Speaker 1: Welcome back to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris, and
Speaker 1: on this podcast, I'll be going behind the scenes with
Speaker 1: the biggest players in television. Last week I took a
Speaker 1: break as I was lucky enough to guess on two
Speaker 1: other people's podcasts, so I kind of felt like that
Speaker 1: was enough of my voice in the podcast world for
Speaker 1: last week without my weekly dose of TV Reload, while
Speaker 1: I'm back this week with an amazing guest, and I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what it is worth the way. If you
Speaker 1: want to check out those podcasts, just search board best
Speaker 1: Mates with Blake and podcast hosts Revealed, let me know
Speaker 1: what you think. Both were extremely different chats, but super
Speaker 1: cool to be asked on other people's podcasts. This week,
Speaker 1: I've been lucky enough to watch the first few episodes
Speaker 1: of the rebooted gossip Girl, which is coming to Binge
Speaker 1: on July sixth. The new Gossip Girl is set seven
Speaker 1: years later at the same school you'd remember Blair and
Speaker 1: Serena attending. And it's our whole new drama drama drama
Speaker 1: for some new teenagers. And guess what gossip Girl is
Speaker 1: back with more to say, I actually had a lot
Speaker 1: of fun watching this show. And I hope it finds
Speaker 1: a new audience while creating some nostalgia for the old fans.
Speaker 1: I also saw the first six episodes of Lux Listening,
Speaker 1: which is a fantastic new reality series debuting on July
Speaker 1: ninth on Amazon Prime Video. Lux Listening Sydney follows three
Speaker 1: elite agents as they negotiate multimillion dollar deals in one
Speaker 1: of the most competitive real estate markets in the world, Sydney, Australia.
Speaker 1: I've been calling it the Real Hustle of Sydney as
Speaker 1: it feels like a Real Housewives format, but with property
Speaker 1: instead of fabulous outfits. Now today is a really fun chat.
Speaker 1: It's with Mali. He's the twenty twenty one winner of
Speaker 1: Big Brother. I got to spend the morning with him
Speaker 1: and he was beyond delightful, so calm, so cool, and
Speaker 1: more honest than you'd ever expect. I ask him all
Speaker 1: of the hard hitting questions like where's the new house
Speaker 1: being built for Big Brother Vip and the next Big
Speaker 1: Brother twenty twenty two series, his interesting relationship dynamics with
Speaker 1: fellow contestants like Ari and Daniel Yes. I also asked
Speaker 1: him about the manipulation of the game to keep contestants
Speaker 1: that are more popular in the show ask him whether
Speaker 1: or not he thinks it's fair. We also talk about
Speaker 1: the challenges and if they need to be more mindful
Speaker 1: and less physical. There's something in this chat for everyone.
Speaker 1: There are some really important life lessons that extend out
Speaker 1: of the Big Brother world, which I think is going
Speaker 1: to be relevant for everyone. So let's get started with
Speaker 1: Australia's latest Big Brother champion. As he spills the tea
Speaker 1: and puts the tin in TV.
Speaker 2: Reload, I spoke about how proud I am to be
Speaker 2: representing a minority group and people of color.
Speaker 1: This is it, Australia, the moment you've all been waiting for.
Speaker 2: And as lame and cliche as it sounds, just be yourself.
Speaker 1: London to my new house mom.
Speaker 2: Whatever they showed, yes, that was me. That is me,
Speaker 2: through and through and I'm so grateful for this whole experience.
Speaker 2: So thank you Big Brother, and thank you Australia. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm interested to see where it's going to be. I'm
Speaker 2: not sure if it's in New South Wales or Queensland
Speaker 2: or where it might be, but I've heard it looks wonderful.
Speaker 2: The winner a Big Brother twenty twenty one. I think
Speaker 2: you just have to be yourself and embrace who you are.
Speaker 1: How are you made to you?
Speaker 2: Well, I'm great, I'm great, Ben. I feel a lot
Speaker 2: better now after having some sleep, being able to rest
Speaker 2: a little bit and being back home. I think so, No,
Speaker 2: I'm feeling great, really good.
Speaker 1: What a ride, hay to.
Speaker 2: Say the least, bloodyel What a ride? What a ride?
Speaker 2: What a journey? The ups and downs of not only
Speaker 2: being in the house but then also coming out and
Speaker 2: then watching it all on TV and then this huge
Speaker 2: lull and limbo period waiting until to see if you're
Speaker 2: going to win this whole thing? Like, what a ride?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: There's so many elements, you know, Well, I.
Speaker 1: Guess now that you've had some time for the dust
Speaker 1: to settle, you know, there's been forty eight hours or
Speaker 1: however long has it really, sun Ken? And how do
Speaker 1: you feel about being the winner of Big Brother else?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: It hit me last night and I was driving home
Speaker 2: with my dad and my brother, and I think it's
Speaker 2: starting to settle and sink in a little more and
Speaker 2: more each day. But I just sat there and I
Speaker 2: was like, I am number one in Australia. Like I'm
Speaker 2: the winner of Big Brother in Australia, not just you know,
Speaker 2: my little suburb that I live in, not just Melbourne.
Speaker 2: I'm the winner of Big Brother in Australia. Like it's
Speaker 2: starting to now sink in. Bennette's the craziest feeling, as
Speaker 2: I'm sure you can relate to. Like it's just a wild,
Speaker 2: wild feeling, and I don't think it will truly sink
Speaker 2: in for another couple more days.
Speaker 1: How did the girls feel and how did they respond
Speaker 1: to their runners up status? Because they responded I think
Speaker 1: really well on stage and on the show. But they
Speaker 1: do they have any tough words with you backstage or
Speaker 1: did you see any tears?
Speaker 2: And they're just beautiful those girls. I commend them truly.
Speaker 2: You saw s Jay's reaction on stage. She really wanted
Speaker 2: me to win this thing. She's a beautiful, beautiful, amazing woman.
Speaker 2: And then Christina, Man, what a good head she has
Speaker 2: on her shoulders, Like backstage and afterwards and all that,
Speaker 2: she's cracking jokes, we're having a laugh, she's talking about
Speaker 2: the money that I'm going to be apparently splitting with
Speaker 2: her now, like you know, just having a great moment
Speaker 2: with me and just having a laugh about the whole thing.
Speaker 1: How did you feel and did you feel proud that
Speaker 1: a person of color has taken out the competition again
Speaker 1: And is that even a factor in your mind?
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Ben, And especially towards near the endgame there,
Speaker 2: I think it started becoming a little more prevalent in
Speaker 2: the back of my mind as something that is so special.
Speaker 2: I didn't truly think about that when coming in because
Speaker 2: that's just not what I really think about. But within
Speaker 2: the world we live in, like this is huge, This
Speaker 2: is a huge moment, and I started really thinking about
Speaker 2: that and embracing that towards the back end, and I
Speaker 2: did talk about it within the diaryem It wasn't put
Speaker 2: out to air, but I spoke about how proud I
Speaker 2: am to be representing a minority group and people of
Speaker 2: color and being an inspiration to these people to show,
Speaker 2: you know, young kids, that you can make it far
Speaker 2: and succeed in life looking and talking and sounding like myself.
Speaker 2: So I think that was a huge moment for me
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: I think it's important for Australians and anybody to be
Speaker 1: seen on screen, and I hope that from people being
Speaker 1: able to see your journey on the show and see
Speaker 1: your popularity on the show that it does inspire more
Speaker 1: people of color life for these sorts of shows.
Speaker 2: I couldn't agree more than I think this could potentially
Speaker 2: change somebody's life who's watching this and allow them to
Speaker 2: realize that they can exactly apply for shows like this
Speaker 2: or even gain other successes in life and be confident
Speaker 2: doing so. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It was so emotional watching the finale. I wanted to
Speaker 1: be a fly on the wall after the show just
Speaker 1: to find out what did your dad say to you
Speaker 1: after the cameras stop rolling? Can you share that with us?
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, of course he was. I know when
Speaker 2: dad's really, really, really emotional and proud is when he's very,
Speaker 2: very speechless. He can't say a lot, he doesn't have
Speaker 2: a lot of words. Yeah, just so words. I don't
Speaker 2: know's I know, it's crazy, it's crazy, is.
Speaker 1: True with me?
Speaker 2: She's the one true, the number one? Yeah, well, this
Speaker 2: short I could hear it in his voice, and you
Speaker 2: could hear it a little bit up on stage. Actually, yeah,
Speaker 2: it was a little brokey and he was a little
Speaker 2: choked up. But yeah, afterwards he just he held me
Speaker 2: and told me that I did it, and how proud
Speaker 2: he was of me, and how proud Mum would be
Speaker 2: of me, and that was that was a special moment
Speaker 2: from him and my brother hearing that, you know, because
Speaker 2: I knew that really came from their heart. And it
Speaker 2: was just such a special moment for us three boys,
Speaker 2: because you know, I felt Mum's presence there and I
Speaker 2: knew she was watching over her boys and so proud
Speaker 2: of them. So it was a special moment for us,
Speaker 2: especially for Dad. I think he felt relieved, to be honest, man,
Speaker 2: I think you know hard It's been a hard journey
Speaker 2: for him too, so I think he felt really relieved.
Speaker 1: I'm glad that it's over. You know, Sonya Kruger is
Speaker 1: so hands on with this show and she's so supportive
Speaker 1: of all of the housemates. Did she manage to give
Speaker 1: you any advice? I mean, you know, she's been the
Speaker 1: host of it five times now and seeing so many
Speaker 1: different contestants go through, seeing so many people win, was
Speaker 1: she able to we were able to have a moment
Speaker 1: with her, and did she give you any advice?
Speaker 2: Look, I didn't have a specific moment with her, but
Speaker 2: I think you know, Sonya's presence, ben I mean even
Speaker 2: in rehearsals, right, Yeah, we'd go through and we all
Speaker 2: had to practice winning, like we'll, you know, just have
Speaker 2: a call out for all of us, right. And I
Speaker 2: think just during that moment, indirectly, Sonya was even you know,
Speaker 2: speaking to probably all three of us in that moment
Speaker 2: just to be calm and stay within the moment and like,
Speaker 2: literally one of us are going to win this thing,
Speaker 2: so it's going to happen. Enjoy this whole ride and process,
Speaker 2: and just her cool, calm, you know, confident demeanor that
Speaker 2: I'm just so cool. You know. I kind of took
Speaker 2: a little bit of that away and took that into
Speaker 2: the finale there because I was just like, yeah, this
Speaker 2: is just another day. Like take this in. It's not
Speaker 2: just another day, but take it in, you know, and
Speaker 2: be calm. Don't just be so anxious and nervous that
Speaker 2: you forget the whole thing and it's a whole blur.
Speaker 1: So I think you're so placid. I loved watching you
Speaker 1: throughout the whole series because I thought, no matter what
Speaker 1: was happening or whether the driver was high or low,
Speaker 1: Mary just seems to be chilled out and taking it
Speaker 1: on board. And I could do with a lot more
Speaker 1: of that in my life. Let me tell you, what
Speaker 1: do you think made you such a good Reality TV
Speaker 1: contestant and what makes a good Reality TV contestant in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: That's a great that's a great question. Then that's something
Speaker 2: and I especially talks about within this game, is that,
Speaker 2: you know, we stayed cool and calm the whole way through,
Speaker 2: especially myself. I came into this experience understanding and kind
Speaker 2: of anticipating that it would be a huge mess like
Speaker 2: it was. I don't think a lot of people did,
Speaker 2: potentially a lot of younger cast members that we had,
Speaker 2: like Pricking Tilly, who would be bouncing off the walls
Speaker 2: if something didn't go the right way, or even Danny
Speaker 2: on the opposite side of the spectrum. You know, I
Speaker 2: just remained cool and calm, and I think that's what
Speaker 2: helped me get throughout this game and remain very fluid
Speaker 2: and just have short term memory in there. You know,
Speaker 2: things didn't go my way a lot of the time,
Speaker 2: but you've got to wake up the next day, forget
Speaker 2: about it, move on, see what you can do to progress.
Speaker 2: If you don't, you're going down with the ships. So
Speaker 2: I think That's a huge part and reason to why
Speaker 2: I was so successful. I think within games and shows
Speaker 2: like this, you do definitely need that in order to
Speaker 2: be successful. But I think, honestly, then, I think the
Speaker 2: biggest part, and as lame and cliche as it sounds,
Speaker 2: just be yourself man, in these things. You know what
Speaker 2: I mean, you get casted for a reason, or if
Speaker 2: you weren't being yourself in the casting audition process, be
Speaker 2: that person that your auditioned as you know what I
Speaker 2: mean the whole way through. Don't flip flop around and
Speaker 2: change around. Be you, and you'll come out of this
Speaker 2: experience and not have any regrets. And I think that's
Speaker 2: what allowed me to really be within this moment and
Speaker 2: enjoy the moment. I know for a lot of people,
Speaker 2: you come out and you don't really enjoy the moment
Speaker 2: and you're upset about your edit or this, that and
Speaker 2: the other. That never phased me because I knew whatever
Speaker 2: they showed, yes.
Speaker 1: That was me.
Speaker 2: That is me through and through, and I'm going to
Speaker 2: embrace everything they show because I was in control of
Speaker 2: what I saying.
Speaker 1: Did you feel attached to the Big Brother House itself?
Speaker 1: I mean it's almost has a personality of its own
Speaker 1: and housemates throughout the twenty years of Big Brother talk
Speaker 1: about this sense of ownership over the house. How did
Speaker 1: you feel? Did you feel quite attached? And are you
Speaker 1: missing being there or are you happy to be out?
Speaker 2: Yeah, as crazy as it sounds, you do. You do
Speaker 2: feel attacked. And I'll tell you, when I realized it
Speaker 2: wasn't a real house, was freaking afterwards. When we've obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, made it to the top three, We're done,
Speaker 2: you know, we've done our little exit interview and everything,
Speaker 2: and then I look back into the house and they're
Speaker 2: already just taking everything down. The camera is everything, and
Speaker 2: I go, oh my god, this is a set.
Speaker 3: This isn't even because meanwhile, before I leave the house
Speaker 3: for the last time i'm in there, I go and
Speaker 3: hug my bed, I run into the cave, run into
Speaker 3: the bathroom, I said goodbye to everything, and it wasn't
Speaker 3: even a real home.
Speaker 2: So they do such a good job. I don't know
Speaker 2: how they do it. It's such an interesting experiment, but
Speaker 2: they do such an amazing job of making that feel
Speaker 2: like it's your only world and like it's a real home.
Speaker 2: It's a cool experience.
Speaker 1: It's so strange. Do you know which state the new
Speaker 1: Big Brother House is going to be? And I mean,
Speaker 1: they've dismantled your house, and if I can be self
Speaker 1: reflective of myself, I remember when the house that I
Speaker 1: was in burnt down. I felt really sad and I
Speaker 1: was like, oh my god, I'll never see that house
Speaker 1: or no other new housemates will ever go back into
Speaker 1: that house. It was really sad. Do you know whether
Speaker 1: or not they're going to build the house in New
Speaker 1: South Wales or Queensland? You know where it's going to be.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure exactly where it's going to be. No,
Speaker 2: but I have heard that it looks wonderful. That's all
Speaker 2: I've heard. I didn't get a lot of information out
Speaker 2: of my source, but yeah, it is kind of weird
Speaker 2: that it's not in there again and that we're going
Speaker 2: to be watching this show again next year whenever it's aired,
Speaker 2: and see that it's not the same house that we
Speaker 2: lived in. It's almost like a totally different game and
Speaker 2: experience I think it will be for us watching back.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm interested to see where it's going to be.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if it's in New South Wales or Queensland.
Speaker 2: Or where it might be. But I've heard it looks wonderful.
Speaker 1: And it's built, it's ready to go exactly.
Speaker 2: I see the built, it's in the process, and it
Speaker 2: looks amazing apparently, So we'll see. Actually it might be
Speaker 2: kind of cool and refreshing to see something different on TV.
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you have a bromance with Big Brother himself? Now?
Speaker 1: We often hear about women falling in love with him
Speaker 1: and boys wanting his approval? Can you describe maybe your
Speaker 1: relationship with him?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was special. It was special then, and I
Speaker 2: think towards the end of this game is when we
Speaker 2: became really really close. I think at the start of
Speaker 2: this game, you walk in and you think you know everything.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean, you obviously can't see everything.
Speaker 2: He sees everything. You know. He you You've got to
Speaker 2: realize and submit yourself to him and understand that he's
Speaker 2: trying to help you through this process as well. He
Speaker 2: wants to see everyone succeed. So I think towards the
Speaker 2: end game here me and him became really really close.
Speaker 2: I was able to talk to him about everything and anything,
Speaker 2: and even just sit there in the diary room and
Speaker 2: he would listen and help me and we'd sit there
Speaker 2: sometimes in silence, you know, thinking things through.
Speaker 1: That's amazing.
Speaker 2: And he was a great little yeah, a great like
Speaker 2: soundboard just to listen to me crap on or think
Speaker 2: about this strategy or this plan or this idea. And
Speaker 2: it really really helped me. I really appreciate him, and
Speaker 2: there was a special moment in that then when I
Speaker 2: got really really emotional. He said, we got to a
Speaker 2: point I think it was probably where I had no
Speaker 2: one on my side and I was thinking, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be the next one off here, and
Speaker 2: he said, Maley, you need to understand that everybody that
Speaker 2: has come into this diary room has not said one
Speaker 2: bad word about you, and you've got to use that
Speaker 2: to your advantage. And I just started tearing up once
Speaker 2: he said that part, and just thought, you know, this
Speaker 2: is beautiful and we'd share really special moments like that.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if he, you know, was meant to
Speaker 2: say that or not, but it was just such a
Speaker 2: special and real moment, you know what I mean, And
Speaker 2: it was beautiful to hear from him.
Speaker 1: Do you have his mobile number or email address? And
Speaker 1: are you going to try and hit him up for
Speaker 1: more secret chats.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I have to get onto it now, Ben.
Speaker 1: I remember being at the after party of the twenty
Speaker 1: twelve series and I met one of the voices of
Speaker 1: Big Brother who I had a really strong kinship with,
Speaker 1: and I got his email address anyway, emailed him and
Speaker 1: he never wrote back, so it was all fake.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's all fake.
Speaker 1: I'm still in There was three in my series, so yeah,
Speaker 1: I've been in contact with some of the other ones.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, you know, it must be strange for them.
Speaker 1: They'll be like, I've just spent fifty six days or
Speaker 1: however long with these people, go away now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, literally dealing with that. I know. I was speaking
Speaker 2: to one backstage and he said that like he was
Speaker 2: going through such a hard time because he was dealing
Speaker 2: with usks and then going back home and dealing with
Speaker 2: all that stuff too. So he said it was tough.
Speaker 2: It was getting tough for it.
Speaker 1: Imagine going back to your normal life, you know, and
Speaker 1: you wouldn't be able to talk about it with your
Speaker 1: wife or you know, with you a husband or whoever.
Speaker 1: You know, it would be such a surreal experience.
Speaker 2: Oh man, Ben, it would be insane. I don't know
Speaker 2: how they do it. You'd have to be such a
Speaker 2: unique person. And I always thought that to be big
Speaker 2: brother or be that voice, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like you have to be so quick, smart, witty, you
Speaker 2: have to almost be like a psychologist, like special special
Speaker 2: talent to do that role.
Speaker 1: Unbelievable. You know, what were your reactions to watching the
Speaker 1: show as it aired? I mean, I can't actually imagine
Speaker 1: the process of processing it as the public processes. Was
Speaker 1: that a hard thing to do?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Did you look forward to watching each episode or were
Speaker 1: you nervous watching it or scared?
Speaker 2: For the most part, I want to say probably ninety
Speaker 2: percent of it, I was very excited to watch it.
Speaker 2: There was a couple moments there. Obviously, there were certain
Speaker 2: things that happened in the game. It didn't really go
Speaker 2: my way, and I was wondering how this would be
Speaker 2: perceived by the public or portrayed, and how they kind
Speaker 2: of edit it up. You'd kind of get a little
Speaker 2: glimpse of how they were going to lead into the
Speaker 2: episode though through the previews that they'd show. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: I'd go, oh, I think it's going to go this way,
Speaker 2: and that would kind of ease my nerves. But there
Speaker 2: were a couple moments within that game where I was like, oh,
Speaker 2: I hope this doesn't hinder my spot, you know, towards
Speaker 2: the back end. But it all turned out amazingly, so
Speaker 2: I think for the most part, I really really enjoyed it. Ben.
Speaker 2: I was really excited, and I kind of got used
Speaker 2: to watching myself on TV, which.
Speaker 1: Was weird, like, I'm watching you, so I'm really you know,
Speaker 1: that's such a surreal thing for you to say, because
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of people in Australia right
Speaker 1: now that is missing some Maali on their TV screen.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right, And that's beautiful, man. I just and that
Speaker 2: was my goal going in, Ben, I wanted to. And
Speaker 2: I remember talking and sitting with our wellness manager before
Speaker 2: the show and she said, well, what's your goal going in?
Speaker 2: And I said, honestly, I just want to inspire and
Speaker 2: change somebody's life within that moment in a positive way,
Speaker 2: just one person. If I've done that, I've done my job,
Speaker 2: you know. And she goes, well, you'd want to you know,
Speaker 2: probably inspire a lot more than that, wouldn't you, Marley,
Speaker 2: And I go, Na, Honestly, it's just one person. I've
Speaker 2: done my job and I've the thousands of overwhelmingly beautiful
Speaker 2: messages I've received throughout the show, and then afterwards I
Speaker 2: won before I eaten one, so it's amazing.
Speaker 1: I'm just remember having so many conversations about you throughout
Speaker 1: the series. People were talking about your smile. They were like,
Speaker 1: you know, I couldn't think of debriefing the final episode,
Speaker 1: someone said to me, I couldn't think of anyone that's
Speaker 1: ever won this show who's just smiled their way through
Speaker 1: the whole thing.
Speaker 2: That's beautiful, Ben, Yeah, it is. And that's what is
Speaker 2: cool is you know you know who you are, right,
Speaker 2: We all know who we are. Yeah, and our family
Speaker 2: and closest ones always tell us who we are. But
Speaker 2: you kind of think in the back of your head. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean, but you're just saying that because you have to,
Speaker 2: because you love me, right. But to then have people
Speaker 2: that don't even need to like me or see these
Speaker 2: things in me are saying these types of things, that's
Speaker 2: just I just can't even believe it, Like that is
Speaker 2: just amazing for them to notice my smile, like the
Speaker 2: biggest part about me and my personality and be affected
Speaker 2: by that. I'm just looked, how have I I don't
Speaker 2: even know how I've done this. Like, I'm so fulfilled,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, I'm so fulfilled. This is amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm speechless about it all.
Speaker 1: The question I have for you is Ari seem to
Speaker 1: make a few comments in the media leading up to
Speaker 1: the finale, and he made a claim that you may
Speaker 1: not be who you really say you are. What did
Speaker 1: he mean by that? And do you think that Ari
Speaker 1: was still playing the game once the game had finished?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Yeah, But what does he mean by that? It seems
Speaker 1: like such an outrageous thing, as we lived with you
Speaker 1: for so long and we saw no cracks in it whatsoever.
Speaker 1: So you know, it's just interesting to hear that he
Speaker 1: came out and said that. Why do you think I mean.
Speaker 2: Let's go back to even what I said before about
Speaker 2: big Brother, you know, and what he told me in
Speaker 2: the diary, right, you know, saying that not one person
Speaker 2: has ever said anything like that. So I think now,
Speaker 2: and I remember clicking on that article and I read
Speaker 2: through a little bit and just got bored and kind
Speaker 2: of just put my phone down because it's Ari. Ari. Look,
Speaker 2: look who's saying these things? You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: I think Ari was still look, he was still playing
Speaker 2: the game a little bit, and fair play to him.
Speaker 2: I think he was obviously hurt that he didn't make
Speaker 2: it into the top three there, and that hurt me
Speaker 2: killed me taking him away from that position. So potentially
Speaker 2: he's still trying to take a couple of shots at me.
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, yeah, it's Ari
Speaker 2: saying these things. We understood and saw the way he
Speaker 2: played this game, so I'm not surprised at all that
Speaker 2: he's still trying to you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Have you patched things up with him at least what
Speaker 1: happened at the at the finale? Did you have a
Speaker 1: conversation about this article? Did you bring it up instead
Speaker 1: of go hey.
Speaker 2: I should have. I should have brought it up, actually,
Speaker 2: because I love you. When you do confront Ari about
Speaker 2: things like this, he goes, oh no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: you know, and gets really defensive.
Speaker 1: You're like, no, no, no, I've got the receipts, mate.
Speaker 2: I have no bad blood between me and Ari. He
Speaker 2: might have felt a little uncomfortable and awkward, I think,
Speaker 2: and I think he did with a lot of people,
Speaker 2: and I think that's why he didn't really get in
Speaker 2: contact and in touch with a lot of people after
Speaker 2: the show because obviously nobody knew what he said in
Speaker 2: the diary room about us all. So, you know what,
Speaker 2: I have love for Ari. He's a good kid, such
Speaker 2: a smart kid. Played an awesome and out there game
Speaker 2: and I completely respect that. Completely different game than me,
Speaker 2: but dude, we need different games, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It made it so entertaining. He's so good for TV.
Speaker 2: So now I've got all love for Ari. Even if
Speaker 2: he still wants to try it, we'll smile it off. Aban.
Speaker 1: I think it's the best way. I think that the
Speaker 1: best policy don't ever take anyone up. This is what
Speaker 1: I've learned, and it happened this week, is don't ever
Speaker 1: take anyone up over something they've said about you on
Speaker 1: the Daily Mail.
Speaker 2: I'm going to take that on board moving forward. I
Speaker 2: like that a lot.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of comments that have been made
Speaker 1: about SJ being saved by Big Brother. I think it
Speaker 1: was three times by the time, well twice I think
Speaker 1: by the time the show was over. Do you think
Speaker 1: that maybe being saved affects the game in the long run.
Speaker 1: Do you think that you know Big Brother saves you? Yes,
Speaker 1: you get to be there maybe in the finale, but
Speaker 1: it might hinder the way in which Australia views you.
Speaker 1: And is that something that maybe next year Big Brother
Speaker 1: shouldn't do.
Speaker 2: I unfortunately, I would have to I would have to
Speaker 2: say yes, I believe it does affect your chances towards
Speaker 2: the back end of this game. And it such because
Speaker 2: it's not even in their control, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's not in Sj's control that you got saved. It
Speaker 2: wasn't in Christina's control that she you know, got a
Speaker 2: victored and put into that little halfway house. It wasn't
Speaker 2: in their control, you know. But that's kind of what
Speaker 2: we sign up for. As good as that might seem
Speaker 2: at the time. Unfortunately, if you make it to the
Speaker 2: back end. And I say this because I know that
Speaker 2: the real Big Brother fans out there, they look for
Speaker 2: these things. They want to have a dig at people
Speaker 2: that get these things and these advantages and and things
Speaker 2: like that. So I think in that perspective it can
Speaker 2: unfortunately affect maybe how things look on the back end.
Speaker 2: But again, I truly I don't see it. As you know,
Speaker 2: people try to say, oh, the game's rigged this that,
Speaker 2: and the other, but this is what we signed up for.
Speaker 2: And merely I told us this walking in was that
Speaker 2: if you guys sign up for this, I want you
Speaker 2: to be prepared for twist turns, this, that and the other.
Speaker 2: And we also said yes and sign that contract and
Speaker 2: walked into the house to say that it's rigged and
Speaker 2: all that. I don't look into all that and believe
Speaker 2: any of that crap, but I definitely feel like, you know,
Speaker 2: luck might have been on Sj's side. She got saved
Speaker 2: a couple of times, which was awesome for her, but unfortunate,
Speaker 2: you know, on the back end. Then the Australia has
Speaker 2: to vote on that. Yeah, I think maybe, I don't know.
Speaker 2: It's tough. It's tough, Ben. I think potentially could be
Speaker 2: taken out, but then again, you do kind of want
Speaker 2: to leave things up to crazy chants as well. It
Speaker 2: creates kind of interestant gameplay because you target someone and
Speaker 2: take them out and then to have them come back
Speaker 2: into the house again and rile things up. I think
Speaker 2: it's kind of interesting too. So it's a tough one.
Speaker 2: It's a tough one for me. I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's really tough as a viewer as well, because I
Speaker 1: really liked s J and I really liked Christina, Like,
Speaker 1: I thought they were both fantastic housemates, and we're really
Speaker 1: excited that they were saved. But then I still voted
Speaker 1: for Mali in the end, and I think that that
Speaker 1: did come down to I'm not allowed to really say that,
Speaker 1: but you know, but did come down to you played
Speaker 1: a great game and you didn't need to be saved,
Speaker 1: you know. Like I think that that played into the
Speaker 1: zegeist of how people voted for you, you know, and
Speaker 1: I think that can be a little bit disappointing. But hey,
Speaker 1: I think you've answered that question quite well. And it
Speaker 1: is a difficult question to answer because we all have
Speaker 1: to be so thankful of being picked on those sorts
Speaker 1: of shows and the experience that we got to have,
Speaker 1: So we don't really want to pull that apart in
Speaker 1: a negative way. We have to sort of understand it
Speaker 1: in a broader stroke. You know, how's the group chat going?
Speaker 1: By the way, are you surviving? Are you on the
Speaker 1: group chat with all the twenty six housemates had a
Speaker 1: mine film? Is that?
Speaker 2: How bad has it been? Especially when you're going through
Speaker 2: and watching this whole thing. There was times there where
Speaker 2: I had to mute it because it was just like
Speaker 2: you know what I said.
Speaker 1: Well, you see people differently as well, like you come
Speaker 1: out of the house and then you see people differently
Speaker 1: because of what they're writing afterwards, and you can it's
Speaker 1: also a text, so you know, when you're reading people's text,
Speaker 1: you can misinterpret things, which can be really difficult as well.
Speaker 1: But I must admit, you know, coming out of the
Speaker 1: Big Brother experience, I noticed some people were really different
Speaker 1: outside of the house compared to being inside the house.
Speaker 1: Did you notice any significant changes in personalities?
Speaker 2: I don't know, Honestly, I really don't think I did
Speaker 2: notice anything. No, I think everyone, and especially this year,
Speaker 2: you know, now I actually look back at this because
Speaker 2: I haven't thought about it. I think for the most part,
Speaker 2: everyone was exactly who they showed they were in that
Speaker 2: game and kind of portrayed as within that game, and
Speaker 2: kind of when we came out of the house, it
Speaker 2: was that same person. You know, some people you didn't
Speaker 2: like that other person. I didn't speak to that other person.
Speaker 2: I thought this way about someone, and and you know,
Speaker 2: had their same personality, and I think for them, I
Speaker 2: actually I'm pretty proud of that. I think this whole
Speaker 2: car is for the most part, has been themselves within
Speaker 2: that game and still carried that outside the game. So no,
Speaker 2: there wasn't anything that I noticed that I was like, oh, wow,
Speaker 2: that's that's totally different. Like I expected Ari to probably
Speaker 2: not talk to a lot of people after this, you
Speaker 2: know what I.
Speaker 1: Mean, how could he knowing what he knew?
Speaker 2: So yeah, no, there was nothing that really jumped out
Speaker 2: at me. Actually, to be honest, which cool.
Speaker 1: Did you see any similarities between last year's win A
Speaker 1: Chat and yourself? And is that a strategy now for
Speaker 1: you know, people coming into the new season. I mean
Speaker 1: they're going to We're going to see a VIP series
Speaker 1: and a civilian series. Do you think that that sort
Speaker 1: of likable, honest and quiet achiever that gets along with everyone,
Speaker 1: do you think that that now makes the formula to
Speaker 1: win Big Brother.
Speaker 2: That's a great that's a great question. And I'll tell
Speaker 2: you what. I'll be honest with you. When I came
Speaker 2: out of obviously this experience, like I knew going in
Speaker 2: going to be me and I knew I did have
Speaker 2: similar characteristics to Chad in regards to wanting to play
Speaker 2: an integral game and making a conscious effort of playing
Speaker 2: an integral game. But that's just me. So that was easy.
Speaker 2: But I did feel like on the back end when
Speaker 2: I did make it to the top three, obviously I
Speaker 2: couldn't say anything. I thought to myself, ooh, they're not
Speaker 2: going to have two Chads win in a row, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. They're not going to have two
Speaker 2: people that played that same game win in a row.
Speaker 2: And I was like, I was kind of bummed because
Speaker 2: I was like, man, I played such an amazing game,
Speaker 2: and I feel like, you know, I played very similar
Speaker 2: to Chad, but I felt like I was even a
Speaker 2: level above in regard to being so so honest and
Speaker 2: transparent with people. I think I was that honest with
Speaker 2: people Ben, especially when people would try and pitch to
Speaker 2: me and I'd tell them who I'm going to vote for.
Speaker 2: I would kind of say it to their face. So
Speaker 2: they never showed any of that in the pitching process
Speaker 2: with me, because I would kind of just tell them,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: You'd be upfront and honest about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was really nervous coming up to that, thinking, oh,
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're going to kind of want
Speaker 2: two people like that to win, but you know, I
Speaker 2: think what shine through is just people relating to me
Speaker 2: on a genuine level and authentic level, and they realized that,
Speaker 2: you know, that was me and I connected with people
Speaker 2: that way. But I think, honestly, I think it's a
Speaker 2: great formula for life. And that's what I wanted to
Speaker 2: kind of show and prove is that you can be
Speaker 2: successful being this way in life. You don't just have
Speaker 2: to be corrupt and live, cheat and stilled and make
Speaker 2: your way up there. But I think I think it
Speaker 2: would be interesting to see a person have some gameplay
Speaker 2: like a Danny or an Ari and win this whole
Speaker 2: thing out. So I don't think you necessarily have to
Speaker 2: be the way I was to be able to take
Speaker 2: games like this out. I think you just have to
Speaker 2: be yourself and embrace who you are. Don't go into
Speaker 2: the game and play a certain way and then come
Speaker 2: out and try and act like you were representing this
Speaker 2: and doing this and doing that. Embrace the game that
Speaker 2: you played, whatever that might be. And that's what I
Speaker 2: did because that was me, and I think that's what
Speaker 2: helped me win a couple of those votes over in
Speaker 2: the public eye.
Speaker 1: Do you think that there should be some more mind
Speaker 1: challenges and maybe less physical challenges next year. I mean,
Speaker 1: there was some contestants in there. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: single amount Charlotte, but you know, there was sometimes that
Speaker 1: you felt like she was probably a better mental strategist
Speaker 1: over a physical strategist. And do you think they need
Speaker 1: to balance that kind of thing moving forward?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I do. I do. I absolutely think they should
Speaker 2: balance it out. I thought it was going to work
Speaker 2: in my favor. I was bloody shit house at most
Speaker 2: of the challenges, especially to begin with Ben, so you
Speaker 2: know what I mean. So maybe I would have actually
Speaker 2: liked a couple more mental challenges myself, but I definitely
Speaker 2: was surprised when coming in, and especially at the start,
Speaker 2: they were all physical. I think for the first I
Speaker 2: reckon the first the first third was all physical and
Speaker 2: then it kind of went into a little bit of
Speaker 2: like mental slash skill and then it kind of carried
Speaker 2: on to yeah, more skill type, right. But I think
Speaker 2: it should have been balanced a little more for every
Speaker 2: type of person because we had so many different kind
Speaker 2: of physical characters within that game, and I think it
Speaker 2: would just make it more interesting to yeah, change it
Speaker 2: up and have a little more you know, more mind
Speaker 2: kind of blowing.
Speaker 1: Kind of challenge. I think my favorite challenge for the
Speaker 1: whole series was when you had the jigsaw puzzle with
Speaker 1: the arrows. Felt like that challenge had three things in
Speaker 1: there that could suit different people. Ari took to that
Speaker 1: jigsaw puzzle so fast, and we sort of expect that
Speaker 1: of him because of his playing of chess. That was
Speaker 1: my favorite, and I feel like that's the sort of
Speaker 1: challenges we need to see more of.
Speaker 2: Yeah, couldn't agree more, Ben, and I think what they
Speaker 2: were trying to do when that last challenge was combine
Speaker 2: every single challenge that we've done previously up until this
Speaker 2: point and put it into one. But eventually if they
Speaker 2: did things like that in each challenge or threw a
Speaker 2: couple of them, you know, we do so many challenges,
Speaker 2: throw a couple in there that had these three elements,
Speaker 2: because there's always that equalizer fact at the end, you know,
Speaker 2: in the skill you what I mean by that point,
Speaker 2: By that point, Ari was well ahead, right, He killed it,
Speaker 2: killed the puzzle, got under that sand as quick as
Speaker 2: anything and got to the end, and it was kind
Speaker 2: of equalized because us, all of us then ended up
Speaker 2: at that part, right, and that skill gap is really hard.
Speaker 2: So that was probably my favorite challenge too, not just
Speaker 2: because I won and cemented my spot in the end,
Speaker 2: but because there was different comments there. You know, you
Speaker 2: had the physical part at the start where people could
Speaker 2: be advantageous in that regard, then you could you know,
Speaker 2: maybe lose out on the puzzle part, and then you know,
Speaker 2: it was very, very interesting. But I think they kind
Speaker 2: of through the whole game that we've played so far
Speaker 2: into one challenge, and I think that was a pretty
Speaker 2: cool pull moment for us to be a part of.
Speaker 2: I wish that the other housemates could have had a
Speaker 2: challenge like that yet, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Now with Daniel, he was probably one of the
Speaker 1: most memorable housemates in Big Brother history, and we got
Speaker 1: to see him throughout his highs and lows, and man
Speaker 1: that that guy lives his emotions. He lives his emotions.
Speaker 1: You know, must have been strange to sort of even
Speaker 1: live with this man. Mind you, I absolutely loved him.
Speaker 1: I thought he was fantastic as from a viewer's perspective.
Speaker 1: But what do you think is going to happen with
Speaker 1: Daniel next? I mean, I remember having a conversation with
Speaker 1: him a while ago and he was like I'm not
Speaker 1: interested in television or anything. He just like he wanted
Speaker 1: to do that to prove something to himself. But do
Speaker 1: you think we've seen the end of Daniel.
Speaker 2: I don't. Okay, that's interesting you say that. I reckon
Speaker 2: he talks a lot of looks, a lot of nonsense.
Speaker 2: Let's say that. Man, he talks a lot about it.
Speaker 2: I feel like, look at him, man, he loved it.
Speaker 2: He loved the airtime, he loved being theatrical and dramatic,
Speaker 2: and he lived for it. Then, so I nah, bullcrap.
Speaker 2: I think he's trying to keep things under wraps so
Speaker 2: he can walk into the next crazy reality TV show
Speaker 2: or whatever it might be and try and take ownership
Speaker 2: of that as well. I truly I think he's great
Speaker 2: for TV. I think he was one of the most
Speaker 2: entertaining players in there, and he would I think he'd
Speaker 2: be silly not to. I mean, if he truly doesn't
Speaker 2: like it, that's fair enough. But I think he should
Speaker 2: run with it because he's great for TV. He's hilarious,
Speaker 2: people love him.
Speaker 1: He's honestly, he's real. I think he's he's a modern
Speaker 1: day television star in lots of ways. I think that's
Speaker 1: what people have wanted. People are gravitating towards more of that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess if they were to do VIP
Speaker 1: or they're doing VIP, and if they did in All Stars,
Speaker 1: he's the sort of person that might get brought back.
Speaker 1: He would say yes, they send the email and he
Speaker 1: would be on a plane or on his motorcycle and
Speaker 1: he'd be the first. Yeah, would you go back and
Speaker 1: do it again? Like, you know, if they did bring
Speaker 1: you back and asked you to redo the series again?
Speaker 1: You think, you know, you can put your whites in
Speaker 1: the laundry, but they're not always going to come out.
Speaker 1: What you know? Now that you're a winner of Big Brother,
Speaker 1: would you want to go back and try and do
Speaker 1: that challenge all over again?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I would. I'd do it. I have no regrets
Speaker 2: with going into that game. I reckon I'd do it now,
Speaker 2: I'd do it. I would, I would. I don't know
Speaker 2: if they would ever want, you know, a winner of
Speaker 2: Big Brother to go and do something like that again.
Speaker 2: Maybe they should do it. We should start our own thing.
Speaker 2: Then all the winners can come into a crazy House.
Speaker 1: I would love to do it, but you know, we
Speaker 1: would have to go into the house with Tim Dormer,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm terrified of him actually, as like
Speaker 1: I was in Sydney recently and I saw him walking
Speaker 1: down the road and I actually switch to the other
Speaker 1: side of the road. And he's a lovely person. Like
Speaker 1: I have had some good times with him, but the
Speaker 1: idea of being in a Big Brother house with him
Speaker 1: actually makes me want to book therapy in advance.
Speaker 2: I have a therapist on stand by the whole through.
Speaker 2: Maybe we'll do it if that's if that's the case,
Speaker 2: and he'd win.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a mind manipulating genius, So I just
Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe we'd maybe we'd ruin him in
Speaker 1: the challenges. We could blindside him.
Speaker 2: Mali, you and me, we'd work together. Well then I'm just.
Speaker 1: Just smile the whole way through it, and I'm taking
Speaker 1: your I'm taking it as a thing in my real life.
Speaker 1: I'm taking just smile through life and things will work out.
Speaker 1: One of the things. You know, I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: taking away from this right now because you probably could
Speaker 1: be on a zoom chat with your partner, But how
Speaker 1: has that been. Both of you are athletes, and obviously
Speaker 1: that involves being in different countries in different places a lot,
Speaker 1: and here we are at a pinnacle point of your life,
Speaker 1: winning big brother, and she's not here to celebrate that
Speaker 1: with you. Is that Has that been really hard?
Speaker 2: It's been ship.
Speaker 1: Yeah, There no other way to say it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, there's no beating around the bush with that.
Speaker 1: Ben.
Speaker 2: It's it has been hard. This has been, yeah, the
Speaker 2: biggest moment in my life. And to not have the
Speaker 2: woman that I love to bits, you know, and my
Speaker 2: best friend be right here beside me has been tough,
Speaker 2: not only for me, but really for her. She really
Speaker 2: wants to be here for me, and it's just hard.
Speaker 2: It's so hard to not have her here. But you know,
Speaker 2: thank God for technology and everything. Ben, Like right after
Speaker 2: the finale, like when I walked as soon as I
Speaker 2: walked out backstage, I facetimed her and we just had
Speaker 2: an amazing chat. But it's been tough not only not
Speaker 2: to have her here, but for the last fifteen months
Speaker 2: been because of this whole virus and everything going on
Speaker 2: in the world. You know, we haven't been able to
Speaker 2: see each other. And that's the longest we could ever
Speaker 2: imagine not seeing each other for so it's been really,
Speaker 2: really tough. What has been good though, because I have
Speaker 2: been very busy with all this dealing with this crap
Speaker 2: and this nonsense, right, and she's been dealing with her
Speaker 2: soccer stuff over there in her career and doing amazing,
Speaker 2: amazing things. So thank God that we're busy and we're
Speaker 2: not just sitting around, you know, twiddling our thumbs. But yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, it's been really really hard for her and I,
Speaker 2: especially in this moment now, to not be together. It sucks.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it must be really hard. And then there's
Speaker 1: this is this question that's going to plague you for
Speaker 1: the rest of your life. Just heads up, and that
Speaker 1: is what will you do with the money? What have
Speaker 1: you done with the money? We've had a lot of conversations, Sonya,
Speaker 1: had conversations with you about it, and I think you
Speaker 1: spoke about it a lot leading up until the finale,
Speaker 1: is saying that you want to do something to support
Speaker 1: your father, and I even heard you on the radio
Speaker 1: saying that you know, whatever he needs, you know, you're
Speaker 1: going to help him out with. And I think that
Speaker 1: that's really beautiful and very noble. But what about something
Speaker 1: for yourself? Like can we talk about this now? What
Speaker 1: can we go out and get for you. I'm not
Speaker 1: coming with you, by the way, even though it sounds
Speaker 1: like I'm inviting myself.
Speaker 2: I know, what are we going to go out?
Speaker 1: Let's chatty. We'll had done to chads him. Now what
Speaker 1: are you going to do? You're going to buy something
Speaker 1: to sort of staple this and say, wow, I've done
Speaker 1: I've done an amazing job.
Speaker 2: I think I have to, Ben, I think I have to.
Speaker 2: I would love to. I know one of my goals
Speaker 2: and before even big brother, by the end of the year,
Speaker 2: I would love to get a new car. I would
Speaker 2: love that nothing more. So potentially that might be something
Speaker 2: that I'll get towards the end of the year. I'm
Speaker 2: not sure if it'll be to do with this money,
Speaker 2: depending on what we need to do with Dad first,
Speaker 2: but it might be, you know, due to what has
Speaker 2: happened the other successes that come up along the way
Speaker 2: until that point. Potentially I might be able to build
Speaker 2: enough revenue to buy that for myself at some point.
Speaker 2: But there might be something little that I can I
Speaker 2: can think about in the meantime that there's something that
Speaker 2: I would like to get just to celebrate this moment
Speaker 2: for myself as well.
Speaker 1: My only advice to here is get something that won't dissipate.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not going to lose its value over time.
Speaker 1: You can't see this, but just behind there is a
Speaker 1: movie Projectice, and that's the thing that it was the
Speaker 1: first thing that I bought with the money and I've
Speaker 1: still got it and that's still I love movies. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it was I think it was worth six
Speaker 1: thousand dollars and I just was like, you know, I
Speaker 1: need to get something anyway that Actually, you know what,
Speaker 1: I've just told you a whole load of shit, really,
Speaker 1: because that probably is going to break one day.
Speaker 2: And then I'll have nothing break tomorrow.
Speaker 1: My friends will tell you I've used it a lot
Speaker 1: to watch the finale of Big Brother Back a thousand
Speaker 1: times on my big screen at home, because that's the
Speaker 1: narcissist in me. Stop watching that finale.
Speaker 2: I probably will to understand. Maybe I will get it.
Speaker 2: Maybe I can get a really cool TV or something.
Speaker 2: I know my brother always has the most expensive gadget,
Speaker 2: so maybe I'll do the same and just have the
Speaker 2: finale running on repeat.
Speaker 1: Do it? I support it? Can we talk about the
Speaker 1: three lifelong friends? I mean, I know that I know
Speaker 1: you well enough to know from everything I've heard inside
Speaker 1: the camp, and that is that everyone wants to be
Speaker 1: Marley's friend. But can we simplify it instead of having
Speaker 1: this you know, going for too long and ask you,
Speaker 1: you know, if there three people that have seemed to
Speaker 1: have signified themselves as lifelong friends.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's great. There definitely would be, maybe just
Speaker 2: a little more than three. But my first obviously has
Speaker 2: to be Tilly. Absolutely loved that girl, one of my
Speaker 2: best friends. Now she was throughout that show. Now coming
Speaker 2: out of the house would become even closer, like she's
Speaker 2: is amazing that girl. So definitely Tilly. My man Chris
Speaker 2: one hundred percent is definitely a lifelong friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I've known Christopher Wayne for a very long time. He
Speaker 1: is the ultimate Big Brother superfan. I think he has
Speaker 1: the mobile number of every housemate that's ever existed. And
Speaker 1: the weird thing was that as other seasons happened after mine,
Speaker 1: he would keep turning up on my Facebook with photos
Speaker 1: with new housemates. I was like, okay, and he swears
Speaker 1: to me that it was always by you know, luck,
Speaker 1: chance and circumstance that he would come across these housemates
Speaker 1: and conjure these amazing friendships with them. Anyway, number three
Speaker 1: you got the number three three wishes Jeannie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like this. I like this. I Reckon and
Speaker 2: Jesse my girl, Jesse, definitely love her. I love that girl.
Speaker 2: Do you anoint the shit out of me in that
Speaker 2: bloody house? And I tell you that you wearing all
Speaker 2: of my clothes and getting it so dirty and you
Speaker 2: look about you. But I generally don't like people wearing
Speaker 2: my things, or sharing my stuff, or even laying all
Speaker 2: over my bed. Do you know what I mean? But
Speaker 2: you have to kind of throw that all out there
Speaker 2: at the door.
Speaker 1: Lise, she didn't wear your underpants, I'll tell you this much.
Speaker 1: And that was I would sit in the backyard of
Speaker 1: the Big Brother House and I'd see Michael and Josh,
Speaker 1: who were two housemates in twenty twelve, and they would
Speaker 1: be wearing my clean underpants, like I would be othered
Speaker 1: to do my washing so my underpants would be clean.
Speaker 1: And I remember one day saying, boys, are you both
Speaker 1: wearing my underpants? And they were like, yeah, we didn't
Speaker 1: have any clean ones. And I was like, this is disgusting,
Speaker 1: Like take my underpan and they were briefs as well.
Speaker 1: They were like and these and I was just like,
Speaker 1: for the sake of Australia as well, especially you, Michaels,
Speaker 1: take them off.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Literally, that's what we signed up for. I guess, hey,
Speaker 2: oh my god, amazing.
Speaker 1: And I guess we also have to ask about the
Speaker 1: audition process. Was the audition process hard for you? And
Speaker 1: you know, was it stressful going through that? And I
Speaker 1: guess we should ask, you know, what sort of advice
Speaker 1: do you have to other people? That box is easily
Speaker 1: ticked though, And I think you've talked about that a
Speaker 1: lot in other interviews, so maybe talk about was it
Speaker 1: a hard process going through the audition?
Speaker 2: Honestly, I think it might have been an easier process
Speaker 2: for me. And I'll tell you why. I didn't have to.
Speaker 4: Go through the traditional audition process, which I would feel
Speaker 4: would be haunting in you know, you meet together and
Speaker 4: congregate with a group, right, and then you have to
Speaker 4: do this, that and the other to kind of stand
Speaker 4: out and kind of progress to the next stage.
Speaker 2: I didn't have to do that. All I had to
Speaker 2: do was send in my application. Due to the times
Speaker 2: that we're in, because we're in you know, there's plenty,
Speaker 2: lockdown environ everything. I just had to send my application in.
Speaker 2: I had a call the next day, and then had
Speaker 2: a skype call with Amelia following not so long afterwards,
Speaker 2: and then just had to go through it that way
Speaker 2: and send through video footage, which is easy. You can
Speaker 2: be yourself when it's just you and the camera, what
Speaker 2: I mean, So you're not too nervous and anxious and
Speaker 2: embarrassed to do crazy stuff. So I think it was
Speaker 2: in my advantage that we're in lockdown at this time.
Speaker 2: And this is why I say everything happens for a reason.
Speaker 2: I truly think that because of that is the reason
Speaker 2: that I got into this show and now I've won.
Speaker 2: So I think it was quite easy for me. But
Speaker 2: I feel like always.
Speaker 1: Better to have them genuinely want you to be there
Speaker 1: on these shows. I think. I think there's nothing better.
Speaker 1: My dad used to always say to me, never never
Speaker 1: work for someone who doesn't believe that you should do
Speaker 1: the job, because you'll always be trying to convince them
Speaker 1: that you're the right person for it instead of just
Speaker 1: doing the work. And I think it's really good that
Speaker 1: you're able to have that support from Amelia to get
Speaker 1: onto the show and then talking about I mean, should
Speaker 1: probably ask you to send some footage through of you
Speaker 1: playing basketball. You know what's next for you?
Speaker 3: Maally?
Speaker 1: Are you going to continue with your sport or can
Speaker 1: you say something else? I mean, this is probably a
Speaker 1: really good chance to pivot. Have you thought about, you know,
Speaker 1: what do you want to do? What do you want
Speaker 1: to do with your life? Now?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I have been and I think I think you're
Speaker 2: absolutely right. You know, I've played basketball for more than
Speaker 2: fifteen years of my life and it's taken me all
Speaker 2: over the world and done making things for me. And
Speaker 2: I think there's you know, it's a very time slash
Speaker 2: age sensitive sport where you know, I'm twenty six now.
Speaker 2: You know you can't play this game forever, right, I'm
Speaker 2: getting to the back end now of my age within
Speaker 2: this sport. You've got young kids at eighteen nineteen going
Speaker 2: to the NBA, you know what I mean. So I
Speaker 2: think this is a great moment. I've done everything that
Speaker 2: I've wanted to achieve with basketball, and I think this
Speaker 2: is a great moment for me mentally to kind of
Speaker 2: pivot and tap into some other things that I've wanted
Speaker 2: to tap into within life. You know, I'm so passionate
Speaker 2: within the disability industry and I love working with these
Speaker 2: kids that I work with. Than potentially starting my own
Speaker 2: business within disability, it would be something I strive for
Speaker 2: in the future. I love talking, as you can see,
Speaker 2: I loved talking. Maybe you know something to do with
Speaker 2: with this. Maybe I could start my own podcast something
Speaker 2: like that one day, or Bloody Elle. You might see
Speaker 2: me on TV with Danny a is doing something crazy too.
Speaker 2: But I definitely just want to tap into every little
Speaker 2: thing in life that I can and that I have
Speaker 2: the potential of succeeding in, because why not. Life's too short.
Speaker 2: So I definitely do feel like this is a pivotal
Speaker 2: moment and a very good moment to pivot in career
Speaker 2: choices and parts for me. So I'm really I'm just
Speaker 2: so excited. I'm so excited for what's to come. If
Speaker 2: anything does, maybe this is it and I just sit
Speaker 2: here and you and I chat every day.
Speaker 1: But well, I went to bed last night thinking about
Speaker 1: this interview, you know, like, you know, what questions am
Speaker 1: I going to ask? How do I make this fun
Speaker 1: for you? You know, what do people want to know?
Speaker 1: And I went to bed thinking about you as Australia
Speaker 1: does pretty much every day now. And I dreamt that
Speaker 1: you were in Sas with Danny and and it was
Speaker 1: weird because you know, sometimes dreams have real detail to them,
Speaker 1: you know, like you'll be like and anyway. So in
Speaker 1: this dream, the two of you were trying to negotiate
Speaker 1: that show like Big Brother, and you were struggling to
Speaker 1: realize that essays you know, is different in lots of
Speaker 1: other ways. So I don't know, maybe it's a prophecy,
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm foreseeing something. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that that would be something I would
Speaker 2: I would be absolutely terrified to go on, but would love.
Speaker 1: I think you would be so good on that show,
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: You know, yeah, I think mentally with the crap that
Speaker 2: I've been through, and I swear one of the colleges
Speaker 2: that I went to Ben was bloody like Sas. This
Speaker 2: coach that we had that was an absolute just nuts right,
Speaker 2: So I think I'd be all right at it.
Speaker 1: Things happened for a reason. You had that horrible coach,
Speaker 1: you know, to train you for what was to come
Speaker 1: in your in your life. In now what we're talking
Speaker 1: about your next job, which is Sasy it's happening. It's
Speaker 1: happening now. My last question that I always ask all
Speaker 1: my guests before they go, and that is, you know,
Speaker 1: what is an amazing story from behind the scenes that
Speaker 1: were as an audience would appreciate that we might not
Speaker 1: have seen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good question, I think. Ah, there was
Speaker 2: one thing that does come to mind, and I remember
Speaker 2: there was one night we're all laying We're all laying
Speaker 2: in bed about to go to sleep, and we loved
Speaker 2: listening to Ari before we go to bed because he's
Speaker 2: so entertaining and interesting to listen to, right, And he
Speaker 2: did tell us a story. I'm not sure if it
Speaker 2: was true, and I'm not sure if it had any
Speaker 2: effect and advantage for him going into this game this year,
Speaker 2: but he did speak about how at one point in
Speaker 2: his life and he told us all these types of
Speaker 2: crazy stories and I don't know what's the truth and
Speaker 2: what isn't, but he told us about, you know, the
Speaker 2: fact that before coming into this and I'm not sure
Speaker 2: if it was last year or the year before, but
Speaker 2: he did actually intern for Channel seven at some point.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how long he did it for, but
Speaker 2: he said that he did intern with Channel seven to
Speaker 2: do with something and I'm not sure for how long,
Speaker 2: but I think that's kind of interesting. That obviously didn't
Speaker 2: go to air was the fact that Ari potentially, did
Speaker 2: you know, internal work with Channel seven at some point
Speaker 2: in his life.
Speaker 1: I don't want that on the show. That's nepotism or
Speaker 1: whatever that word is, Like, we can't do you want
Speaker 1: to hear. My funniest story that I ever heard about Ari,
Speaker 1: because as I shared with you before the podcast started,
Speaker 1: I heard a lot about all of you guys before
Speaker 1: you were all seen on television, was that I originally
Speaker 1: came across Ari because he was managing Angela Clancy, who
Speaker 1: was their housemate from the year before, and so he
Speaker 1: was a manager for Talent And I was like what.
Speaker 1: It just blew my mind because I'd already heard that
Speaker 1: Angela was being managed by this guy Ari, and then
Speaker 1: when I heard that he was on the show, I
Speaker 1: was like, what had you heard that?
Speaker 3: One?
Speaker 2: I did? I did hear that? I did hear that?
Speaker 2: So is it is it true that he was actually
Speaker 2: managing Angela?
Speaker 1: What's the I think she thought he was. I don't
Speaker 1: know whether, I mean, I can't this is not this
Speaker 1: is naughty to go into it. I mean, we don't
Speaker 1: know all the facts ourselves, but just the many stories
Speaker 1: of Ari, you know.
Speaker 2: Are they'ny Ari? Ari's hilarious. He's done. I don't know,
Speaker 2: maybe he's done so much and he told us so much.
Speaker 2: And how old is he? Like twenty two? I don't
Speaker 2: know how this kid has experienced this many things in life,
Speaker 2: but he told us so many crazy, funny stories. And
Speaker 2: I'm not sure what is true and what isn't now
Speaker 2: after watching what came to air and how much he
Speaker 2: did have to lie about things like he would lie
Speaker 2: to sit about the fact that his grandfather was from
Speaker 2: Nigeria or something just to get closer to s oh,
Speaker 2: ken Yall, sorry, ken Yall, just to get closer to
Speaker 2: So I don't know what's the truth of what is it?
Speaker 1: But yeah, that is amazing. It is so funny. Well,
Speaker 1: I would say, without a doubt, the series was so
Speaker 1: well cast and we've got such a fantastic result of
Speaker 1: seeing you win at the end. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: follow more of his story. Make I think that there's
Speaker 1: plenty of big things out there for you, and I
Speaker 1: appreciate your time on Tavrilo today.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you. Then, honestly, thank you. That was the
Speaker 2: most fun I've had in an interview, back back to
Speaker 2: back to back the same stuff, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I've run up two hours sleep. But today, after
Speaker 2: being able to leap to sit down and talk to you,
Speaker 2: I've really been able to, you know, reflect on everything
Speaker 2: that I've been through, that you've been through, and it's
Speaker 2: just been a very pleasant and amazing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a cathartic thing.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Talk to you soon and enjoy
Speaker 2: watching the movies on that projecting, mate, But see you mate.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much.