Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload, the podcast last Keep that by.
Speaker 2: Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. Thank you for
Speaker 2: clicking and downloading. On today's episode with Scott, who was
Speaker 2: the first contestant to voluntarily leave Astrain and Survivor on
Speaker 2: Network ten, I will be talking about his time in
Speaker 2: Samoa and of course what he thinks now that the
Speaker 2: smoke has well and truly been snuffed out on his torch.
Speaker 2: Australian Survivor Titans Versus Rebels is a showdown that pits
Speaker 2: the winners against the underdogs and the big wigs against
Speaker 2: the battlers, with each player competing for the grand prize
Speaker 2: of half a million dollars. Scott is a creative director
Speaker 2: at Mona in Tasmania. In his game of Survivor, he
Speaker 2: dominated the Rebels faction alongside his longtime ally Kirby. Scott
Speaker 2: enjoyed a smooth run throughout the tribal phase of the game.
Speaker 2: Shortly after the merge, however, Scott was forced to confront
Speaker 2: the emotional turmoil of the game. Unable to bear the
Speaker 2: toll of his hectic environment around him, he opted to
Speaker 2: quit the show. Scott will talk about his decision to
Speaker 2: quit and give us some insights into how we coped
Speaker 2: after the show and what he thinks of the vetting
Speaker 2: process on getting into Australian Survivor. We will talk about
Speaker 2: his connection with Kitty and how much of that played
Speaker 2: into his decision to leave. Scott will unpack how we
Speaker 2: rationalize leaving the Tribal Council and if there was two
Speaker 2: unfair on winner with his immunity idol being wasted. Plus,
Speaker 2: we will get a great story on Raymond and how
Speaker 2: he collected some significant items and suggested Scott make a
Speaker 2: hidden immunity idol out of it. There is actually so
Speaker 2: much to unpack with Scott, and he's super open to
Speaker 2: having a conversation about his decision to leave this show
Speaker 2: and the realities of what it was like to be
Speaker 2: on Australian Survivor. So sit back and relax as we
Speaker 2: dive just that little bit deeper into the world of
Speaker 2: Australian Survivor. How are you Scott here? All right?
Speaker 1: I'm good, thank you. Feeling a lot better now than
Speaker 1: I was last night.
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, of course. Jo. What I also think
Speaker 2: is quite amazing is that we're here and you're looking
Speaker 2: so happy. You look great, and we're celebrating your time
Speaker 2: an Australian survivor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm so glad we are. I was a bit
Speaker 1: worried about how it was all gonna come out, you know,
Speaker 1: like you get so anxious waiting for your episode and
Speaker 1: you never know how it's going to come out. Right,
Speaker 1: you're seeing it for the first time too, you're just
Speaker 1: like everyone else sat on the couch. So for me
Speaker 1: last night was a bit of a sort of a worry.
Speaker 1: But seeing it last night I was fine. I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: do you know what they've done this so well? They've
Speaker 1: somehow made two challenges, merge and me having somewhat of
Speaker 1: a breakdown work into an episode of television.
Speaker 2: I think it's good. It's actually really great television at
Speaker 2: the end of the day. And I think it was
Speaker 2: handled all really well. This could have been a bit
Speaker 2: of a dog's breakfast, to be honest with you, but
Speaker 2: it seemed like there were some people behind the scenes
Speaker 2: that really knew how to handle the situation.
Speaker 1: I agree, and that, honestly, I felt that when I
Speaker 1: was out there too. You felt that on the ground
Speaker 1: from the whole side of things you don't see on
Speaker 1: the TV.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: The crew, they're amazing, and I felt like I had
Speaker 1: them backing me up the whole time and were just
Speaker 1: there for me, and I was heard and I felt safe,
Speaker 1: and it was kind of like no decision was the
Speaker 1: wrong decision, you know, it was very much like, how
Speaker 1: do you want to do this? Because we're here to
Speaker 1: just kind of help you.
Speaker 2: That my take them from watching last night with you, though,
Speaker 2: is I think that, you know, sometimes they can be
Speaker 2: pain behind a beautiful smile watching even this. I rewatched
Speaker 2: the episode this morning after I'd seen the result. I
Speaker 2: want to go back and watch it again. And I
Speaker 2: did notice you smiling a lot through that episode. Is
Speaker 2: that something that you know you do as a coping mechanism,
Speaker 2: to like just to smile through situations where you might
Speaker 2: feel a little bit uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I do, and I think I have
Speaker 1: learned a bit of that watching the show. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm such a smiling person. I'm always happy, and I'm
Speaker 1: always kind of like, I just have a sunny disposition.
Speaker 1: That's how I am. But then sometimes definitely in my
Speaker 1: awkwardness or in my anxiety, I'll smile or I'll like
Speaker 1: be giggling or laughing my way through something when actually
Speaker 1: I'm probably not feeling that way at all.
Speaker 2: So even for me on self reflection of watching and
Speaker 2: the show, I think about how much of a people
Speaker 2: please I am, and so I project an emotion that
Speaker 2: I think people want from me, where that isn't always
Speaker 2: the way that I feel inside.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get that, and I have had a lot
Speaker 1: of people say the same thing to me after last night,
Speaker 1: and that's been so it's overwhelming because it's lovely to
Speaker 1: hear all of this support, but then at the same time,
Speaker 1: you can't help but feel like, oh, my gosh, there's
Speaker 1: so many people going through similar things out there, and
Speaker 1: you feel for each one of them, and you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like really shocking to suddenly be made
Speaker 1: very aware of just how big a thing this is,
Speaker 1: you know, and it's affecting so many people. And I
Speaker 1: think even something like what you just said, I feel
Speaker 1: like just trying to present a certain way or look
Speaker 1: a certain way it can take such a toll on you,
Speaker 1: and watching yourself on reality TV that's such a huge
Speaker 1: confrontation and such a weird way of seeing that manifest
Speaker 1: I hate normally seeing photos of myself or you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not that sort of person that's jumping in front
Speaker 1: of a camera.
Speaker 3: So suddenly seeing yourself after a month of living on
Speaker 3: a beach not at your best.
Speaker 2: Well, you didn't start off like the metist of blokes either,
Speaker 2: Like when you turned up on the show, I was like,
Speaker 2: he's a very thin man, so like I didn't have
Speaker 2: much to lose, no waight to lose, my friend, there
Speaker 2: was nothing.
Speaker 1: I think I lost about five and a half kilos
Speaker 1: or five feelers by the time I left, which is
Speaker 1: huge because, like I said, I didn't go in there
Speaker 1: putting weight on, thinking Okay, now I've got It's not
Speaker 1: like alone, where I think people go in there thinking
Speaker 1: of that sort of side of survival. They're more thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, how do I think about Survivor and watch
Speaker 1: the show on each pair for the different advantages and
Speaker 1: the different things that are coming to hit me.
Speaker 2: I've spoken to many people over the years from doing
Speaker 2: this show, and that's always the common stories that people have.
Speaker 2: Were always so shocked by the conditions.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, like and you think it's going to
Speaker 1: be fine, You're like, it's just going to be like
Speaker 1: camping and it's going to be all right, but then
Speaker 1: when you get there and you know you're suddenly made
Speaker 1: just the sleep and the food altogether, like those two
Speaker 1: playing at each other are just so hard because normally
Speaker 1: it's one or the other, it's not both. And then
Speaker 1: an unfamiliar space and then the actual outdoors and you know,
Speaker 1: without a tart, that made things ten times worse because
Speaker 1: you can just see those clouds coming in and you're like,
Speaker 1: oh no, I Saen's rain, and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: surely enough it's pouring down.
Speaker 2: And then there's a tsunami. It was just a different
Speaker 2: story altogether. How are you feeling about the decision to
Speaker 2: leave the show today, Because one thing that's very different
Speaker 2: is the feeling whilst during it to then having some
Speaker 2: time and space between the experience and now, and then
Speaker 2: also then watching the show back. This must be a
Speaker 2: very interesting headspace to be And now when you're thinking
Speaker 2: about that decision to leave.
Speaker 1: This whole week leading up to it's been pretty difficult
Speaker 1: because I feel like I've been reliving it in some ways,
Speaker 1: like I've been super anxious and I get ticks as
Speaker 1: well when I'm feeling sort of on edge, and I
Speaker 1: was really worried that was going to manifest out there too,
Speaker 1: and everyone's going to be like, what's he doing? His
Speaker 1: jaws going or his fingers are working over time, but
Speaker 1: that's actually played more out of the game, and I
Speaker 1: think last night it was sort of really stressful to watch,
Speaker 1: but at the same time it was like this huge
Speaker 1: breath of release. I think can been like, Okay, it's
Speaker 1: out of the way, and you know, I'm still me
Speaker 1: and I'm still standing by that decision. This tiny part
Speaker 1: of you. It can't help feel like, oh, I wish
Speaker 1: I could have just pushed through or you know, stuck
Speaker 1: in there for another day. But then my partner rightly
Speaker 1: reminded me that would have just been like a band
Speaker 1: aid on the scenario. That wouldn't have been fixing it,
Speaker 1: and you wouldn't have woken up tomorrow feeling any sort
Speaker 1: of different. You might have been smiling and feeling like, oh,
Speaker 1: today's sunny and we can get through this, and I'm
Speaker 1: feeling a bit more positive. But then who knows what
Speaker 1: would have happened a week later. And I was also
Speaker 1: very conscious that jury was coming up, and I thought, oh,
Speaker 1: how is this gonna imagine if I'd been feeling this
Speaker 1: way but stuck in jerry Villa. So I still I
Speaker 1: would have been lose, lose because you've not won the
Speaker 1: game and you're still having to process all of that.
Speaker 1: But then you're also not with your loved ones or
Speaker 1: your family and still have none of those coping mechanisms
Speaker 1: back home. So I think that would have been even worse.
Speaker 1: So I think really looking back on it, it was a
Speaker 1: blessing that I did it at that moment, I think so.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think it was a really powerful moment
Speaker 2: of television for you to reflect on your mental health
Speaker 2: and take control of the situation. I think there's something
Speaker 2: very vital in that that viewers of this show got to.
Speaker 2: It's a reminder that we do need to take control
Speaker 2: of the situation sometimes and put ourselves first.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so too. Even something like that where
Speaker 1: you're in the middle of something that you've dreamt about
Speaker 1: for so long, Like I know for other people that
Speaker 1: can be like a dream job, or you know, they
Speaker 1: might be somewhere that they've dreamt of being, but sometimes
Speaker 1: something can just pop up, like with mental health. Right,
Speaker 1: I was just saying before that it had been well
Speaker 1: over a year since I'd had sort of a moment
Speaker 1: like that in my normal life, and I was feeling
Speaker 1: really good going for the show, and obviously you just
Speaker 1: don't know when something like that's going to be triggered
Speaker 1: or hit you, and of all times, it's just really
Speaker 1: bad timing that it hit me in the middle of Survivor,
Speaker 1: which is something I've dreamt of doing and one hundred
Speaker 1: percent would do again in the heartbeat, like it was
Speaker 1: the best adventure. And I don't see it as a
Speaker 1: Survivor making that happen and having that effect on me.
Speaker 1: I think that would have happened regardless. That could have
Speaker 1: happened had I've been at home just doing my day
Speaker 1: to day job, I might have still had that moment,
Speaker 1: and that dip knows what could have happened, And I
Speaker 1: think there's so many what ifs, and I'm trying just
Speaker 1: my best to focus on making the decision that I
Speaker 1: made right instead of wondering whether it was the right decision.
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure that someone who pulled themselves out of
Speaker 2: Master Chef for a very similar reason went on to
Speaker 2: win the show, and I think there's something really powerful
Speaker 2: in that. For people because look, I mean it's not
Speaker 2: something i'd openly talk about that often, but for four
Speaker 2: years I had a mental health issue after my father
Speaker 2: had passed away, and it took a really long time
Speaker 2: for me to realize that. You know, during that time,
Speaker 2: I felt like this was going to be forever. I
Speaker 2: thought I was always going to be depressed and I
Speaker 2: was never going to get out of it. And when
Speaker 2: I got out of it, I was able to look
Speaker 2: back and offer information to other people that you're not
Speaker 2: always going to feel like this. But because that happened
Speaker 2: to me at that time doesn't mean I should stop
Speaker 2: putting myself forward in life. And I think, you really,
Speaker 2: that's something really important to discuss with people in these
Speaker 2: situations because, as you'd know, when you're at that confluence
Speaker 2: inside your own mind, you think, oh, I know, I
Speaker 2: can't say no to this because then people will treat
Speaker 2: me a certain way forever, and that isn't the case totally.
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, I agree completely, And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: for people watching that moment last night, I feel so
Speaker 1: proud and so lucky that I got to have that
Speaker 1: moment on my favorite show. Like how I being able
Speaker 1: to have that moment on Survivor Australia is insane. Like
Speaker 1: I've watched Survivor my whole life, and obviously in the
Speaker 1: US there's been so many seasons now they've had so
Speaker 1: many different moments that no one expected or could see coming,
Speaker 1: Whereas we're still kind of in our infancy over here,
Speaker 1: like it's only season nine and that someone had to
Speaker 1: be the first, right, this had to happen at some point,
Speaker 1: And it's a bit scary when it's you and you're
Speaker 1: a bit worried about how are people going to react
Speaker 1: to this? Like I said before, people have been so
Speaker 1: overwhelmingly supportive, and it's triggered so many people in getting
Speaker 1: back into the art and getting creative and connecting with
Speaker 1: that side of themselves too. And if I can just
Speaker 1: do that for one person, like that's the job done.
Speaker 1: Like I wanted to be representation on Survivor. I thought
Speaker 1: I'd go on there and hopefully be a bit of
Speaker 1: queer representation and sort of not the typical type of
Speaker 1: queer representation you see on TV. And instead it.
Speaker 2: Wor and you still did that two things could be
Speaker 2: true at the same time. I still think I think
Speaker 2: it was really I loved your story and when I
Speaker 2: heard about you doing this show, and because like, oh,
Speaker 2: I love this, so I've got there's a queer person
Speaker 2: on this show who's a creative, and you've got to
Speaker 2: be all of those things on this show. And it
Speaker 2: also reminded me of all my creative friends who how
Speaker 2: fragile they can be as well, because of the line
Speaker 2: that they walk with their art. It can be you know,
Speaker 2: it can be hard, it can be very fragile.
Speaker 1: Because it's the thing that it sort of it makes
Speaker 1: you fragile, right, But as a creative, it's also the
Speaker 1: thing that gives you such good inspiration. And sometimes when
Speaker 1: I'm in those darker periods, that just translates in my
Speaker 1: writing and in my work. And it's so hard because
Speaker 1: you don't want to numb that. You don't want to
Speaker 1: ever feel like you're just on a very sort of
Speaker 1: happy plateau. You want to feel those ups and downs.
Speaker 1: And I love having those ups and downs. It's just
Speaker 1: when you combine those with a reality TV show, who
Speaker 1: knows what's going to happen, it's kind of that powder
Speaker 1: cake moment. And luckily, I think it translated well last night,
Speaker 1: and I'm so thankful that the tribal went the way
Speaker 1: it did, and that everyone was so there for me
Speaker 1: and shared some of their experiences too. I mean, we
Speaker 1: only got to see a snippet, but honestly, so many
Speaker 1: people on that beach were going through their own journey
Speaker 1: and their own battle and to see other, like the
Speaker 1: typical strong guys out there having that moment of vulnerability too,
Speaker 1: that's huge. Like even me, that caught me off guard
Speaker 1: last night watching that on TV, I was like, oh wow,
Speaker 1: this is such a beautiful moment.
Speaker 2: I mean, I want to ask you this question with
Speaker 2: a bit of sensitivity, but it is something that everyone
Speaker 2: was talking about after last night, and that is what
Speaker 2: do you think about the vetting process when it comes
Speaker 2: to someone like yourself, someone wanting to go on a
Speaker 2: show like this, but then also maybe having that sensitivity.
Speaker 2: Do you think that there needs to be more things
Speaker 2: in place? Because I want to lead by giving my
Speaker 2: opinion of this. I believe that you should be able
Speaker 2: to do this show because you don't know what's going
Speaker 2: to happen. I think it's still a space and a
Speaker 2: place that is safe for people like us who might
Speaker 2: be a little bit emotionally sensitive and have mental health isho.
Speaker 2: I still think we have a place there.
Speaker 1: But totally agree.
Speaker 2: The conversation kept coming back to should there be a
Speaker 2: better vetting process?
Speaker 1: You know, yeah, I don't think so. Honestly, the vetting
Speaker 1: process was amazing and the show psychologist, he's such a
Speaker 1: wonderful human being and so intelligent and knows what he's doing.
Speaker 1: And we went through all of this before the show.
Speaker 1: People are, you know, questioning how this wasn't caught, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's not something to be caught or to
Speaker 1: be found out. It's not some dirty secret, you know.
Speaker 1: I was upfront about all of this, as I think
Speaker 1: a few contestants going on the show were and have
Speaker 1: been in the past. I think you'd be surprised probably
Speaker 1: at how many past contestants have had their own sort
Speaker 1: of issues going onto the show and been terrified of
Speaker 1: that translating on the show. And you've probably never even
Speaker 1: noticed it or seen it. And I think me being there,
Speaker 1: you know, you don't pro athletes go to the Olympics.
Speaker 1: They don't think about whether they're gonna fall or like
Speaker 1: hurt themselves, like they're just going. But that can still happen,
Speaker 1: like anything can happen to anyone out there, and I
Speaker 1: don't see it as being any different me leaving the
Speaker 1: way I did last night to me potentially being blindsided
Speaker 1: the episode after, you know, like someone had to go
Speaker 1: last night, And it's not like I took anyone's spot
Speaker 1: or I intentionally messed up anyone's game. The moment on
Speaker 1: the beach where I was kind of giving away some
Speaker 1: of the game to Kitty, I was still playing at
Speaker 1: that point. I didn't know I was going to be
Speaker 1: throwing myself out that night or removing myself from the game.
Speaker 1: I still felt a certain way about the game and
Speaker 1: felt like I need to stand up and say my piece,
Speaker 1: because up until that point, you know, i'd been hand
Speaker 1: in hand with Kirby and everything she thought I thought,
Speaker 1: and luckily I hadn't needed to sort of stand out
Speaker 1: or say anything. I was just very lucky that our
Speaker 1: games aligned perfectly. And then the first time that sort
Speaker 1: of didn't align was last night. And as you saw,
Speaker 1: I'm not the sort of person that's scared to speak
Speaker 1: my mind when I don't sort of believe something's right
Speaker 1: or believe in something, and that was just the first
Speaker 1: time I needed to.
Speaker 2: Well, I thought that your relationship with Kitty was really
Speaker 2: interesting because you really connected with her quite quickly. I
Speaker 2: wanted to ask you what really happened on the beach
Speaker 2: with that conversation with her. Was there a longer conversation
Speaker 2: or was there a way in which you both had
Speaker 2: found that friendship that was bonded so tightly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there was the whole night previous. I mean, you
Speaker 1: don't spend much time sleeping out there, to be honest.
Speaker 1: A lot of the time you're just kind of sat
Speaker 1: waiting for the sun to start showing its head and
Speaker 1: just kind of then you get excited because it's getting
Speaker 1: light again. And the night before, obviously it was the
Speaker 1: first night sleeping back on the Rebel's beach, and it's
Speaker 1: very confronting when you go back to a beach and
Speaker 1: you don't really have a place and you don't have
Speaker 1: a bed and sounds so silly because it's a bed
Speaker 1: or it's a space to sleep, but out there that's
Speaker 1: a huge thing to you. That's pretty much all you've
Speaker 1: got that in your second outfit track trying to keep
Speaker 1: it dry. You kind of learned to like live for
Speaker 1: those things. And Kiddy and Eden basically sat and me
Speaker 1: between them that night and said, this is where you're sleeping,
Speaker 1: You're warm, you're safe, And they were telling me stories
Speaker 1: all night, and they're both so funny. They both have
Speaker 1: such wicked senses of humor, and when they're playing off
Speaker 1: each other, I was giggling all night. And Kiddy's got
Speaker 1: this naughty sense of humor and some of her stories
Speaker 1: are just incredible. And so I'd had this beautiful night
Speaker 1: feeling like such an out of the game moment and
Speaker 1: then suddenly being thrust back into the game and was
Speaker 1: obviously seeing a lot more going on as well, and
Speaker 1: seeing that maybe what Kirby felt was going on maybe
Speaker 1: wasn't what she thought was going on, in that Valeria
Speaker 1: wasn't as much just a number for her as she thought,
Speaker 1: and that she was playing her own game, as is
Speaker 1: everyone out there, and there's people you haven't really had
Speaker 1: a conversation with at all, and you don't get much
Speaker 1: of a warm from And so when I was hearing
Speaker 1: that Kitty is the name being thrown, I was like, well,
Speaker 1: this makes no sense. She's someone who should be here
Speaker 1: and it deserves a crack at merge. She's such a
Speaker 1: strong female personality and character out there and I didn't
Speaker 1: want that to be the vote at Merge. That was
Speaker 1: if I was staying, and that was the way we
Speaker 1: were going forward. So that's where I felt like I
Speaker 1: had to say my piece.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess you kind of record in the middle
Speaker 2: of something, because you'd had this ongoing relationship with Kirby
Speaker 2: the whole way through the show, and then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, this powerful connection with Kitty and say Dan
Speaker 2: that we're now hearing about in our conversation today. You know,
Speaker 2: the pressure of being put between these two thoughts and
Speaker 2: then the moral compass being used as well. I guess
Speaker 2: that all kind of would have been overwhelming. I would
Speaker 2: have been triggering. I guess you know.
Speaker 1: It was because obviously, as well as you're thinking about
Speaker 1: all of this, you've also got this other game going
Speaker 1: on in your own head, so like questioning whether you
Speaker 1: should even be in the game right now or whether
Speaker 1: it's But then you're also thinking, like, that's crazy talk, Scott,
Speaker 1: this is your dream and you're finally hearing you just
Speaker 1: made Merge, and my whole gameplay had been be quiet,
Speaker 1: get through, make sure the person going home is the
Speaker 1: person you want going home. You know, I was always
Speaker 1: on the right side of the vote. Yeah, never had
Speaker 1: my name written down, and I was in such a
Speaker 1: perfect spot for merge. They really were really was literally
Speaker 1: I was blindsided by my own self, which is so typical.
Speaker 2: I love that. I was talking to a friend of
Speaker 2: mine about this and they were like, you know, the
Speaker 2: voices that he has in his head, what you know?
Speaker 2: He that was sort of clouding his judgment. I was like,
Speaker 2: but we all have those voices in our head and
Speaker 2: he was like, yeah, we do. Sorry, we all have
Speaker 2: this constant we are blind signing ourselves every day. That's
Speaker 2: my biggest problem. I swear I can will things into happening.
Speaker 2: I'll be like, you know, I don't need this to happen.
Speaker 2: I don't want this to happen. I don't want this
Speaker 2: to happen. And the next thing, you know what happens,
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, we've got to change the
Speaker 2: way in which we put things in place in our
Speaker 2: own minds. You know what I'm saying totally, Yeah.
Speaker 1: You've got to sort of go easy on yourself sometimes too, right,
Speaker 1: And I think that's how I'm trying to just treat
Speaker 1: this whole post situation. Now. After the episode I'm just
Speaker 1: kind of living with it and accepting that it was
Speaker 1: the right decision for me at the time, and just
Speaker 1: hoping that that can connect with some other people and
Speaker 1: if it helps one person. It was like me watching
Speaker 1: Survivor as a kid and being a fan, like I
Speaker 1: wish I'd had that moment for me on TV. That
Speaker 1: would have meant a lot.
Speaker 2: I just love the fact that we have diversity and
Speaker 2: we have different personality types turning up on shows like
Speaker 2: this because it reminds me when I was a child
Speaker 2: of the yearning to want to see myself on screen
Speaker 2: and to want to have role models, and when I
Speaker 2: grew up, there was no queer representation on television, so
Speaker 2: I felt so isolated. And then you've offered so much
Speaker 2: more of a conversation and a story beyond that, which
Speaker 2: I know will have connected with young people.
Speaker 1: Definitely agree one percent.
Speaker 2: If you didn't want to vote for Kitty, though, could
Speaker 2: you have just if you didn't want to vote for Kitty,
Speaker 2: could you just have voted differently and not had given
Speaker 2: away all that information to Kitty about Mark.
Speaker 1: I think probably that didn't help that I was so
Speaker 1: emotional at the time. Okay, that definitely played into me
Speaker 1: having that reaction. I think you have seen on there too.
Speaker 1: I think it was a bit made part of the
Speaker 1: edit where there was this crazy storm happening and the
Speaker 1: tark was basically just flying off of the shelter and
Speaker 1: I was just clinging to this tarp for dear life.
Speaker 1: And that's when people I could just see all having
Speaker 1: strap chats and I was just like, help, can someone
Speaker 1: just help me do the basic things? And I found
Speaker 1: that a lot of time you don't have long to
Speaker 1: scramble when you're back on that beach, and often you
Speaker 1: know someone's got to make the fire, someone's got to
Speaker 1: cook before you get to tribal council. If not, you're
Speaker 1: not eating that night. A lot of the time you
Speaker 1: see them people are just too busy doing all the
Speaker 1: strategy thing and you think like, oh god, I need
Speaker 1: to jump in or I need to do something. And
Speaker 1: I think that whole moment was just caught me and
Speaker 1: Kitty was asking me things, and I was like, like,
Speaker 1: you need to wake up to what's going on around you.
Speaker 1: And so glad watching back last night that her and
Speaker 1: Caroline did know what was going on, and even just
Speaker 1: hearing from me that that was maybe what was going
Speaker 1: on that night. They didn't take long for them to
Speaker 1: be like, okay, they're going for revenge on Viola. The
Speaker 1: super strategic. Caroline is such a smart player and such
Speaker 1: a lovely human too, and I think seeing her make
Speaker 1: that connection last night, I was like, yes, okay, this
Speaker 1: is great because you saw obviously when Kitty didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: take what re told her before on board, and so
Speaker 1: I was just at first I was like, no, they've
Speaker 1: not listened, but then you saw that they had, and
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, great, she's going to go into
Speaker 1: this game playing strong.
Speaker 2: Now, you know, what are your thoughts on Kitty's behavior
Speaker 2: in that tribal council, because it seemed very different. It
Speaker 2: seemed out of the cannon for her. She kind of
Speaker 2: seemed very angry and very intense. Did your interpretation of
Speaker 2: Kitty change from watching her in that high precious situation
Speaker 2: and how she handled it?
Speaker 1: Not really. I was kind of excited by that moment.
Speaker 1: I was okay, yeah, this is great. You find your
Speaker 1: voice and say your piece, and you know it's no different.
Speaker 1: We see Ferris doing the show every tribal and saying
Speaker 1: these big comments and putting out these big game moments
Speaker 1: and Hilaria too, and people love them for that. So
Speaker 1: I find that sometimes a bit of a struggle when
Speaker 1: someone else does the same thing, someone who they've been
Speaker 1: maybe saying, has been quiet the whole time, and then
Speaker 1: they finally find their voice, and then they're just kind
Speaker 1: of slaughtered for it, and it's like, come on, you
Speaker 1: can't have it both ways. Just because we've not seen
Speaker 1: Kitty being vocal on TV, that doesn't mean she wasn't
Speaker 1: there playing every single day and having a voice. It's
Speaker 1: just that we've not seen that in the TV show
Speaker 1: version of what happened you know?
Speaker 2: Of course. Yeah, it's a very hard situation. I mean
Speaker 2: it's hard for the viewers, but it's also hard for
Speaker 2: you guys to understand what's being selected on what's being shown.
Speaker 2: I mean, they do a fantastic job of tapestry.
Speaker 1: I don't know how they do it.
Speaker 2: I don't know how they do it either. It's like,
Speaker 2: it's so funny, I was saying to a friend of
Speaker 2: mine the other day, A bad I love this show
Speaker 2: because it's literally three movies a week, better better than
Speaker 2: any movies. It feels interactive, it feels vic right, you
Speaker 2: know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And I think, like I've spoken with some of the
Speaker 1: producers after the show and people who work this on
Speaker 1: the post side of things, and it's fascinating getting a
Speaker 1: glimpse into their brain because obviously for Survivor, they cast
Speaker 1: with these twenty four personalities, these kind of somewhat archetypes.
Speaker 1: But then you have no idea how people are going
Speaker 1: to play that game or react in there, so you
Speaker 1: can't script that. You have to really be good at
Speaker 1: creating a story out of nothing or at anything and
Speaker 1: at the drop of a hat. So you're basically playing
Speaker 1: with these characters and finding a really cohesive story out
Speaker 1: of that. And I find that fascinating.
Speaker 2: I think it's I'd love to just be on work
Speaker 2: experience right for me, but I could definitely.
Speaker 1: I've already I've already put my name up for the department.
Speaker 1: I'm likeever you need anyone, I'm there.
Speaker 2: I'll be behind the scenes. This year. There's a couple
Speaker 2: of loose ends that have happened, you know, in the
Speaker 2: situations like this where someone like yourself goes home and
Speaker 2: pulls themselves out of the game. What did you envision
Speaker 2: would happen with Valeria and Winner. You know, they had
Speaker 2: some existing powers. Do you think that those powers become
Speaker 2: null and void with you leaving? Do they get carried on?
Speaker 2: What did you think was going to happen with those
Speaker 2: two storylines, Valeria and Winner both having a bit of
Speaker 2: a power at this point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I felt just so much going through your head
Speaker 1: in that moment. Part of me was feeling guilty that
Speaker 1: I'd taken away this moment for them. But then at
Speaker 1: the same time, I thought, well, they both survived tonight.
Speaker 1: That was the intention of those sort of you know, Valarious,
Speaker 1: it could advantage of special advantage that night, and Winner's
Speaker 1: necklace around his neck. He still survived that vote, And
Speaker 1: someone would have still gone home that night. And who's
Speaker 1: to say that that tribal wouldn't have absolutely blown up
Speaker 1: if I'd have said, actually, no, I'm not taking myself
Speaker 1: home tonight, Let's let this thing go on. Who knows
Speaker 1: how crazy that tribal would have got. And you might
Speaker 1: have had winners out there thinking, thank god, I've got
Speaker 1: this necklace on.
Speaker 2: He looked good at the necklace. By the way, I'm
Speaker 2: just going to say that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I honestly, no one is ever sad to
Speaker 1: have that necklace around their neck. I don't think Winner
Speaker 1: would have had any ill sort of thoughts about how
Speaker 1: that night planned out.
Speaker 2: I read somewhere online this morning about overseas contestants don't
Speaker 2: have to have their torches put out if they leave
Speaker 2: for mental health reasons. I think that's a really good
Speaker 2: question to ask you. I mean, might not have even
Speaker 2: been something that you thought about. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 2: not really Yeah, do you think would that have meant
Speaker 2: something for you if they left your torch on unsnuffed
Speaker 2: because of the reason that you pulled yourself out.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty happy to have had it, so I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, that was the end of my game this
Speaker 1: time around. That's how I left the show, and it
Speaker 1: was kind of as a fan of the show to
Speaker 1: a pretty exciting moment to have that flame put out
Speaker 1: via jailp.
Speaker 2: I just want to stand next to jail Pin. I
Speaker 2: just want to.
Speaker 3: You're just kind of just stood in front of him,
Speaker 3: and you're like, this is so cool that this is happening.
Speaker 3: Also like please someone get me out and help me.
Speaker 3: But also this is really cool, and I'm still accepting
Speaker 3: that this is happening right now in front of me,
Speaker 3: and as a fan of the show, you can't help
Speaker 3: freak out a little bit.
Speaker 2: How long did it take to put yourself back together?
Speaker 2: Were you able to come home and your partner was there?
Speaker 2: Did it? Sometimes? For me, I can have I can
Speaker 2: find myself in stressful situations, but then as soon as
Speaker 2: I'm home, everything comes back to me. Like it's so.
Speaker 2: I've lived in my apartment for twenty five years, so
Speaker 2: it very much is a safe space for me. And
Speaker 2: so like when I find myself in troubled situations, I
Speaker 2: can just be home and it all resets. But what
Speaker 2: was it like for you?
Speaker 1: It was, Yeah, it was great to be home. And
Speaker 1: my home's a safe space like that for me too.
Speaker 1: So where I get creative, it's where I can make things.
Speaker 1: It's where I do a lot of my work and
Speaker 1: have my partner back again. Like me and my partner Elliott,
Speaker 1: we work together too as a creative team at Mona,
Speaker 1: So we are literally in each other's pockets every minute
Speaker 1: of every day, and that's how we live and that's
Speaker 1: how we work and we love that. So to not
Speaker 1: have that person in your life for what I think
Speaker 1: I was in the game twenty seven days and then
Speaker 1: that's not to mention all the pre show stuff where
Speaker 1: you're out there for a little while too. You're away,
Speaker 1: like a month of your life is pretty hard to
Speaker 1: be away.
Speaker 2: All the tools that we have.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you'll know, the rule of thumb with reality TV
Speaker 1: is don't change anything really for like six months when
Speaker 1: you get out of a show, you know, try and
Speaker 1: stay in your job, stay with your partner, stay in
Speaker 1: your life. Because you've got this temptation to kind of
Speaker 1: just shallow it up and do something crazy, you know,
Speaker 1: get a tattoo, go traveling and change everything, and they
Speaker 1: obviously tell you that you can kind of sometimes be
Speaker 1: the worst thing to do. You need to just assimilate
Speaker 1: and get back into your routing life. And then if
Speaker 1: you're still feeling a certain way three four months down
Speaker 1: the track, then you know, take.
Speaker 2: Those then go and do that, but then and go
Speaker 2: to Europe. Yeah, yeah, exactly I've been asking for in
Speaker 2: the Game of Survivor and then getting them to getting
Speaker 2: all of the participants to answer that, all the castaways
Speaker 2: to answer that question in the Game of Survivor, what
Speaker 2: is something that you learned.
Speaker 1: I learned to never be scared of standing up and
Speaker 1: saying what you're proud of or what's basically on your
Speaker 1: mind at the time. I think me standing up and
Speaker 1: making that moment on Survivor last night will hopefully be
Speaker 1: remembered and is something at the in the moment I
Speaker 1: was a bit worried about. And now I'm so proud
Speaker 1: of and so happy that's how my journey ended.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't even know you I watching on the
Speaker 2: TV show. I feel so proud of you as a person,
Speaker 2: and I thank you. I think it be so amazing.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's something that they it's an episode
Speaker 2: of television that they could show young people in schools.
Speaker 2: Everyone who joins the podcast gets asked this question, what
Speaker 2: is something from behind the scenes, something we might not
Speaker 2: have seen.
Speaker 1: There was a jacket I had out there and it
Speaker 1: had these great big pockets in it, And even somewhat
Speaker 1: unbeknownst to me, Raymond had been collecting trinkets throughout the
Speaker 1: show from all of the rewards, from any time there
Speaker 1: was a bit of rope wow something or a bit
Speaker 1: of a beat, a bit of street and saving them
Speaker 1: all in my pocket and then would just tell me,
Speaker 1: I've been stockpiling all of these little crafty things. So
Speaker 1: if you feel like making a fake idol, go through it.
Speaker 1: This is why I love you, Raymond.
Speaker 2: I'm obsessed with him. There's something very charismatic about anyway.
Speaker 2: I'll have to have my own I want to be Raymond.
Speaker 1: Just a shame you're not getting to see more because
Speaker 1: there was so much Raymond.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's a spin off show because everyone
Speaker 2: loves Raymond, everyone loves Ramened. Mate. Have fun chatting to
Speaker 2: the media today and sharing your story. I can't wait
Speaker 2: to be in your audience. It made me want to
Speaker 2: go to Mona again. I've been there.
Speaker 1: Probably please do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, but enjoy this experience. It seems like
Speaker 2: you got a lot out of it. And yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: happy for you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Yeah, it's one of the best
Speaker 1: things I've ever done and it would do it again
Speaker 1: in the heartbeat, and everyone else should go and do it.
Speaker 2: Okay, I've gone and fill out my application.
Speaker 1: Ye do.
Speaker 2: Please do nice chatting too.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much much, be see you later.