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Speaker 1: Episode two, The Undoing of a Pop Star. The hunt

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Speaker 1: for Australia's answer to the Spice Girls was over. Sophie Monk,

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Speaker 1: Katie Underwood, Belinda Chapel, Sally Polaronus and Shantell Barry had

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Speaker 1: beaten out thousands to secure their place in the girl group.

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Speaker 2: Five different girls, five different backgrounds, but they all have

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Speaker 2: one thing in common. They've been selected to be pop star.

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Speaker 1: Life as they knew it was about to change, with

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Speaker 1: the girls moving into a new house and embarking on

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Speaker 1: a grueling fitness regime. Within weeks, a scandal was brewing

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Speaker 1: so big it threatened to destroy the group from within.

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Speaker 2: The girls are happy, Tommy's happy, Michael's happy, everybody is happy.

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Speaker 3: All right.

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Speaker 1: We are journalists Kay Amy and Sophie Torbat and this

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Speaker 1: is our new series Unspoken, where we bring you the

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Speaker 1: unspoken stories behind the biggest pop culture headlines.

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Speaker 4: To up the nineties and early naughties.

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Speaker 1: In last week's show, we took a look back at

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Speaker 1: the audition process and how girls around the country lined

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Speaker 1: up for hours for their chance at stardom.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: Funnily enough, the call out came in New Idea magazine

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Speaker 1: with the publication printing the entry form. Now, the reason

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Speaker 1: I bring this up again is because this is a

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Speaker 1: pivotal point in Bardo's story and something we will visit

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Speaker 1: in more detail in today's episode. Now, as we explored

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Speaker 1: last week, the judges whittled it down to ten finalists,

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Speaker 1: but before announcing the final five, the finalists were handed

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Speaker 1: a contract stipulating that band members would not make a cent.

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Speaker 4: In three years.

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Speaker 1: Shockingly, it also stated that band members weight and appearance

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Speaker 1: could not change in any significant way, or they could

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Speaker 1: terminate their contracts in a final blow. The contract outline

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Speaker 1: that the women would receive just thirty five dollars a

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Speaker 1: day to live off in the form of a per dim. Now,

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Speaker 1: you may be wondering, how do you live off thirty

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Speaker 1: five dollars a day? How does it even cover your

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Speaker 1: food or rent? Well, in what I would assume was

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Speaker 1: play for Ultimate Control, the TV execs decided they wanted

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Speaker 1: the girls to live together, so they covered their living

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Speaker 1: costs and also paid for their food.

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Speaker 4: So the thirty five.

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Speaker 1: Dollars assume was just paying for anything else that they wanted. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: pretty much. It was sort of pocket money for the girls.

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Speaker 1: Now that the band had been selected, it was time

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Speaker 1: for all of the five girls to move in together

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Speaker 1: and if we cast our minds back, this was the

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Speaker 1: first reality show of its time in Australia. It aired

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Speaker 1: a year before Big Brother, so we'd never seen the

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Speaker 1: behind the scenes drama of a group of people really

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Speaker 1: living together before, and.

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Speaker 4: The girls didn't know what to expect either. I feel

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Speaker 4: like it would be pretty.

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Speaker 1: Confronting having this crew of men following you around filming

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Speaker 1: everything you're doing and not knowing how it's going.

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Speaker 4: To cut together and be aired on TV, especially when

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Speaker 4: a lot of.

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Speaker 1: The girls in the band were moving from inter state.

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Speaker 1: Sophie Monk, for example, was only nineteen years old. She

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Speaker 1: was living at home with her parents at the time,

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Speaker 1: so you can imagine how difficult it would have been

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Speaker 1: for them. And it's so weird now watching it back

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Speaker 1: because when the girls moved into their house, it was

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Speaker 1: in stan More in Sydney's Inner West, and the camera

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Speaker 1: crews showed the whole outside of the home when the

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Speaker 1: girls were moving in. They didn't try in any way

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Speaker 1: to conceal the identity of the house. These days, you

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Speaker 1: could never do that. You would just have people rocking

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Speaker 1: up at the house. Well, it did come back to

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Speaker 1: bite them in the ass because they didn't last very

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Speaker 1: long in the house because paparazzi worked out where they

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Speaker 1: lived and were surrounding the girl, so they ended up

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Speaker 1: having to move into a penthouse with extra security. Well

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Speaker 1: back to the original stan Moore Terrace house. The first

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Speaker 1: major drama for the girls moving in was working out

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Speaker 1: who was going to share a room with who. So

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Speaker 1: there were three bedrooms, so one girl could get her

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Speaker 1: own room while the four others would have to share

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Speaker 1: with someone. So in this episode you can already tell

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Speaker 1: things off with Chantelle because she straightway wants to have

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Speaker 1: the single room. They ended up trying to be fair

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Speaker 1: and picking it out of a hat, and Sophie Monk

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Speaker 1: was actually the one who won out the single room. However,

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Speaker 1: she nicely gave it to Chantelle because she could tell

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Speaker 1: that she really wanted it. I don't think you'd want

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Speaker 1: that single room though, especially in that group dynamic. You

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Speaker 1: know that you're being bitched about if you get that room. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Chantal seemed to have a really bad attitude. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if it's just the way that they portrayed her

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Speaker 1: on the show, but when she got her own bedroom.

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Speaker 4: She complained about everything.

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Speaker 1: She said she didn't know how to put her own

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Speaker 1: bedspread on, and she complained that there were no drawers

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Speaker 1: in there. And you can sort of see the other

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Speaker 1: girls rolling their eyes. Yeah, Belinda seemed particularly shocked, and

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Speaker 1: in her book she spoke about how she thought it

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Speaker 1: was so bizarre that Chantale had openly begged for this

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Speaker 1: single room. So Belinda ended up sharing with Sally and

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Speaker 1: Sophie and Katie shared the other room. This was such

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Speaker 1: a blast in the past because they showed the girls

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Speaker 1: unpacking their luggage and Sophie Monk pulls out her own

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Speaker 1: blue landline phone along with this mini TV.

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Speaker 4: It was so late nineties. Despite Sophie and.

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Speaker 1: Belinda not sharing a room, they had an instant connection

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Speaker 1: and friendship. And this was despite the age gap. So

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Speaker 1: Sophie was nineteen and Belinda was twenty four, so there

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Speaker 1: was a little bit of a big sister little sister

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Speaker 1: dynamic between the two. Yeah, and they see to be

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Speaker 1: the jokers in the group. And a lot of the

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Speaker 1: time they had their handheld cameras which they were given

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Speaker 1: by the TV execs, and they would film a lot

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Speaker 1: of skits in their spare time. One thing I noticed

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Speaker 1: throughout this show is just how flirty the manager Michael

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Speaker 1: is with the girls. I mean, on the first night,

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Speaker 1: he comes over and he cooks the girl's a barbecue,

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Speaker 1: and then we see him rock up to the house

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Speaker 1: on Sophie's twentieth birthday and he brings her a cake

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Speaker 1: with sparklers in it. And what was kind of weird

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Speaker 1: was Sophie answered the door in a towel and he's

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Speaker 1: like telling her to put her clothes back on, but

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Speaker 1: there's this weird flirty banter going on.

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Speaker 4: Well, that's a thing.

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Speaker 1: He was pretty much the same age as the girls,

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Speaker 1: and it's clear that Grant Thomas was really the one

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Speaker 1: behind the scenes calling all of the shots, so he

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Speaker 1: probably built up a good friendship with them and a

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Speaker 1: bit of banter. He was probably happy to put his

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Speaker 1: hand up and be like, oh, I'll go over to

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Speaker 1: the house and cook a barbecue now. The next big

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Speaker 1: thing the girls had to get used to in their

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Speaker 1: pop star lifestyle was the workout regime, which was ruthless.

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Speaker 1: So the morning after they moved into their new place,

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Speaker 1: the girls had to go to the gym and were

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Speaker 1: greeted by the their own personal trainer who took them

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Speaker 1: through weight combinations and cardio exercises. Let's go to a

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Speaker 1: clip of the girls in the gym.

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Speaker 2: Fifteen hour days will become the exhausted.

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Speaker 3: It's not all.

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Speaker 1: Arabic sans classes, which I'm sure you guys are already

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Speaker 1: well covered.

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Speaker 2: It is essential that they become and remain exceptionally fit

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Speaker 2: from now on. The girl's days will start in the

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Speaker 2: gym and finish in the recording studio.

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Speaker 1: Throughout the show, it's a continual thing where we see

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Speaker 1: the girls absolutely flogging themselves in the gym. And in

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Speaker 1: Belinda's new book, The Girl and the Band, she said

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Speaker 1: at the time she remembers looking at the girl's reflection

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Speaker 1: in the mirror and there stood five really healthy young women,

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Speaker 1: and she just thought it was so odd because they

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Speaker 1: already had very enviable figures, and they were basically being

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Speaker 1: berated on the show and told that they weren't good

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Speaker 1: enough and they needed to do more to stay in shape.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of messed up because you think how many

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Speaker 1: young girls were watching this show and one of the

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Speaker 1: first things they see the women do is go to

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Speaker 1: the gym, and they're already being told oh, your bodies

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Speaker 1: aren't good enough. This is what you've got to look

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Speaker 1: like if you want to be famous. As we touched

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Speaker 1: on last week, the judges would often use the contestant's

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Speaker 1: inability to dance as a reason to not put them through,

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Speaker 1: and they used that as an excuse if someone didn't

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Speaker 1: fit the physical mold of what they expected. And this

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Speaker 1: became even more clear when we saw how much these

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Speaker 1: girls were being worked and the absolute focus on their

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Speaker 1: fa seke Well. The sad thing is that Belinda Chappele

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Speaker 1: came out in her book recently and said she did

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Speaker 1: suffer from an eating disorder while she was in Bardo,

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Speaker 1: and she had been a little bit body conscious before

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Speaker 1: getting into the band, but it really stepped up a

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Speaker 1: notch with this focus on exercise. Now, when the girls

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Speaker 1: weren't in the gym, they were in the recording studio

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Speaker 1: putting down the tracks for their first debut album, and

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Speaker 1: we finally got to hear their single for the first time,

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Speaker 1: Let's have a listen, you.

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Speaker 5: Better step better, run away, you.

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Speaker 2: Better listen what I have a number of producers from

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Speaker 2: Australia and overseas will be in the studio with the

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Speaker 2: girls for close to six months, recording at least thirteen

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Speaker 2: songs to be featured on the girl's first album.

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Speaker 5: Your Desperation makes You Feel It, Doggy treat Me, Bents.

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Speaker 6: You don't You, Magna Soile, just remember Raga Rember.

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Speaker 4: I cannot get this song out of my head.

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Speaker 1: I've been listening back to their album and there are

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Speaker 1: so many strong songs on there that really take me

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Speaker 1: back to that time. It was so clever of them

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Speaker 1: to drop the song so early into the series as well,

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Speaker 1: because this song was on repeat throughout the whole series

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Speaker 1: of Pop Stars, and also just taking you behind the scenes,

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Speaker 1: so you feel a part of the whole process.

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Speaker 4: Of course you're going to go and buy the scene.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, despite having a boyfriend at the time, Belinda

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Speaker 1: said she had an instant connection to music producer Michael Samaski. Now.

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Speaker 1: He previously performed in In Decent Obsession, and she said

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Speaker 1: that she felt as though she'd known him in a

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Speaker 1: past life, and when she was recording, she felt fixated

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Speaker 1: on him like she was in a trance, and she

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Speaker 1: said as she sang her part, she was sure everyone

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Speaker 1: in the room could see that she was falling more

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Speaker 1: and more in.

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Speaker 4: Love with him.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 1: I had to cast my mind back because I read

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Speaker 1: the book after I watched the series again and I

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Speaker 1: was like, who's this music producer? I didn't see anyone

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Speaker 1: catch my eye.

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Speaker 4: This guy was the biggest weep. I was so surprised

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Speaker 4: that Belinda was into here. Maybe he's got a great personality.

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Speaker 1: I was particularly surprised when this came up, because all

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Speaker 1: throughout the start of her book, she was talking about

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Speaker 1: how much she was in love with her Canadian boyfriend Nate,

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Speaker 1: and he seemed to be a really supportive part of

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Speaker 1: her journey onto pop stars, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: all she could talk about was Michael. Sadly, Michael didn't

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Speaker 1: feel the same way about her. I was so surprised

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Speaker 1: when I heard that he ended up dating the intern

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Speaker 1: that was working at the music studio, and she was

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Speaker 1: so devastated about it.

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Speaker 4: And it was very sad.

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Speaker 1: Now, as the days went by and the girls got

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Speaker 1: to know each other more, Shantell Barry tried to distance

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Speaker 1: herself from the rest of the band, so most nights

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Speaker 1: she would actually leave the share house and go and

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Speaker 1: party with her friends at nightclubs in Double Bay. For

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Speaker 1: some reason, this blew my mind because I thought they

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be allowed out.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, me too.

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Speaker 1: I thought the producers, seeing how controlling they were over

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Speaker 1: their weight and their image and where they were living,

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Speaker 1: would have control over what they were doing. I mean,

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Speaker 1: it seemed like their schedule was pretty hectic, so I'm

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Speaker 1: surprised she could fit in partying.

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Speaker 4: She must have been rocking up to the studio.

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Speaker 1: The difference is that the show hadn't actually gone to air,

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Speaker 1: so no one yet knew who they were. So maybe

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Speaker 1: she did it because it was her last chance to

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Speaker 1: actually enjoy her teenage years, because she was only nineteen

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Speaker 1: at the time when this happened. Belinda said she was

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Speaker 1: really starting to feel uneasy in Chantelle's presence and her

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Speaker 1: energy was starting to unsettle her, but she didn't know why,

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Speaker 1: and the TV show really gave off this impression. You

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Speaker 1: could see that there was something going on between the

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Speaker 1: four girls and Chantale. She did come across as very

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Speaker 1: difficult in the recording studio. Again, you don't know in

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Speaker 1: hindsight if this was because the producers knew that she

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Speaker 1: was going to exit the band, so that they wanted

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Speaker 1: to create that persona.

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Speaker 4: Around her that she was the problem.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they kept saying that she wasn't handling the pressure

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Speaker 1: well and they commented that she would rock up late

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Speaker 1: to photo shoots.

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Speaker 4: The girls even weighed in. Here's what Sophie and Katie

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Speaker 4: said about Chantal on the show. Everyone's getting along really well.

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Speaker 7: Chanta's a bit quiet at the moment. So, yeah, I

253
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Speaker 7: don't know where the seven problems with a boyfriend or something, and.

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Speaker 6: She does keep herself a bit but I mean, I

255
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Speaker 6: think that she'll get there. But at the moment, you know,

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Speaker 6: I think she just needs time to come into the group.

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Speaker 6: You know, you can't you can't sort of force these things.

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Speaker 1: Now, things just weren't adding up. And it's pretty interesting

259
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Speaker 1: because in Belinda's book, she recalled a conversation that she

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Speaker 1: had with Chantelle that she thought was quite strange at

261
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Speaker 1: the time. So Chantal had asked her if she knew

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Speaker 1: this businessman who had a lot of power in Sydney,

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Speaker 1: and Belinda did know this guy through a friend, but

264
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Speaker 1: hadn't met him. And Chantell started to tell her this

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Speaker 1: wild story about how she'd met the guy in a

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Speaker 1: nightclub in Double Bay and she'd been invited back to

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Speaker 1: his penthouse However, when she arrived, she was greeted by

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Speaker 1: an old man who was naked and a couple in

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Speaker 1: a spa, and she said that the old man pointed

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Speaker 1: at the spa and jested for Chantelle to get in

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Speaker 1: and join them, So it seemed like there was a

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Speaker 1: strange swinger's situation occurring. However, Belinda and Chantell's conversation was

273
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Speaker 1: suddenly interrupted by one of the girls walking in, and

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Speaker 1: they never spoke about it again. I just love that

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Speaker 1: they're having this absolutely wild conversation because it's really hard,

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Speaker 1: you know, when you're having a really juicy conversation and

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Speaker 1: you get interrupted.

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Speaker 4: How do you go back to that? Oh, by the way,

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Speaker 4: could you just finish.

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Speaker 1: That story about the nude people in the spa? And

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Speaker 1: particularly it seems like Chantell clammed up and didn't want

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Speaker 1: to talk about him. She's like, shit, I shouldn't say

283
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Speaker 1: anymore now. The girl's gut feeling about Chantelle proved to

284
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Speaker 1: be right. One night, Sophie came running downstairs to tell

285
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Speaker 1: Belinda that her per diem was missing. Now, as we've

286
00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,480
Speaker 1: touched on a few times, the girls were only on

287
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Speaker 1: thirty five dollars a day, and this was a big

288
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,839
Speaker 1: deal to Sophie because she was living far away from

289
00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,120
Speaker 1: her family and she needed that money to pay her

290
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Speaker 1: phone bill, so she was incredibly upset. A couple of

291
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Speaker 1: days later, Belinda then discovered that some of her high

292
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Speaker 1: end makeup that she treated herself to before going on

293
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Speaker 1: the show had been taken from her makeup bag, and

294
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Speaker 1: the next day she spotted it in Chantelle's bag at

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Speaker 1: the studio. Now, Sophie and Belinda decided to take things

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Speaker 1: into their own hands. One night, when Chantelle was out,

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Speaker 1: they crept into a room and did some investigating, and

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Speaker 1: they found a bin in the room with a plastic

299
00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,079
Speaker 1: bag tied in a knot, and inside that plastic bag

300
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Speaker 1: was Sophie's per dim envelope, so they knew Chantelle had

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Speaker 1: been taking their stuff.

302
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Speaker 4: Now, Chantelle was also the only person who saw Sophie

303
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Speaker 4: put her envelope in her suitcase, so alarm bells were ringing.

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Speaker 1: Well that night, the girls called the management and they

305
00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,480
Speaker 1: acted quickly. They came into the house and interviewed all

306
00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,120
Speaker 1: of the girls in separate rooms about what had gone down,

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Speaker 1: and they did seem genuinely concerned about the missing items. Now,

308
00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,520
Speaker 1: Belinda was ushered into a room where she found Chantelle

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Speaker 1: sitting on the floor, and she alleges that Chantelle said,

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Speaker 1: I'm so so sorry, Belinda. I don't know why I

311
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Speaker 1: did it, but I'm so sorry.

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Speaker 8: Now.

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Speaker 1: Belinda said that she was really confused by this apology

314
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Speaker 1: because while Chantelle was saying the words, she said that

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Speaker 1: her eyes appeared really vacant, as if she wasn't there.

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Speaker 1: I really felt for Belinda because her wallet was really

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Speaker 1: sentimental to her because it had been given as a

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00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,840
Speaker 1: gift by her parents and also had photos inside of

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Speaker 1: her and she just said, look, can I have the

320
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Speaker 1: wallet back?

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Speaker 4: And Chantelle said, oh, I'm sorry. I chucked it out

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Speaker 4: of a window of the lab.

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Speaker 9: I mean, it's terrible that Chantelle did that. But did

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Speaker 9: management think at the time, well, perhaps we need to

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Speaker 9: start paying the girls a bit more than thirty five

326
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Speaker 9: dollars a day if they're having to go steal from

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Speaker 9: each other. This was a nightmare for the management team.

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Speaker 9: They deliberated for a number of hours about what they

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Speaker 9: were going to do. Sally appeared to be the only

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Speaker 9: band member who actually wanted Chantelle to stay, but the

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Speaker 9: execs ended up deciding that her contract would be canceled

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Speaker 9: and she'd be sent home.

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Speaker 4: Now.

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Speaker 1: Due to the contractual agreements and legalities, the situation had

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00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,040
Speaker 1: to be acted and scripted for the cameras, which was

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Speaker 1: very awkward for the girls. I also feel like this

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00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,640
Speaker 1: was a part of their pr strategy too, because if

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Speaker 1: this story had gotten out, it would have been a

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00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,320
Speaker 1: very bad look for the group. Yeah, and they decided

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Speaker 1: that the true circumstance around her departure could not be revealed,

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Speaker 1: and that the girls had to act really surprised and

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Speaker 1: sad that she had decided to leave the band. It

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Speaker 1: was really funny watching this back and see it all

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Speaker 1: play outs.

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Speaker 4: Hell and the rest of the girls look really upset.

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Speaker 1: Let's throw to what Michael said the girls.

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Speaker 3: There's been a bit of trauma and tension the last

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Speaker 3: couple of weeks. I just had a bit of a

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Speaker 3: chat with Chantelle and she's just told me that she

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Speaker 3: will feel better if she leaves the group. This is

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Speaker 3: personal and family reasons that she she felt a bit

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Speaker 3: I guess distant and wants to leave the group. Said

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Speaker 3: fair somation is that, how do you feel?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 8: So sorry, I.

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Speaker 7: Hope I have a bonder for you, but I'm sure,

357
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Speaker 7: I haven't. Man, you guys are all so amazing.

358
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Speaker 8: You make it with all without me.

359
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,600
Speaker 1: Now, while this is all happening, Belinda and Sally look

360
00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,040
Speaker 1: like they're giving Shantelle the daggers, so I feel like

361
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,400
Speaker 1: their acting skills were a bit subpar. Sophie did genuinely

362
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,400
Speaker 1: seem really upset when Chantal left.

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Speaker 4: Let's throw to what she said.

364
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Speaker 8: Sad, really sad because she's the only one my age

365
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,560
Speaker 8: sort of thing, so we can relate to each other.

366
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Speaker 8: And we saw clothes and she's she's such a lovely girl.

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Speaker 8: It's really kind and so really sad.

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Speaker 3: You can miss it.

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00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,280
Speaker 8: No, not really, she.

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Speaker 2: I can't do this.

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Speaker 8: I don't saying that.

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Speaker 3: I know.

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Speaker 8: Can I don't do it.

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Speaker 4: Belinda, on the other hand, told the cameras that she

375
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Speaker 4: thinks it happened for the best. Here's what she said.

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Speaker 10: I think we kind of had an inkling all along,

377
00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,520
Speaker 10: and I think I think it's a positive thing because

378
00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:37,520
Speaker 10: we all want to be in it together in one

379
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Speaker 10: hundred percent, so we're all sad to see her go,

380
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Speaker 10: but I think in the long run it'll be for

381
00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,880
Speaker 10: the best for all of us, for her on her

382
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:47,399
Speaker 10: own end, for all of us together.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I found it interesting because in Belinda's books,

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Speaker 1: she said that she couldn't get her head around why

385
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Speaker 1: Chantelle would risk this opportunity just for some makeup and

386
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,240
Speaker 1: a few per diems, And she said that the incident

387
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,920
Speaker 1: felt so far fetched that she wondered if the production

388
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 1: company had written this into the script to cause some

389
00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,320
Speaker 1: drama for ratings, because she said she'd actually never seen

390
00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,280
Speaker 1: her steal the wallet, just apologize for it. How would

391
00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,679
Speaker 1: they get someone to agree to be the thief in

392
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,960
Speaker 1: the show? Well Schanteal later admitted that she had the

393
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,960
Speaker 1: choice of either staying in the band or they'd pay

394
00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,800
Speaker 1: her one thousand dollars and she'd have her own solo career.

395
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Speaker 4: Did that ever happen?

396
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,679
Speaker 1: Well, I think that she recorded a few EPs, but

397
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,840
Speaker 1: obviously it didn't take off. Now. Chantell's departure actually happened

398
00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,320
Speaker 1: three months before the show aired, and it was kept

399
00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,119
Speaker 1: secret until the show gained momentum.

400
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:37,360
Speaker 4: Now.

401
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,560
Speaker 1: Chris Moss later told the media that she came across

402
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,240
Speaker 1: as a confident girl. He said, we didn't spot the

403
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,920
Speaker 1: problems until she started working and living.

404
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:46,400
Speaker 4: With the girls.

405
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,400
Speaker 1: I can see why Belinda was a little bit skeptical

406
00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:54,000
Speaker 1: because Chantell's departure caused a huge rating surge and media

407
00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,879
Speaker 1: started speculating whether it was staged and deliberate. However, Chris

408
00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,800
Speaker 1: said he felt it put the whole project at great risk.

409
00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:02,960
Speaker 1: He went on to say, we agreed the best way

410
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,679
Speaker 1: to handle it was to protect Chantelle. We felt we

411
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:08,520
Speaker 1: had a moral obligation not to expose her too much.

412
00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:10,159
Speaker 4: But then New Idea.

413
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,440
Speaker 1: Blew the roof by running with the story of her departure.

414
00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,200
Speaker 1: I thought they were being irresponsible. They could have found

415
00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,720
Speaker 1: themselves with an unstable nineteen year old girl at the

416
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,480
Speaker 1: bottom of the harbor the day the.

417
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:20,280
Speaker 4: Story came out.

418
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,200
Speaker 1: Now what he is referring to here is that at

419
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:26,040
Speaker 1: the time, a New Idea broke the story that Chantelle

420
00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,880
Speaker 1: was caught stealing money from the purses of the girls,

421
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:33,160
Speaker 1: and the editor, Bunti Avison, stands by her decision, saying

422
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,719
Speaker 1: it was the story we had to report on. Our

423
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,439
Speaker 1: lawyers cleared it, so we ran with it. It's pretty

424
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,600
Speaker 1: interesting that it was a New Idea that broke this

425
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,280
Speaker 1: story about Chantelle because they had partnered with Pop Stars

426
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 1: and Channel seven and got the first look at the series.

427
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,119
Speaker 1: They also were the publication that printed the entry form.

428
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,120
Speaker 1: So it does feel a little bit suspicious. I mean,

429
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,520
Speaker 1: what's to say that they didn't give this story to

430
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:57,480
Speaker 1: New Idea and.

431
00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,520
Speaker 4: Said you just push it out. We don't want anything

432
00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:01,359
Speaker 4: to date closurely would have.

433
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,720
Speaker 1: Ironically, there were a lot of rumors at the time

434
00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,920
Speaker 1: that Chantal Barry had stolen her copy of New Idea

435
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,560
Speaker 1: to audition for pop Stars, and maybe that's why her

436
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 1: audition was void and she was allowed to be part

437
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:12,399
Speaker 1: of the group.

438
00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:13,240
Speaker 4: Well.

439
00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:17,560
Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen, Chanteal Barry spoke exclusively to Women's Day

440
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,639
Speaker 1: and said the rumors were true. So she confirmed that

441
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,439
Speaker 1: she did in fact steal from Sophie Monk's purse and

442
00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,240
Speaker 1: that she was offered hush money and a solo recording

443
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,760
Speaker 1: deal to quit. She called her behavior a moment of

444
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,360
Speaker 1: stupidity that ruined her chances of a successful singing career,

445
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,600
Speaker 1: and she explained that she had stolen Sophie's money but

446
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,399
Speaker 1: was planning to return it on the weekend, and she

447
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,040
Speaker 1: said that they had actually planned to go to a

448
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:44,400
Speaker 1: gig together. She also told the magazine in a moment

449
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,880
Speaker 1: of stupidity, being a teenager and thinking that a pair

450
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,000
Speaker 1: of shoes was more important than the friendship I had

451
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,720
Speaker 1: with Sophie. I'd decided to keep the money for myself now.

452
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 1: She explained at the time that she had confessed to

453
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,160
Speaker 1: the TV bosses and was given two options. She said,

454
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,000
Speaker 1: stay in the group or leave and take a song

455
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,720
Speaker 1: deal and one thousand dollars hush money dollars.

456
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,760
Speaker 4: I suppose that's a lot considering they were getting thirty

457
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:06,680
Speaker 4: five dollars a day.

458
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 1: They obviously knew that she was desperate for money. Yeah,

459
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 1: so she ended up signing a contract that prevented her

460
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:14,440
Speaker 1: from telling her side of the story when the allegations

461
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,359
Speaker 1: were later aired by the Australian media. Now, while we

462
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,720
Speaker 1: didn't see that deal come into fruition, Chantal did move

463
00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:23,200
Speaker 1: to la in two thousand and one and later played

464
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 1: a small part in the remake of nine oh two

465
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,840
Speaker 1: to one OHO. She also continued singing, releasing an album

466
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 1: and several singles and an EP. Now Following the admission

467
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,840
Speaker 1: from Chantelle in twenty seventeen, Sophie Mung did speak about

468
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,160
Speaker 1: her on the Kyl and Jackie Oh Show. She said,

469
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:40,720
Speaker 1: we had to confront her because we also found other

470
00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,000
Speaker 1: stuff hair dryers and Chanell stuff. But the funniest thing

471
00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:45,879
Speaker 1: is that I was the only one who wanted to

472
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,520
Speaker 1: keep her in the band. Sophie said she was fond

473
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,399
Speaker 1: of her despite the incident and said, I really liked

474
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,360
Speaker 1: her and people go through things and I thought she's

475
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,000
Speaker 1: so talented. We all do stupid things now. Before Chantelle

476
00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,919
Speaker 1: left the band, the five girls had been working around

477
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,200
Speaker 1: the clock with top music producers to record their album,

478
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: and despite people thinking that Chantell's departure was a publicity stune,

479
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,440
Speaker 1: it was a logistical nightmare for the label, as Chanteal's

480
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,600
Speaker 1: replacement would need to re record her sections of the

481
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,240
Speaker 1: song whilst dealing with the speculation and rumors that this

482
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 1: departure caused. The judges had to go back through the

483
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 1: audition tapes and work out which girl would.

484
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 4: Compliment the group.

485
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:28,080
Speaker 1: And I loved it because the camera crews were sent

486
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:30,760
Speaker 1: out to the streets to voxpop people on who they

487
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:32,760
Speaker 1: thought would be the new member. This is how big

488
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,360
Speaker 1: it was at the time, with everyone guessing. They would

489
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,480
Speaker 1: have known immediately who they were going to replace Shanta with.

490
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,159
Speaker 4: They would have had a whole list. They would have

491
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:41,640
Speaker 4: known it was Tiffany Wood. This whole time.

492
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,639
Speaker 1: Well, they only had five to choose from that had

493
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 1: signed the contract, so it's not like they had to

494
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,400
Speaker 1: go out and find this new person.

495
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 4: It was like one to five.

496
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,680
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Jackie O did end up visiting Tiffany would

497
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,359
Speaker 1: during her shift at the Hilton Hotel to reveal this

498
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,640
Speaker 1: life changing news to her, and I love the way

499
00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,520
Speaker 1: that they juxtapositioned her in a Hilton uniform and the

500
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:02,679
Speaker 1: fact that you know, she was being plucked from obscurity

501
00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,439
Speaker 1: and her life was going to change. I was just

502
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,720
Speaker 1: shocked that Tiffany wasn't a part of the group to

503
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,159
Speaker 1: begin with, because she had such a strong voice and

504
00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 1: she played such a huge.

505
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:10,920
Speaker 4: Role in Body.

506
00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,160
Speaker 1: She sings majority of the songs.

507
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 10: Yeah.

508
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,719
Speaker 1: Well, she did work really hard in the studio. Apparently

509
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 1: she was doing seventeen hours days just to catch up. Now,

510
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: the publicity over Chantel's departure was so huge. The girls

511
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 1: were being absolutely hounded by paparazzi at the Terrace House,

512
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: so they ended up moving into a penthouse at Darling Harbor. Now,

513
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,960
Speaker 1: the penthouse was given to the network as a sponsorship deal,

514
00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,160
Speaker 1: and this time they made sure to actually blur out

515
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 1: the number on the door, but they still showed the

516
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 1: inside of the apartment. I suppose unlike these days, people

517
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 1: just can't jump on Google or real estate dot Com

518
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:45,719
Speaker 1: and work out where it is.

519
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,199
Speaker 4: This penthouse looked very underwhelming.

520
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's to do with the two

521
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 1: thousands dacres or the fact that it was really small.

522
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 1: So again, the girls were sharing bedrooms and in one

523
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: of the rooms it was so tiny that you couldn't

524
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 1: even open the wardrobe because the.

525
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:00,440
Speaker 4: Bed was the way.

526
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:02,840
Speaker 1: One thing that made the biggest impact on me as

527
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,639
Speaker 1: a kid was Bardo and the v dub Beetles, So

528
00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 1: it's clear that early on the show was such a

529
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 1: ratings hit that brands were just desperate to jump on

530
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,560
Speaker 1: board the pop stars bandwagon. And at the time, Voltswagen

531
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,639
Speaker 1: was set to release its brand new, modernized Beetles and

532
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 1: to help the launch, they loaned out a new Beetle

533
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,800
Speaker 1: for each of the girls to drive around in and

534
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,040
Speaker 1: in the show, it's classic because the executra of Voltswagen

535
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:27,880
Speaker 1: hand the girl's the key and tell them that they've

536
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,280
Speaker 1: got to go find out which color they've got. However,

537
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,679
Speaker 1: they can't just click on the transponder key. They have

538
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,880
Speaker 1: to go in and put the key into the door

539
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:37,359
Speaker 1: to opener and see if it's theirs. I could relate

540
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 1: to that because at the moment, that's how I am

541
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: having to use my key because I lost my transponder,

542
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,120
Speaker 1: so I was like, oh.

543
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 4: That's very retro.

544
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:46,520
Speaker 1: I think that the reason this moment sticks out so

545
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 1: much for me is because this was my dream car,

546
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,159
Speaker 1: particularly because Sophie got given the Yellow Beetle, and Sophie

547
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 1: was my favorite at the time.

548
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:56,200
Speaker 4: And it's so funny.

549
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:57,920
Speaker 1: Because I watched back this show and I always thought

550
00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 1: that they had their names on the numbers, but they didn't,

551
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:02,959
Speaker 1: so I had this image in my head and won

552
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,199
Speaker 1: a Yellow Beetle with a Sophie number play. Well, their

553
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 1: mouths will have had their names on the number plays

554
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,920
Speaker 1: because they were the only people in Australia driving these cars, so.

555
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 4: Literally everyone spotted them wherever they went.

556
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,679
Speaker 1: Well, Triple J actually ran a competition, so they offered

557
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 1: a prize for listeners who spotted the girls in the cars.

558
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,439
Speaker 1: So this meant that their manager had to take the

559
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: cars off the girls because their cover was blown. And

560
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 1: I feel like it was probably Voltswagen who actually rung

561
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,920
Speaker 1: up the radio stations because it was extra publicity for them.

562
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,920
Speaker 1: It just becomes clear how much of a pawn all

563
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,360
Speaker 1: of the girls were. They were just being used by

564
00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 1: so many different people, Like they're being viewsed by Voltswagen,

565
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 1: they're being used by the radio stations because if you

566
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,560
Speaker 1: think about it, if they were anywhere around Australia, they're

567
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,879
Speaker 1: going to be photographed in those beetles. Yeah, and they

568
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: were only given them as a loan car. It's not

569
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,840
Speaker 1: like they got to keep them in the end. It

570
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 1: really brought a new meaning to spot.

571
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:56,840
Speaker 4: A bug when popstars were.

572
00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 1: One of my favorite parts of watching this show back

573
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 1: were seeing the two thousand style because each of the

574
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 1: girls was assigned a stylist and they had to work

575
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,439
Speaker 1: on their own individual style, and the show explained that

576
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,399
Speaker 1: designers were keen to dress the girls because they wanted publicity. Again,

577
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,080
Speaker 1: they were using them because they knew that whatever the

578
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:16,040
Speaker 1: girls were wearing.

579
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 4: People would want to go out and buy.

580
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 1: And a lot of the times in the show we

581
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,640
Speaker 1: see that Sally isn't really happy about what her stylist

582
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 1: picks for her because Sally came from a really conservative

583
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,160
Speaker 1: family and all they seemed to want to dress her

584
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: in was really revealing outfits. Let's listen to some of

585
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: Sally's comments on the outfits that wouldn't be allowed today.

586
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:37,320
Speaker 3: I don't like the.

587
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:42,360
Speaker 6: Straps showing like that gives it a slightly tidy effect,

588
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:44,160
Speaker 6: very us out.

589
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,919
Speaker 7: I feel like a prestutious how much.

590
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:51,440
Speaker 6: God?

591
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,359
Speaker 4: This is quite jarring to listen to, because this is

592
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 4: just not the way people speak anymore.

593
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 1: No, But to be fair to Sally, this was in

594
00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: the two thousands, Yeah, and I did find it unfair

595
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,199
Speaker 1: big because the stylists were supposed to listen to the

596
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 1: girls and work on a style that was actually authentic

597
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 1: to them. But with Sally, in one of the episodes,

598
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: we see them dressing her in a bikini with a

599
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,639
Speaker 1: denim jacket and real short shorts, and Sally said that

600
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 1: she felt like she was showing too much skin. However,

601
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,040
Speaker 1: then Chris Moss from Warner Music, he comes in to

602
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: tell Sally that she needs to get out of her

603
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 1: comfort zone. Let's throw to that clip.

604
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 7: Things good, but I'm a big more conservative than just flesh.

605
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:31,760
Speaker 2: You're going to push it.

606
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,080
Speaker 4: It's like who you think you are and how you

607
00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 4: think you feel comfortable.

608
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 3: You've got to go somewhere else you've got to become extroverted.

609
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 2: Being normal is no longer. It's got to set itself

610
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,359
Speaker 2: up so there is somewhere to go, like you know once.

611
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: After that, it's quite clear they were trying to make

612
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,200
Speaker 1: Sophie Monk into the baby spice of Bardo. Even though

613
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: she was one of the youngest in the group, she

614
00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 1: did have that sex appealed because that reflected in the

615
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,840
Speaker 1: outfits they chose for her. She wore a pink dress

616
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,000
Speaker 1: with a big fluffy white coat which was very early

617
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 1: two thousands, and also a pink whole to neck two

618
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,639
Speaker 1: piece sparkly outfit. Yeah, and as part of their makeovers,

619
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 1: they also took the girls to visit a top Sydney

620
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:18,439
Speaker 1: hairstylist called Shannon Meyer, and the hairdresser suggests that Katie

621
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:20,719
Speaker 1: has to shave all of her hair, which she had

622
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,720
Speaker 1: pretty short hair at that time, didn't she She was known

623
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,159
Speaker 1: for having red hair that was spiky. This just reminds

624
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,760
Speaker 1: me of America's Next Top Model when they purposely try

625
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,120
Speaker 1: and cause drama amongst the group, like they always pick

626
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,160
Speaker 1: someone to shave their head. I don't think the producers

627
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,320
Speaker 1: or the managers of this group would want Katie to

628
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 1: have it.

629
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 4: She was grungier one. I think that was her vibe.

630
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:40,640
Speaker 4: I love that they said in their voice over the

631
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,480
Speaker 4: like Katie Underwood is a fashion victim, but she's not

632
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 4: ready for a shaved head.

633
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were so cruel about all of the girls

634
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 1: in the voiceovers. I was surprised to hear that the

635
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 1: girls were actually tasked with coming up with the band's name.

636
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 1: Because it was such a manufactured group. I thought that

637
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,160
Speaker 1: the execs would want to have control over all of

638
00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 1: the decisions. They already had a name in the world

639
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: they were going to go, and that's if.

640
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,120
Speaker 4: You believe the TV show. They were probably given a

641
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 4: couple of names that they.

642
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,320
Speaker 1: Had, but Linda was very passionate about the fact that

643
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,880
Speaker 1: she and Sophie came up with the name. There were

644
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: some terrible suggestions. Let's throw to a few of the

645
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 1: early ones.

646
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 10: I like heaps because it means destiny.

647
00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 7: No square fox. I thought something'd be abstract, you know.

648
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 7: I really like porn stam, but I think that might

649
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 7: be a bit because it's a gen rated show. We

650
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,480
Speaker 7: don't work, but I think it'd be really cool.

651
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,920
Speaker 1: I feel like the TV execs would have immediately vetoed

652
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,960
Speaker 1: porn stars as well as Sally Polar on fair. I

653
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,040
Speaker 1: thought Kismik was weird, but apparently it meant destiny, so

654
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,720
Speaker 1: they thought that that might have some sort of symbolic meaning.

655
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 1: It's funny because if they'd gone with one of these names,

656
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 1: we'd be sitting here saying that Bardo sounds weird.

657
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 2: Yeah.

658
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 1: Well, in Belinda's book, she spoke about how they wanted

659
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 1: to name the band after a really powerful and strong woman.

660
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 1: So she and Sophie started brainstorming ideas and they came

661
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:04,080
Speaker 1: up with Audrey, Hepburn and Bridge at Bardo and they

662
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: took the names to the execs to see what they thought,

663
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,520
Speaker 1: and it was pretty interesting because they discussed how you

664
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,160
Speaker 1: couldn't just google it to see if these names were taken,

665
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,760
Speaker 1: so the execs had to come back and say, well, actually,

666
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 1: Hepburn is already a band in the UK and Bardo

667
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 1: is a name of a small clothing brand in Melbourne. Well,

668
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 1: what was pretty crazy is that the girls just mentioned

669
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: that they liked these names, and the execs immediately jumped

670
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,240
Speaker 1: on a flight and flew to Melbourne to meet with

671
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,520
Speaker 1: the owners of Bardow, the clothing label, and they struck

672
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 1: up a franchise deal with them. So the deal would

673
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 1: see numerous stores open up around Australia nationwide, with the

674
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,719
Speaker 1: grand opening to coincide with the television launch of Pop Stars.

675
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 1: And this was a multi million dollar deal for the execs,

676
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 1: with the girls in the band again receiving nothing from it.

677
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 4: See. I remember back.

678
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 1: In the day, I always thought the brand Bardo was

679
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 1: aligned with the band, But years and years later I

680
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: was like, oh, hang on, was that something I dreamt up?

681
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 4: Was that just a CoInc Yeah.

682
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,160
Speaker 1: Well, the owners of Bardo Clothing, they really struck gold

683
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,680
Speaker 1: with this deal because it catapulted them into the mainstream overnight.

684
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,080
Speaker 1: You can see why that brand became a multimillion dollar

685
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,840
Speaker 1: business because the girls were really used as clothing horses,

686
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 1: particularly in their iconic film clip. So this film clip

687
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 1: ended up being the most expensive film clip in Australia

688
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,720
Speaker 1: at the time. It was rumored to have cost a

689
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: quarter of a million dollars to make. And the concept

690
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 1: was it was this big house, but each girl had

691
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,440
Speaker 1: a room that represented them. So it was very much

692
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,120
Speaker 1: that Spice Girl's formula where they really wanted to create

693
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,680
Speaker 1: a brand for each girl. It was quite funny because

694
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,080
Speaker 1: they had silver poles that the girls would then slide

695
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,520
Speaker 1: down to get into the other rooms. Now, the girls

696
00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,640
Speaker 1: did put forward what they wanted to be in their set,

697
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 1: so again the camera showed them having creative control about

698
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,520
Speaker 1: how their set was designed. And Tiffany kicked up out

699
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,560
Speaker 1: of a stink because the designers didn't give her what

700
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,960
Speaker 1: she asked for. She wanted to have crystals and it's

701
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: unded quite wooy what she wanted, and I was surprised

702
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,120
Speaker 1: to see that Chris from Warner Music actually said.

703
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,520
Speaker 4: Give her what she wants. It's lucky they didn't have

704
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 4: Chantelle's room.

705
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:09,680
Speaker 1: It just would have been filled with all the other

706
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:14,160
Speaker 1: girls possessions, stolen envelopes and whatnot. It is clear from

707
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,840
Speaker 1: the get go, though, that this music video was very disorganized.

708
00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 1: The girls had to do everything last minute, and there

709
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 1: seemed to be a lot of unease about the film

710
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:25,959
Speaker 1: clip and also the album shoot. So Belinda admitted in

711
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 1: her book that without discussing it, they had placed a

712
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 1: lot of unnecessary pressure on themselves to be skinny for

713
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: the shoot day. So, according to Belinda, Tiffany had been

714
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,960
Speaker 1: on an orange juice diet for four days and hadn't

715
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,560
Speaker 1: eaten a thing, and Belinda was punishing herself in the gym,

716
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:46,160
Speaker 1: flogging herself on the treadmill. Can you imagine how hungry

717
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 1: they all would have been?

718
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 10: Yeah?

719
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 1: Well. She said that it did add a lot of

720
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,280
Speaker 1: extra stress and tension within the group because they had

721
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:56,640
Speaker 1: such busy schedules, yet they weren't eating proper nutrition. What

722
00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,200
Speaker 1: really surprised me was hearing how competitive the girls actually

723
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 1: were with each other, because they were meant to be

724
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,720
Speaker 1: forming a band together and be a united front, but

725
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,400
Speaker 1: there seemed to be competition when it came to who

726
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 1: sung lead vocals and who looked the best and who

727
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 1: got the best outfits.

728
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 6: Yeah well.

729
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,280
Speaker 1: Belinda said that this shoot actually exposed the very fractured

730
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,280
Speaker 1: dynamics between the group, which surprised me because on the series,

731
00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 1: you think, oh, they're such great friends and there must

732
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,800
Speaker 1: be such a fun moment in their lives or living

733
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,320
Speaker 1: together if you think about it, though none of them

734
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,200
Speaker 1: were friends before this. It's kind of like with one direction,

735
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 1: you're all assumed that they all got on so well,

736
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 1: and then you realize, wait a sec, these are just

737
00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 1: these randoms that have been pushed into this friendship and group.

738
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,720
Speaker 1: Of course they're going to be competitive with one another. Yeah,

739
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,080
Speaker 1: I want to go into what each girls set look

740
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 1: like because I found it so nostalgic. So for Belinda,

741
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 1: hers was seventies disco glam, and she had these really

742
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: cool disco balls hanging from the ceiling and a purple

743
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: sequin curtain as the backdrop for a catwalk that she

744
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,480
Speaker 1: would walk down because obviously she was a model.

745
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,320
Speaker 4: I feel like disco balls were having a moment in

746
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 4: the early two thousands. They were everywhere.

747
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 1: I actually remember in year seven you having a whole

748
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,240
Speaker 1: bunch of disco balls on your desk. They have really

749
00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 1: popular now for Hen's parties. I'm seeing them everywhere over

750
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,879
Speaker 1: my Pinterest feed now. Sophie's little room was a mix

751
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,600
Speaker 1: of a fairy garden and a bird cage, so she

752
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 1: had a swing with vine leaves around it, and she

753
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 1: also wore a leathery black dress with bird feathers coming

754
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,920
Speaker 1: out as a tail. That kind of has Victorious Secrets

755
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 1: vibes to it. But was it playing homage to the

756
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 1: fact that she used to work at the theme park,

757
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,120
Speaker 1: So maybe like tweetybird.

758
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a good point.

759
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:33,319
Speaker 3: I don't know.

760
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 1: I feel like we're almost in English class, you know,

761
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 1: when they delve so deep into a video click, and

762
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,720
Speaker 1: you're like, I've never even thought that, because you're talking

763
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,760
Speaker 1: now about Sophie being a bird. I didn't even realize

764
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 1: it was meant to each room was meant to actually

765
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,359
Speaker 1: identify something that they love. Oh, Sally's didn't really make

766
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,719
Speaker 1: sense because hers was Japanese inspired, so it had wooden blinds.

767
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 1: And she did say she liked the set, but she

768
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:57,000
Speaker 1: said she didn't feel comfortable in her outfit.

769
00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:58,640
Speaker 4: Oh, the outfit was ridiculous.

770
00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,759
Speaker 1: They had her in this snake skin boob tube, and

771
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,239
Speaker 1: then she had a short skirt and this see through

772
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,880
Speaker 1: cardigan with these ridiculously long sleeves that she couldn't even

773
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,840
Speaker 1: perform in. So they made the decision to get rid

774
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:13,360
Speaker 1: of the cardigan and actually put her in some pants.

775
00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,319
Speaker 1: I love how they were saying that these scenes were

776
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:18,239
Speaker 1: so reflective of who each person was, but that just

777
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 1: seems so against what Sally was about from the get go.

778
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 1: I'm surprised that the producers even showed these discussions with

779
00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:25,800
Speaker 1: the girls slagging off.

780
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:29,479
Speaker 4: Their outfits, because it just made the whole management group

781
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:30,760
Speaker 4: look really bad for.

782
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 1: Them to wear these clothes. It was the first reality

783
00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,560
Speaker 1: TV show, so I think that the producers knew they

784
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:37,080
Speaker 1: needed some drama in it.

785
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:37,680
Speaker 3: Now.

786
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,680
Speaker 1: Tiffany's set looked like a seedy Cuban hotel, which is

787
00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 1: quite funny because she did end up getting her say

788
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,279
Speaker 1: in how it looked, and it reminded me very much

789
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:48,480
Speaker 1: of her cdy looking apartment that they visited.

790
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 4: When they told her.

791
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,160
Speaker 1: That she rough, she said at the time, oh, sorry,

792
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 1: that my apartment looks like an absolute hole.

793
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,200
Speaker 4: So was hers in a hotel because she used to

794
00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 4: work at a hotel?

795
00:35:57,719 --> 00:35:58,000
Speaker 1: Yes?

796
00:35:58,440 --> 00:35:58,800
Speaker 4: Correct.

797
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,799
Speaker 1: What was Katie's eighties was just a room that was

798
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,279
Speaker 1: red and there was just one single white chair in it,

799
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:06,040
Speaker 1: so they obviously thought, oh, she's got.

800
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:07,600
Speaker 4: Red hair, will make her room red.

801
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:08,279
Speaker 2: Now.

802
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,680
Speaker 1: This shoot it ran way over time and over budget.

803
00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 1: It ended up taking twenty hours to shoot, and some

804
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:17,800
Speaker 1: of the group arrived at five am and then left

805
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,160
Speaker 1: the next day in the very early hours of the morning.

806
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,680
Speaker 1: So it was very high tension because I think a

807
00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:25,399
Speaker 1: lot of the girls were annoyed at.

808
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 4: Those who got to go on first and then go home.

809
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, you would think that people were being favored

810
00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:32,399
Speaker 1: if they got to go first, and you'd be.

811
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:33,719
Speaker 4: Like, why am I at last?

812
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 1: I think that the album cover was just as iconic

813
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: as the film clip, and they played off this concept

814
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: of the girls being a manufactured band, so the photographer

815
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,960
Speaker 1: shot it so that the girls looked like Barbie dolls

816
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 1: who were frozen in different positions. And for those who

817
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,880
Speaker 1: can't remember it, the girls are all wearing different shades

818
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: of latex. And my favorite touch is that they have

819
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: one of those early two thousands robotic dogs sitting at

820
00:36:57,719 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 1: Katie's feet.

821
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,279
Speaker 4: That just brought back so many memories. That is very

822
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:02,000
Speaker 4: of the time.

823
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 1: I did love this album cover, but I've got to

824
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,520
Speaker 1: be honest, as a twelve year old, I didn't realize that.

825
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 4: They were meant to look like Barber girls. I was like,

826
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:09,319
Speaker 4: why are they standing like that?

827
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:09,600
Speaker 2: Yeah.

828
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 1: At the time, Michael said that it was so clever

829
00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,520
Speaker 1: because it was hitting back at people accusing them of

830
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 1: being manufactured, But in my opinion, I felt like they

831
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 1: were almost playing into it too much, yeah, rather than

832
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 1: pushing back on it. Because if I was removed from

833
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: I just think, oh, okay, it is weird to watch

834
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: this show back in the lens of twenty twenty three

835
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,600
Speaker 1: and to see just how negatively the girls spoke about themselves.

836
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,920
Speaker 1: There was a lot of negative self talk going on.

837
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:37,480
Speaker 1: Let's throw to a little bit of that.

838
00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:42,399
Speaker 7: Some of them are shockers and some of them are Yeah,

839
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:46,160
Speaker 7: none of them are. Because my nise is huge of Gonza,

840
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,120
Speaker 7: tiffanys I do.

841
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 1: It's a huge noise, you ca dove embarrassment. Yeah, And

842
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:57,800
Speaker 1: this negative self talk was really consistent through the series.

843
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 1: When Sophie was looking at photos of a on the

844
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,239
Speaker 1: album cover, she tells all of the girls that she

845
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,040
Speaker 1: doesn't like them because she looks like she's preggers in it.

846
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 1: And it makes me feel really sad to see the

847
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 1: way that the girls were talking about themselves, because as

848
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,359
Speaker 1: a twelve year old, I thought that they were all

849
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:17,280
Speaker 1: so glamorous and stunning. And it is interesting to reflect

850
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:21,040
Speaker 1: on whether having this self loathing model towards us in

851
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,200
Speaker 1: a TV show makes you focus on your own floors

852
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:25,880
Speaker 1: and think that you can always be better.

853
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:26,279
Speaker 4: Yeah.

854
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,200
Speaker 1: Well, us millennials all grew up in that heroin chic era.

855
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:32,239
Speaker 1: This wasn't something that was new or different, like this

856
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,600
Speaker 1: was the messaging that we got all the time. This

857
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:36,560
Speaker 1: is where we are going to leave you for today.

858
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,279
Speaker 1: In next week's show, we discuss what happened when the

859
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,960
Speaker 1: cameras stopped rolling on pop stars With a chart topping album,

860
00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:46,399
Speaker 1: the girls embarked on international tours and we're going from

861
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 1: strength to strength, but a new manager was set to

862
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 1: change everything. We really hope you enjoyed today's episode. If

863
00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:54,719
Speaker 1: you did, we'd love if you could go and leave

864
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 1: us a five star review. Today's episode was recorded on

865
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 1: the traditional land of the Gana people of the Adelaide Planes.

866
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:03,640
Speaker 1: We pay respect to elders past and present,