'm like, oh, no,
Speaker 1: I don't have a wife. And they're like, oh, you
Speaker 1: don't have wife, okay your ex wife. And I'm like, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: I've never been married. I'm gay. Oh really, oh okay, cool.
Speaker 1: And it was just a non event, you know, to
Speaker 1: these housemates that I still had to come out to.
Speaker 1: And that's when you know that you're winning as a
Speaker 1: citizen of a great country when it's a non event
Speaker 1: and people just move on.
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty two, is there's still a way in
Speaker 2: which this show is pushing boundaries? I mean, is there
Speaker 2: a way of adding to the conversation still now that
Speaker 2: we've moved away from the Oh god, there's gay people,
Speaker 2: there's queer people in this show. You know, is there
Speaker 2: a way that this show is still affecting the culture
Speaker 2: of Australia.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think it was just gay people. I
Speaker 1: think I think you know, we pushed the Big Brother
Speaker 1: through its twenty one years, has pushed the barrow on women.
Speaker 1: It's pushed the barrow on hilarious women and bodily functions
Speaker 1: of women, you know, like that's the mirror that is
Speaker 1: Big Brother is. You know, We're able to see each
Speaker 1: other in the raw living and so fantastic for New
Speaker 1: Australians to see how we are in our natural habitat.
Speaker 1: So it's just been wonderful for diversity across across the plane,
Speaker 1: because to get on Big Brother, you just have to
Speaker 1: audition or just go on. Really, you don't have to
Speaker 1: go through the long drawn out process of being the
Speaker 1: best of a bunch, best of a bunch, best of
Speaker 1: a bunch, and we know often what that looked like
Speaker 1: through our history. So it gave an opportunity for anyone
Speaker 1: who wanted to put themselves out there, to be put
Speaker 1: out there and be seen and be heard, and to
Speaker 1: reflect back on the audience of Australia that this is
Speaker 1: who we are and that's okay right.
Speaker 2: Well, I was moving into the space of I rang you,
Speaker 2: and we talked about this the other day. You know,
Speaker 2: I've rewatched the Exit Kiss with Tim Dahmer and I
Speaker 2: just want to say to everyone listen that I'm not
Speaker 2: a sick. Oh. And you know, although Big Brother obviously
Speaker 2: still has that voyeuristic element to it, but because I
Speaker 2: found that moment really quite groundbreaking, because here we are,
Speaker 2: two decades later, reinventing the way in which an audience
Speaker 2: sees two gay men on television. And I really loved
Speaker 2: watching you and Tim and the evolution of your friendship.
Speaker 2: I mean, I know both of you personally to some extent,
Speaker 2: and you're both very different gay men, and to see
Speaker 2: that relationship evolve that way, and then to see you
Speaker 2: kiss as friends, I think that was really important for
Speaker 2: people to see, you know what I mean, like this
Speaker 2: community and the way in which we connect and look
Speaker 2: after each other. I thought that was just so amazed.
Speaker 2: Are you amazed that we're watching two men that have
Speaker 2: a blatonic relationship kiss on television? You know?
Speaker 1: I suppose, Yeah, it's amazing. I was in it and
Speaker 1: I was being it, and yeah, I suppose when you
Speaker 1: put it like that, Ben, it is cool. It is amazing,
Speaker 1: and it's a non event. And that's the best part
Speaker 1: about it, an absolute non event. And for you and
Speaker 1: me when we talk about it, it's like, oh, holy shit,
Speaker 1: Yeah that is that is big. But you know, I've
Speaker 1: done how many dozen interviews and no one's brought it up.
Speaker 1: And that's what's so damn cool about it. To men
Speaker 1: kissing as friends not an issue anymore.
Speaker 2: But I think that shows who I am, you know,
Speaker 2: it shows my age, It shows my evolution of being
Speaker 2: forty two and still seeing that on television because it
Speaker 2: means something to me, you know. Yeah, and I'm still
Speaker 2: in it, you know. But I think for those young
Speaker 2: people that are watching it and the fact that they
Speaker 2: just go, you know, they don't even flinch. It's the
Speaker 2: fight though, you know, like that moment where you said
Speaker 2: this earlier. I mean, you were beaten up for being
Speaker 2: a gay man in the mid two thousands, and yet
Speaker 2: we've come so far, you know. Anyway, the moment wasn't
Speaker 2: lost to me for that very reason.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and now I'm leader and the guide of kids,
Speaker 1: and probably the type of kids that twenty years ago
Speaker 1: would have done all the bashing and the beating. And
Speaker 1: isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing cool we are as
Speaker 1: a country and how far, how far we've come. But
Speaker 1: you're right, like those of us that have been through it,
Speaker 1: it's still a thing. It's still a thing, but what
Speaker 1: a great thing.
Speaker 2: Do you have any relationships with, say, Zach, Johnny, Nathan
Speaker 2: or Ben Zabel, all of these amazing, incredible trailblazers that
Speaker 2: have been on this show. I mean, have you got
Speaker 2: a friendship with all of those people? Did they call
Speaker 2: you and say good luck or anything?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Well, obviously, you know, for those that don't know,
Speaker 1: Ben and I great friends, but like got to be
Speaker 1: coming on nearly like sixteen seventeen years. Yeah, and Zach, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been great mates with Zach. And look, Annie Garth
Speaker 1: reached out, We've chatted on the socials and yeah, definitely
Speaker 1: definitely other other gay house mates because I suppose, you know,
Speaker 1: we're more people Climberson have been in the Big Brother
Speaker 1: House and those of us that a gay, I suppose,
Speaker 1: you know, to put ourselves out there, knowing our histories
Speaker 1: and knowing what we've all been through. We're an even smaller,
Speaker 1: even smaller group, but we've all been I think, dedicated
Speaker 1: to chipping away at the idea that there's something to
Speaker 1: be afraid of, that there is nothing beer with having
Speaker 1: a gay guy cut your hair or give you a
Speaker 1: speeding fine, or grow you breed or your cattle or
Speaker 1: you know, there's just nothing to be afraid of. And
Speaker 1: I think every single housemate has done their part in that.
Speaker 2: Well, I just want to say how proud of you
Speaker 2: I am. And you know, in some ways it really
Speaker 2: helped me through my own silliness of jealousy about not
Speaker 2: going back myself was that I felt as though you
Speaker 2: were the correct person out of that LGB tie very
Speaker 2: small pool of people that have done the show to
Speaker 2: go back and to represent all of us. And I
Speaker 2: loved it because if anyone could do it, I was
Speaker 2: glad it was you. But I also felt like the
Speaker 2: vanity was taken out of it, and that your choice
Speaker 2: to do it because of rough track and all of
Speaker 2: that made it really powerful. And so when.
Speaker 1: I was I wasn't advocating or doing this on behalf
Speaker 1: of the gay community.
Speaker 2: We shouldn't go down that path either, shouldn't. Ye.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a lot of abuse from from gay
Speaker 1: people last Timmeer, and now you speak for me. I'm
Speaker 1: like I was speaking of you. I just didn't want
Speaker 1: a kid to go through what I went through. I
Speaker 1: wanted it to end. But yeah, yeah, I think look
Speaker 1: a lot of gay people even this day, especially in
Speaker 1: the religious parts of Western Sydney, whatever those religions are,
Speaker 1: that they're still going through a lot. And we've got
Speaker 1: to remember that not everyone gets to live in the beautiful,
Speaker 1: free and open modern world that we've created. That there
Speaker 1: are still people going through their own pain and their
Speaker 1: own hurt. And yeah, it's it's good to be able
Speaker 1: to at least remind them that you can live your
Speaker 1: life and you can do it however you want, and
Speaker 1: you're the author of your own destiny.
Speaker 2: Did you worry if it was Farmer Dave yourself going
Speaker 2: to be Big Brother appropriate in twenty twenty two, Well you.
Speaker 1: Have the added benefit of knowing how inappropriate I can be. Yeah, So,
Speaker 1: as much as I'm like this very much so all
Speaker 1: about empowerment and building resilience in young people and making
Speaker 1: better choices. I'm a loose unit. You know, I'm still
Speaker 1: a boy from the bush and I can be a
Speaker 1: total loose unit. And because sometimes you've got to just
Speaker 1: blow off steam and enjoy yourself and live in the moment.
Speaker 1: So I know where you're coming from, Ben, And also
Speaker 1: you know, I have a bit of a potty mouse.
Speaker 1: And I remember with Big Brother he was saying to
Speaker 1: me like, David, you know, we can't use much footage
Speaker 1: of you because you're constantly swearing and you're really loud,
Speaker 1: and you've got to tone it down. And you know,
Speaker 1: he stopped me from having coffee and all sorts of
Speaker 1: punishments on me and take you away of privileges, and
Speaker 1: he said, you know why you do this, and I said, oh,
Speaker 1: it's because I work with these vulnerable and violent teenagers
Speaker 1: and they just swear all the time, and you know
Speaker 1: when you're around that in the workplace. And then he's like, David, David,
Speaker 1: we've got footage from you from two thousand and six,
Speaker 1: this is before you started working with these kids, and
Speaker 1: we've got footage of you coming out of the house
Speaker 1: for two minutes swearing like I don't know how many,
Speaker 1: like every three seconds there was a swear, whether they
Speaker 1: had to be about So, yeah, I'm an inappropriate person.
Speaker 1: But how good is it that I've learned through Big
Speaker 1: Brother this time around by taking coffee away from me
Speaker 1: to really manage my language, Because I don't think I've
Speaker 1: worned all this entire chat, not.
Speaker 2: Once my friend, not even once.
Speaker 1: With me of my bad language.
Speaker 2: I'm very proud of you because you know, I'm not
Speaker 2: a big swear on myself. But I also love you
Speaker 2: for your uniqueness. I mean, I know you to be
Speaker 2: very opinionated. I mean, you're not too concerned about Cancel culture.
Speaker 2: You never have been. You know, did you worry that
Speaker 2: you could make a wrong move this time around in
Speaker 2: some way? You know, did you think maybe being on
Speaker 2: the show could change the course of your relationship with
Speaker 2: audiences because they may see you to be a little outspoken.
Speaker 1: I took my mask off sixteen years ago, and I
Speaker 1: am never going to put that shit back on. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm my real self. I'm a raw self, and I
Speaker 1: don't have an opinion on Your opinion of me is
Speaker 1: kind of how I see it. And so if you
Speaker 1: don't like me, that's okay. If you don't like my behaviors,
Speaker 1: that's okay. If I'm not hurting anyone or not giving
Speaker 1: pain to someone else, well then what you know, what's
Speaker 1: the problem. And that's kind of how I went going
Speaker 1: in there. But there was definitely no modification of who
Speaker 1: I am as a person, which I think was pretty
Speaker 1: clear to see on the screen.
Speaker 2: Well that's what they were going to get, you know,
Speaker 2: when they're signing you up. That's what they're going to get.
Speaker 2: I guess you know. When I heard you were going
Speaker 2: into the show and I heard you were who was
Speaker 2: going to be in there with you? I was just
Speaker 2: expecting you to be really close with Drew and Layla.
Speaker 2: What was the reason why you didn't bond so much
Speaker 2: with those two?
Speaker 1: So Drew, I did, Drew, I absolutely did. You know,
Speaker 1: like talk about guys kissing, we used to kiss every
Speaker 1: day on the lips and it was great. He's so
Speaker 1: beautiful because, like many people watching, when Tully came in
Speaker 1: and kissed him all those years ago, I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I want to do that one day.
Speaker 1: And that's why you've got to have gold kids, and
Speaker 1: you got to have dreams and you've got to get
Speaker 1: out of bed aperientson because I got to kiss Drew
Speaker 1: every single day in the house without fail, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it was I had a great relationship with him. I
Speaker 1: love him as a person. Top Lope, Layla. I don't
Speaker 1: think found her feet and found her comfort levels. And
Speaker 1: I don't think that me as a person was able
Speaker 1: to help her get comfortable, know what I mean? Like,
Speaker 1: I don't know what I don't know what it was
Speaker 1: that I couldn't I couldn't help her get comfortable in
Speaker 1: the house. But I just felt like, you know when
Speaker 1: a dog does, you know, the circles and scratching, and
Speaker 1: he's trying to get comfortable, and it's like, dog, you're
Speaker 1: sitting on your bed, Why are you scratching? Why are
Speaker 1: you circling? Like, just lay down, You're going to lay
Speaker 1: down anyway. I felt like she was like that, she
Speaker 1: just was not able just to lay down and just
Speaker 1: be comfortable and just enjoy the experience. I felt that
Speaker 1: she was constantly still in the awkward phases of walking
Speaker 1: into a room. Yeah, and well.
Speaker 2: I think in some ways the reason why I say
Speaker 2: this is because you two actually have some very key values.
Speaker 2: But that doesn't always necessarily make the best friendships though,
Speaker 2: do you know what I mean? Like, I think you
Speaker 2: and her both very similar people and your yeah, your
Speaker 2: value system.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we're both spiritual workers. Yeah, and like
Speaker 1: or social worker. It was crazy the amount of social
Speaker 1: workers that were in Big Brother House.
Speaker 2: I just want to flash back to the thing before
Speaker 2: un quote Erica Jane from the Real Housewives of Beverly
Speaker 2: Hills and say, you and Drew making up is up
Speaker 2: there with some of my favorite pawn So.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. It was pretty funny. It was like, well,
Speaker 1: what did the housemates say? It was Costco Costco, Johnny
Speaker 1: care meets eld Hemsworth.
Speaker 2: Oh look, I think you guys down playing yourselves just
Speaker 2: a little bit. You know. Do you think that the
Speaker 2: way that you came in at the start with Reggie,
Speaker 2: Tim and Estelle set up how that dynamic would ultimately unfold.
Speaker 2: I mean there was a stronger bond with the original
Speaker 2: four who were in the main frame.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, the four of us were very close where
Speaker 1: where you know, me and Regg were mum and dad,
Speaker 1: and Selle and Tim were the twins in the back
Speaker 1: seat shoving each other and whacking each other and going
Speaker 1: mom tantrims and all that sort of stuff at each other.
Speaker 1: It may still be going on.
Speaker 2: No comments, no saying a thing. Step away, do.
Speaker 1: Not open the back window. We're going to pull over kids,
Speaker 1: We're going to get out, We're going to have a circle,
Speaker 1: We're going to talk this out.
Speaker 2: You've got to love them, That's the thing is I
Speaker 2: think with you know why I was naughty as a
Speaker 2: kid and my mum let me be naughty in a way.
Speaker 2: I mean, she did still try and parent me, but
Speaker 2: she did leave me to be my wrong I guess,
Speaker 2: you know, and outspoken and make mistakes, you know, And
Speaker 2: she wasn't there to tell me no every single time.
Speaker 2: She allowed me to learn it. And I think that,
Speaker 2: you know, that's obviously something that you've learned over time
Speaker 2: working with children. And I'm now feeling bad about referring
Speaker 2: to Tim and Estella's children in this analogy, but I
Speaker 2: think that's a good thing in a friendship as well,
Speaker 2: to not tell people what not to do and to
Speaker 2: let them be themselves. And I think, oh, work it
Speaker 2: up and that's it.
Speaker 1: Like so many people have said to me, you know,
Speaker 1: why don't you pull up this person? Why don't you
Speaker 1: pull up that person? And it's like, is that my role? Like,
Speaker 1: I mean, there are certain points where you want the
Speaker 1: person to reflect and you know, you own the stuff
Speaker 1: that you need to own. Maybe you can own a
Speaker 1: little bit more, but sometimes it's it's you don't have
Speaker 1: to feed into the negative. And sometimes sometimes you can
Speaker 1: just remind yourself reward behavior you like, ignore behavior you don't,
Speaker 1: and look for the gold. And if there's no goal
Speaker 1: to be mined, then maybe maybe stop mining and you know,
Speaker 1: allow it to peter itself out. And you know, with
Speaker 1: with Tim and Estelle, I'm not going to pick aside.
Speaker 1: Neither of them want me to pick aside, never did
Speaker 1: want me to pick aside. I had both their backs.
Speaker 1: I still have both their backs. I love them intensely,
Speaker 1: as I'm sure you do. And that's the cool thing
Speaker 1: about us. For the main frame for the og, for
Speaker 1: the founding for was that we really respect each other,
Speaker 1: like really respect each other. And I've still got rich
Speaker 1: wo we can mum and dad joke about everything.
Speaker 2: You really played your game your own way and you
Speaker 2: didn't really stick to anyone else's plan and that upset
Speaker 2: people at certain times. Was that important for you? Was
Speaker 2: that something that you thought you were going to do
Speaker 2: going in or was that just how it sort of
Speaker 2: rolled itself out to be your own person? Oh?
Speaker 1: Look, Ben, I didn't have a strategy so to speak.
Speaker 1: It was just be myself, be raw. You know, you
Speaker 1: know how it is, it's big brother's game. You're in
Speaker 1: North Korea, like don't even try and you know author
Speaker 1: this one, like you've just you've got one person you
Speaker 1: need to worry about and that's that's you. But look
Speaker 1: I made these amazing connections and also, you know, for me,
Speaker 1: big brother, last time around was such an incredible life
Speaker 1: changing experience that I wanted those people that needed more
Speaker 1: time in the house. That is this incredible therapy session,
Speaker 1: this self reflection session, this check in, this, you know,
Speaker 1: all of this stuff that is life changing. You know,
Speaker 1: I was voting to keep people in the house that
Speaker 1: needed more of that, and people that had what they needed,
Speaker 1: I was voting for them to leave. You know. That's
Speaker 1: kind of how I was voting all the way through
Speaker 1: until Mama Jugs Reggie was like, Dave, I'm putting on
Speaker 1: my wife hat and you're doing what I say, and
Speaker 1: then so I did so just sort of.
Speaker 2: Pull you into line. We have to talk about the
Speaker 2: Trevor incident, because what was your rationale for your and
Speaker 2: your choice to put him up for nomination when you did.
Speaker 2: It was kind of the moment that everyone has discussed
Speaker 2: the most online and for people that know you as well,
Speaker 2: it seemed a little out of the cannon for you
Speaker 2: to put someone like Trevor up, who I know had
Speaker 2: been so important to you in your game. What is
Speaker 2: the Nationale.
Speaker 1: That's a friend, well just as a mate. Oh look,
Speaker 1: you know I didn't realize I was going to win
Speaker 1: one of the challenges. You know, I've really broken you know,
Speaker 1: as you know, my body has been destroyed. I've broken
Speaker 1: my hips, broken my legs, my arms, you know, you
Speaker 1: name it. I've broken, really torturing my body from a
Speaker 1: very very young age. So I never thought that I
Speaker 1: could possibly win a challenge. You know, I'm middle aged.
Speaker 1: You know, the very fit young people in there from
Speaker 1: their thirties and twenties. I didn't think that I could
Speaker 1: have won. And then you know that challenge that I won,
Speaker 1: I just found it so easy. I could have I
Speaker 1: could have hung on there for hours and hours more.
Speaker 1: I felt electric and it was it was euphooric. So
Speaker 1: I you know that one I just had to win.
Speaker 1: And on reflection, yeah, I probably should have put up Brenton.
Speaker 1: But you know, talking to my OG mates, it was
Speaker 1: like a you know, we need to make it very
Speaker 1: clear to them, as you know, I've been playing my
Speaker 1: own game, you know, make it very clear to them
Speaker 1: that we're not targeting them. And you know I got
Speaker 1: told don't put Brenchon up because of poor bloke. He's
Speaker 1: only just arrived in the house, you know, wouldn't that
Speaker 1: be mean? And I'm like, yeah, but you know whatever,
Speaker 1: he's an intruder. But anyway, I got convinced to choose
Speaker 1: Trevor because I really, really, really genuinely thought that he
Speaker 1: was safe as houses And then it dawned on me
Speaker 1: that he wasn't safe and my own housemates that respected
Speaker 1: him so much and loved him so much, we're actually
Speaker 1: going to vote him out. And it just blew my
Speaker 1: head off. And that's I suppose the first time that
Speaker 1: I'd actually checked myself and gone, wow, Dave, this is
Speaker 1: a cutthroat dog eat dog game, and you are well
Speaker 1: and truly involved in it, and you're playing it whether
Speaker 1: you like it or not.
Speaker 2: Well, to win Big Brother in twenty twenty two, you
Speaker 2: kind of have to be a certain person. Did you
Speaker 2: get to the point where you thought, I'm going to
Speaker 2: need to do I'm going to need to go against
Speaker 2: my morals and lie and cheat and steal if I
Speaker 2: want to stay in this game? And can Dave do
Speaker 2: those things just for a Big Brother title? And I
Speaker 2: don't think that that is you not to say? I also,
Speaker 2: just before I jump away from that. You can still
Speaker 2: be on Big Brother and win without lying and cheating
Speaker 2: and stealing. That's not what I'm saying. Yeah, it does
Speaker 2: pressure you as the taste of the show and the
Speaker 2: desire to stay there and the need and the wand
Speaker 2: does push you to the lie, cheating and stealing. Do
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? Like it does. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: sort of pushing manipulation. So is that a very real
Speaker 2: conversation you had inside your head? And I'm going to
Speaker 2: have to start lying and cheating and stealing to stay
Speaker 2: here and that's not okay by me.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It had gotten to the point I think, you know,
Speaker 1: it was the point when Trevor left and so many
Speaker 1: people went back on their words that I was like, Wow,
Speaker 1: this is intense, and then continue to get you know,
Speaker 1: through Hack a week and then Cam Temptation week. The
Speaker 1: wind had gone out of my sales and I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is not a game that I feel comfortable playing anymore.
Speaker 1: I have a really important job. I need to go
Speaker 1: and do that. Joba. I think what I needed to
Speaker 1: do here is done, you know, promoting rough Track to
Speaker 1: the general public, pushing myself to my limits, winning two challenges,
Speaker 1: and then protecting Reggie and ensuring that you know, Reggie
Speaker 1: was to go as far as I could help her
Speaker 1: go were my ambitions, and I'd achieved all of that.
Speaker 1: And again I was voting for people to stay in
Speaker 1: the house if they needed more to gain from the house.
Speaker 1: There was nothing more that I could gain from being
Speaker 1: in there. So it was my time to go, and
Speaker 1: I couldn't have stayed a day longer. I got everything
Speaker 1: I wanted out of it. I loved the experience, and
Speaker 1: I'm appreciative for going when I went and not having
Speaker 1: to walk out, because they would have been, you know,
Speaker 1: not cool.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you didn't walk out. I'm glad you stuck
Speaker 2: it through, Glad you played it the way that you did.
Speaker 2: And yeah, it was really it was great television as well,
Speaker 2: you know, and I think that's something that you do
Speaker 2: very well.
Speaker 1: Great television.
Speaker 2: Great, isn't it great TV?
Speaker 1: But I think whole show, like, the producers have done
Speaker 1: a great job of putting the housemates in there, and
Speaker 1: the housemates have done an amazing job of creating really engaging, incredible, authentic,
Speaker 1: wonderful TV. And that's just that's just, you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: the luck of the draw but isn't it fantastic TV.
Speaker 1: I went to the I went to the footy and
Speaker 1: everyone's watching it, whether it's watching it through Facebook, through
Speaker 1: Insta or through the seven app or directly on TV,
Speaker 1: but it's it's everywhere and people were really engaged.
Speaker 2: I'm just really glad we can now talk about it
Speaker 2: because when you came out of the house you had
Speaker 2: to say to me, Ben, I can't say anything to you,
Speaker 2: and the only thing you told me was it's really
Speaker 2: fun and there's a lot that goes on, and you said,
Speaker 2: if they play in half the stuff, if they really
Speaker 2: quarter of it really hard.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So then and we're talkers as well, so we had
Speaker 2: to do our very best sitting on our hands, and
Speaker 2: I'm waiting for Reggie, you know, so I can then
Speaker 2: start talking to Reggie because she's the same with me.
Speaker 2: And I hate having conversations with the two of you
Speaker 2: where I'm not allowed to ask the stupid Ben Norris
Speaker 2: questions because you both meet me with you know, I
Speaker 2: can't talk about it, you know, And I'm like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: but it will get to that point. Is there anyone
Speaker 2: from your two thousand and six series that you felt
Speaker 2: deserved to come back because everyone's talked about it. You know,
Speaker 2: there was Tim Drew Tully from thirteen, and there was
Speaker 2: Leila and Estelle from twelve, and you ended up being
Speaker 2: the representative of your whole series. Did you feel like
Speaker 2: there was say one or two people that deserve to
Speaker 2: be there? Oh?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Anna, like hello game on Models. I think her
Speaker 1: time in the house was really cut short. I think
Speaker 1: she had so much more to bring, and where she's
Speaker 1: at now in life is phenomenal. Like A she's stunning
Speaker 1: fifteen out of five and she's just a really cool person.
Speaker 1: So I think definitely definitely her from my series. I
Speaker 1: suppose Crystal as well. I mean she's gone full circle
Speaker 1: as a person and created her own story and it's
Speaker 1: very different to who she used to be, So she'd
Speaker 1: make really interesting TV two. Yeah, the two girls, Crystal
Speaker 1: and A for sure.
Speaker 2: Or to celebrate twenty one years of Big Brother, I've
Speaker 2: been asking everyone Gretel Colleen's questions that she would ask
Speaker 2: you as you left the show. You've been asked this question,
Speaker 2: the ten question, my friend. But I get to ask
Speaker 2: them to you again.
Speaker 1: Oh how cool? Alright, I let's do this.
Speaker 2: What did you miss the most while you're inside the
Speaker 2: Big Brother House.
Speaker 1: A look, it's two things, the rough track farm, the
Speaker 1: kids and the dogs and the animals and freedom. Like
Speaker 1: to not have freedom is really really hard. And yeah,
Speaker 1: my farm and freedom, that's what I was missing.
Speaker 2: Who was your favorite person inside the Big Brother twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two house?
Speaker 1: Reggie, Reggie, Reggie.
Speaker 2: Who was your least favorite person inside the Big Brother House?
Speaker 1: Oh cracky, I'm We're gonna have to say Brenton because
Speaker 1: he he put me and Reggie in a scale up
Speaker 1: for a vich geez bruh.
Speaker 2: Although how funny was it when he was cleaning up
Speaker 2: that backyard in his speedos? That was hilarious And what
Speaker 2: you said was.
Speaker 1: Ye oops.
Speaker 2: Who was the funniest person in the house?
Speaker 1: Trevor Trevor And look, Trevor. Trevor was just great. He
Speaker 1: just knew when someone needed a laugh, needed a pepper. God,
Speaker 1: he's got me some doozies across in my hair. And
Speaker 1: Big Brother would be in on half of his jolly pranks.
Speaker 1: He would get me multiple times per day. But also Tim,
Speaker 1: like Tim is just hilarious, just a naturally funny bugger.
Speaker 2: He's so smart so he can lean into his intelligence
Speaker 2: with his humor, and that is a dangerous mix. My friend,
Speaker 2: who was the laziest person in the house, Oh.
Speaker 1: My god, that was the tie between Gabby and Alisha.
Speaker 1: Little ferals, little sweet girls, absolute lazy, leave their crap everywhere.
Speaker 1: Like you know, I'm a youth worker, right that's used
Speaker 1: to picking up after kids. But I didn't expect it
Speaker 1: from two white, privileged girls.
Speaker 2: Isn't it funny that every single person eliminated who's been
Speaker 2: asked Gretel's questions have all said that those girls have tied.
Speaker 2: I wonder whether or not they're listening to at this
Speaker 2: point and of like looking around their learning something. Pick
Speaker 2: up after yourself kids. What was your greatest regret?
Speaker 1: My greatest regret was saying that I would never do
Speaker 1: it again, because going back on was absolutely brilliant, a
Speaker 1: wonderful choice. It pushed me to my limits, and I
Speaker 1: have no regrets of doing it again. My only regret
Speaker 1: was for so long saying I'd never do it.
Speaker 2: Who will be out next? Not what you know now,
Speaker 2: because obviously you might know more. But who did you
Speaker 2: think would be the person to walk out after you?
Speaker 1: Oh? The person I thought after me would? I was
Speaker 1: expecting after me was probably going to be Drue or Look,
Speaker 1: I think I think it. Look the girls are trying
Speaker 1: to create a female alliance, but I just don't know
Speaker 1: how that's going to go because Rage is not into
Speaker 1: that sort of stuff and she used the Queen Bee,
Speaker 1: So I don't think they have the natural leader that
Speaker 1: they need in Rege. So I'm thinking it'll probably be
Speaker 1: maybe even Jewels. Yeah, I think it's Jewels because the
Speaker 1: OG side is losing losing power and I think she'd
Speaker 1: be one that they could pluck off off. And yeah,
Speaker 1: because they're not I don't think they're going to fire
Speaker 1: against any of the Big house mates.
Speaker 2: Well, the big question is the last question, and who's
Speaker 2: going to win this thing? Who's going to take out
Speaker 2: Big Brother twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: I want Reggie to win beyond anything, But I really
Speaker 1: respect Johnson's game. But I love Reggie and Reggie. Reggie
Speaker 1: really deserves to win. But but yeah, Johnson's Johnson's a
Speaker 1: cool dude. He's a really really good guy with a
Speaker 1: great set of morals. And like you, you know, when
Speaker 1: you got to go on Big Brother, you know you
Speaker 1: were you're a Big Brother mega fan and you got
Speaker 1: to go on, and I was so happy for you
Speaker 1: when you went on and Johnson and I just love
Speaker 1: it when people get to live their dreams and I
Speaker 1: back them. But Reggie, you know, was always her dream
Speaker 1: to get straight back into that house. So I want
Speaker 1: Reggie to win, but I'd be just as happy if
Speaker 1: Johnson goes all the way as well. On the Newby side,
Speaker 1: there you go plays my best both sides, one from each.
Speaker 2: It's so you, it's so you, you know, but it's
Speaker 2: also great for you to be able to acknowledge both
Speaker 2: sides as well, of the Ogs and the newbies. That's
Speaker 2: the way we refer to them for Reverend for the
Speaker 2: rest of our lives. But yeah, I think it's a
Speaker 2: good way to acknowledge both sides of that. Everyone who
Speaker 2: joins the podcast gets asked this question, and that is,
Speaker 2: what is something from behind the scenes that we did
Speaker 2: not see that we will not see, something of a
Speaker 2: behind the scenes secret from your time going back on
Speaker 2: Big Brother? Was there something of a secret or a
Speaker 2: moment or something that would surprise fans to know had
Speaker 2: happened which hasn't been shown so many because.
Speaker 1: It wasn't wall to wall Big Brother and being able
Speaker 1: to watch on your phone so much. But I suppose
Speaker 1: something that was just bizarre was I. I used to
Speaker 1: go without eating for a long time because there just
Speaker 1: wasn't enough food, and so I just eat And I
Speaker 1: remember coming across some carrots in the backfridge in the laundry,
Speaker 1: and I was just I remember waking up in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night going, oh my god, those carrots,
Speaker 1: and I haven't eaten for days. So I just went
Speaker 1: in a months from a carrot. And then big brother
Speaker 1: set me this challenge. I think the next night of
Speaker 1: the night after that, I had to eat like two
Speaker 1: kilos of carrots without being busted. So I was eating
Speaker 1: all this. Can you imagine two kilos of carrot without
Speaker 1: being busted? But of course everyone heard me, and everyone's like,
Speaker 1: what is going on? And the deal was that I
Speaker 1: could win back coffee because of all my swearing, he
Speaker 1: took the coffee off me. I could win back coffee
Speaker 1: if I succeeded in this carrot. But I couldn't get busted.
Speaker 1: It was just so weird. And went off for ages
Speaker 1: that dates fucking eating all these bloody carrots all night.
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't like everyone when they would they would
Speaker 1: start to the conversation. I know what they're talking about,
Speaker 1: Like I'm like no, no, sprots down about this and
Speaker 1: I won't get my coffee back.
Speaker 2: Well, the next time you stay at my house, I'm
Speaker 2: just going to make sure that I stuck up on
Speaker 2: some carrots just to bring back some memories.
Speaker 1: I can't eat a carrotter this day, Like, I literally
Speaker 1: cannot eat a carrotter this day.
Speaker 2: My dog, my dog Oscar, knows that you're here because
Speaker 2: he's like trying to get up here to say hello
Speaker 2: to you. I think he was terrified of you last time,
Speaker 2: but I think he was terrified of all of us. Dave,
Speaker 2: can I just say it was so amazing to be
Speaker 2: able to have this chat. Just this has been very
Speaker 2: relaxed chat of TV reload. I'm in Warburton, You've got
Speaker 2: no clothes on, my dog is here. But thank you
Speaker 2: for coming back to Big Brother, and thank you for
Speaker 2: doing such a good job with it, and good luck
Speaker 2: with Rough Track. I think now a wider audience is
Speaker 2: in your audience to watch what you're doing with it.
Speaker 1: Thanks to and you can find out more go to
Speaker 1: Roughtact dot com or follow us on the socials and Ben.
Speaker 1: Let's hope they do another Big Brother back to the
Speaker 1: Future and you get to be on the next time,
Speaker 1: because the whole time that I was in there, I
Speaker 1: was expecting you to come in. I kept going into
Speaker 1: Big Brother going I love that.
Speaker 2: Astelle and Tim put On, I don't remember who it was,
Speaker 2: one of them said the Big Brother actually had to
Speaker 2: announce that Ben Norris is coming nowhere near this house
Speaker 2: and to stop talking about it. And I think with Sonya,
Speaker 2: who said to me, was like, then they talked about
Speaker 2: you the whole way through the show and there was
Speaker 2: so much drama. Imagine if they'd put you in there.
Speaker 2: And she was like, maybe too much drama, so maybe
Speaker 2: it was a good thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well you've been part of it all the way.
Speaker 2: So yeah, thank you for the chat today, Thank you
Speaker 2: for all your time. It's been amazing.
Speaker 1: Thanks mate,