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. Kicking off today's episode, I
Speaker 1: want to thank the individual publicity teams at each network
Speaker 1: who have been kind enough to facilitate their talent and producers.
Speaker 1: I would basically be talking to myself without you. In
Speaker 1: the next few weeks, I will have co CEOs at
Speaker 1: Eureka Productions, the head of Matchbox Pictures, and these are
Speaker 1: really not easy people to get in front of, so
Speaker 1: get pretty excited to go behind the scenes of television
Speaker 1: with those guys. A little housekeeping at this point. If
Speaker 1: you're enjoying the podcast, please press subscribe and leave a review.
Speaker 1: It's a huge part of the way in which these
Speaker 1: platforms gain more exposure, which allows us to grow a
Speaker 1: little community of TV enthusiasts. iHeartRadio, iTunes and Spotify are
Speaker 1: all my biggest platforms to access TV Reload, and I
Speaker 1: want to thank them for their visibility because without them,
Speaker 1: I would just be another podcast with no audience. This week,
Speaker 1: I will be reviewing the new series of Big Brother
Speaker 1: and having the one and only Sonya Krueger drop in
Speaker 1: for a chat. There will be no spoilers, and really
Speaker 1: this is an opportunity for you to hear why this
Speaker 1: year's Big Brother is worth watching. It's a challenge based format,
Speaker 1: but the producers at Endemol Shine have really listened to
Speaker 1: criticism and they have cast intelligent, highly engaging, diverse and
Speaker 1: accomplished housemates. This year, we will get to see more
Speaker 1: of them, and I promise you that there is more
Speaker 1: visibility in getting to know each contestant. And at times
Speaker 1: I felt like I was watching the original and even better, yet,
Speaker 1: this Big Brother feels respectful to the original brand, which
Speaker 1: is brilliant because this is the twentieth anniversary of the show,
Speaker 1: which debuted here in Australia in two thousand and one.
Speaker 1: Now for today's guest, I have known Sonya Krueger for
Speaker 1: nearly ten years and I always have people asking what
Speaker 1: Kruger is really like, and the truth is she is generous,
Speaker 1: wickedly funny and thoughtful, which is why her career is
Speaker 1: at an all time high. Produces one to work with her,
Speaker 1: audiences love her and with an authentic voice and an
Speaker 1: unmatched presenting ability, she is the darling of Channel seven
Speaker 1: for a reason. Hosting Holy Molly, Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 1: The Voice and Big Brother. There's no wonder that she
Speaker 1: has cultivated an appeal that has kept us wanting more.
Speaker 1: Big Brother twenty twenty one is upon us and is
Speaker 1: launching on the twenty sixth of April at seven point
Speaker 1: thirty on Channel seven. So let's get started with today's guest.
Speaker 1: It's the one and only Sonya Krueger.
Speaker 2: It's hard not to be passionate about it when you
Speaker 2: work on it.
Speaker 3: You think you know my game.
Speaker 2: You know there's a lot of great television out there
Speaker 2: in Australia, more than meets the eye. The universe has
Speaker 2: put it back here in front of me for a reason.
Speaker 4: I am Big Brother.
Speaker 2: I love it. I know Gretel loves it, and Gretel
Speaker 2: messages me to She's such a sweetheart and I'll.
Speaker 1: See you Monday April and twenty.
Speaker 2: Six There's a lot of diversity in the past, and
Speaker 2: I think that is another reason that people will find
Speaker 2: somebody that they can relate to.
Speaker 4: How are your mate? Are you well?
Speaker 2: I'm very well. Could not be better. Actually looking forward
Speaker 2: to Monday night's launch. It's epic and I can't wait
Speaker 2: for everybody to see it and to tell me what
Speaker 2: they think.
Speaker 1: You know, I feel like I'm a poker player at
Speaker 1: the moment, and I know it's a good hand, and
Speaker 1: I just want people to be knocked over by what
Speaker 1: these producers have installed. The new housemates are strong.
Speaker 2: He Brother is going to throw us here for smart.
Speaker 3: All my life I've lived outside my comfort zone. Going
Speaker 3: into Big Brother is exactly that and strategic.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna act on and play.
Speaker 3: Smart, but they are in for a bumpy ride.
Speaker 4: Think you know Big Brother's game.
Speaker 2: Think again.
Speaker 1: One of the best things about you as a host
Speaker 1: is that you bring your own Krueger personal flair. And
Speaker 1: I absolutely noticed that with Dancing with the Stars All
Speaker 1: Stars that you went full Krux.
Speaker 2: How is that full two? You know? It's funny doing
Speaker 2: Dancing with the Stars was such a great nostalgic thing
Speaker 2: to do, and it maybe I've realized how off the
Speaker 2: chain we were Originally. We were really allowed to kind
Speaker 2: of do whatever we wanted. There was no auto que.
Speaker 2: We could kind of just fill every segment with whatever
Speaker 2: we felt like at the time, and that kind of
Speaker 2: thing you don't get to do a lot now. So
Speaker 2: it was really great to be back with Todd. For example,
Speaker 2: we're such old friends and we sledge each other relentlessly,
Speaker 2: but it's all in good fun. It's sport for us.
Speaker 2: Before we go, I ask you, Todd, what you think
Speaker 2: of my dress.
Speaker 5: It's good to leave people wanting less.
Speaker 2: And the fact that the viewers like it too, I
Speaker 2: think they know deep down we love each other. We
Speaker 2: really love each other, but our sport on air is
Speaker 2: to try and get one over the other, you know.
Speaker 1: I spoke to Todd a few years ago and he
Speaker 1: said his favorite job is working with you on Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars. And he said that sometimes before the show,
Speaker 1: you guys would work out some good jobs to do
Speaker 1: for the show.
Speaker 5: Often she would throw to me from the green room
Speaker 5: which I couldn't see, and she'd make some kind of
Speaker 5: gay joke or something which I loved.
Speaker 4: She's good at a double one tendre. And you'd send
Speaker 4: each other like some messages.
Speaker 1: I thought of this idea, and I think this is
Speaker 1: going to work, and then it would be executed. Or
Speaker 1: sometimes you'd even say to him, I've written this, this
Speaker 1: is a good one for you, and you'd sort of
Speaker 1: tell him.
Speaker 2: Because I would think about he puts hi stuff in
Speaker 2: my position, I put myself in his, and I think, oh,
Speaker 2: if I could be Todd, I would say this, you know,
Speaker 2: and so I would have him and every now and
Speaker 2: then he might use it. Same deal, vice versa. You
Speaker 2: kind of have like that little mental storage bank of
Speaker 2: stuff and it goes into that storage bank, and sometimes
Speaker 2: they just randomly come out at the right moment.
Speaker 5: When Holly Brisley do you know actress Holly Bristol is on,
Speaker 5: So this is one example. So we it's on your
Speaker 5: own in the makeup chair and going okay, you love
Speaker 5: what you've got, and said, well, I've got this line,
Speaker 5: but I don't over that we can say it. And
Speaker 5: it was that dress was so short we nearly saw
Speaker 5: Holly's brizzly.
Speaker 4: It makes gold television. You know.
Speaker 1: What was funny though, was that message I sent you
Speaker 1: the other day on the opening night, and I actually
Speaker 1: didn't realize that I'd recorded this sound of my partner
Speaker 1: and I. As you emerged on screen, we started swearing
Speaker 1: about how good you were, and we didn't realize we'd
Speaker 1: sent it to you with the audio, and then we
Speaker 1: had to write underneath it excuse the swearing.
Speaker 3: Sonya fuck me dead.
Speaker 2: Looking good, Sonny Florry for the swearing. It actually made
Speaker 2: my day, It really did, because you know, it's always
Speaker 2: nerve breaking when you walk out and there's a big entrance,
Speaker 2: especially with you know, there's Darryl Summers and we're we're
Speaker 2: doing this show that was so dear to my and
Speaker 2: you just want to make sure you don't trip over
Speaker 2: that everybody likes what you're wearing. So when you sent
Speaker 2: me that message, it was like, made me feel good
Speaker 2: about everything.
Speaker 1: This season of Big Brother is actually one of the
Speaker 1: best seasons of Big Brother I've ever seen. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a diehard fan and I've seen them all and
Speaker 1: I don't want to give too much away because well,
Speaker 1: those people are annoying. What are we going to do
Speaker 1: to get people to tune in on opening night? Because
Speaker 1: I honestly think this series it's addictive and once you
Speaker 1: tune in, you will never be able to turn away.
Speaker 4: What are we going to do to make people watch?
Speaker 2: Well, I think, you know, if people come to that
Speaker 2: first episode, and I really hope they do. They certainly
Speaker 2: did last series. When we launched the show, the first
Speaker 2: episode really set things up so brilliantly, and there is
Speaker 2: so much packed into it. You've got those arrivals to
Speaker 2: have a live audience this year that we didn't have
Speaker 2: last year. You have a massive twist in the first
Speaker 2: episode involving two key characters, and there is so much
Speaker 2: going on. It just rockets along. And there've been some
Speaker 2: amazing reviews written about that first episode already, which I'm
Speaker 2: so thankful for, because you know, there's a lot of
Speaker 2: great television out there in Australia. I think we actually
Speaker 2: make world class TV. Whenever I've been to the States,
Speaker 2: I turn it on. How do they do it? They
Speaker 2: would obviously do it better. It's America, right, but they
Speaker 2: don't necessarily make better television than us. And I think
Speaker 2: we need to understand that we actually do make really
Speaker 2: incredible TV. Seine, who produced Big Brother, have done a
Speaker 2: brilliant job and it's one of those shows, as you say,
Speaker 2: if you start watching it, like I binged seven episodes
Speaker 2: last weekend and then I had to beg please send
Speaker 2: me the next seven. I was there for it, but
Speaker 2: I still wanted to see them put together, put together,
Speaker 2: and just to revisit the whole thing.
Speaker 1: You know, if we go back to the beginning of
Speaker 1: Big Brother and it is the twentieth anniversary, so twenty
Speaker 1: years ago, in two thousand and one, Big Brother launched.
Speaker 1: But what was your first memory or interaction with Big Brother?
Speaker 4: When it launched.
Speaker 2: I got a phone call from Tim Klucas, who was
Speaker 2: working at Channel ten at the time and as I think,
Speaker 2: the head of production there, and he asked me to
Speaker 2: come an audition for this show, this new show called
Speaker 2: Big Brother, and they needed somebody who could do the
Speaker 2: whole live television thing. And he kept saying to me, look,
Speaker 2: there are very few people in Australia that can do that.
Speaker 2: We need you to come, and we've narrowed it down
Speaker 2: to a couple of people. Anyway, as the time sort
Speaker 2: of got closer, he sent me screeners for it. I
Speaker 2: showed it to a couple of friends and they were like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: we don't really feel like it's you. And so I
Speaker 2: didn't go to the audition and Gretel ended up being
Speaker 2: the host. And I can't imagine anybody else hosting Big
Speaker 2: Brother in Australia when it first started. And luckily for me,
Speaker 2: Dancing with the Stars was just around the corner at seven,
Speaker 2: So you know, I had this thing I didn't want
Speaker 2: to leave Seven. I didn't want to do a show
Speaker 2: that I didn't really know and love, and Dancing with
Speaker 2: the Stars was something that was in my wheelhouse. So
Speaker 2: it kind of worked out for the best because then,
Speaker 2: you know, if we fast forward like ten or fifteen years,
Speaker 2: it came back around. And it made me think when
Speaker 2: it came back around, and at that point I had
Speaker 2: to make the decision to leave seven and lead Dancing
Speaker 2: with the Stars and go and do Big Brother. And
Speaker 2: I thought, you know, the universe has put it back
Speaker 2: here in front of me for a reason. So I
Speaker 2: feel like there's some weird connection with this particular show.
Speaker 2: It's weird.
Speaker 4: Well, you are you are the queen.
Speaker 1: You're the Queen of Big Brother now, and for so
Speaker 1: many years people sort of thought of Gretel Colleen hosting
Speaker 1: this show. But if you think about it now, there's
Speaker 1: so many people. You know, one of the contestants going
Speaker 1: in this year probably was too young to have watched
Speaker 1: Gretel Colleen hosts the show. And we'd only ever know
Speaker 1: you as being the Queen of Big Brother. So whilst
Speaker 1: we bow down to Gretel Colleen and her amazingness, you've
Speaker 1: really owned this franchise, and you can see that you're
Speaker 1: passionate about it as well, which is important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I love it. I know Gretel loves it,
Speaker 2: and Gretel messages me too. She's such a it's hard
Speaker 2: not to be passionate about it. I think when you
Speaker 2: work on it, or you've been part of it, or
Speaker 2: you're a Big Brother fan. Our fan base, it's they
Speaker 2: are super fans, you know, they eclipse all other fans
Speaker 2: of every other show. It's because you become so invested
Speaker 2: with the people, you want to get to know them.
Speaker 2: You spend every night with them pretty much. They become
Speaker 2: your surrogate friends. And originally Big Brother was a social experiment.
Speaker 2: It was, you know, the or Welly and kind of
Speaker 2: idea of there's a higher power that's controlling everybody, and
Speaker 2: we cut them off from society and they have no
Speaker 2: interaction with anybody else. And I think it's evolved now
Speaker 2: and it's almost like a mirror into our own lives
Speaker 2: and we look at those people we think, would I
Speaker 2: do that, how would I be, who would I be
Speaker 2: making friends with? What would I do to get to
Speaker 2: the end? Where is my own moral compass in terms
Speaker 2: of betraying friendships or forming alliances. So there's a whole
Speaker 2: other level of strategy with this particular version of the show.
Speaker 2: But at the core of it, and the thing that
Speaker 2: really works in this particular series and that sets it
Speaker 2: the part is the heart. Everybody who's reviewed it so
Speaker 2: far has said that it has this incredible heart and
Speaker 2: soul going on, and that is the thing that makes
Speaker 2: me the most proud. And I'm saying that like I
Speaker 2: made it, I didn't make it. Amelia Executive is here
Speaker 2: and she deserves all of the credit because she is
Speaker 2: a boss bitch.
Speaker 1: She's so good, but she understands the subject matter, and
Speaker 1: I think that's what's key is. You know, the best
Speaker 1: thing about Big Brother, and the best thing about television
Speaker 1: is when we can see ourselves and we can relate,
Speaker 1: when we can see ourselves in the scenario. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the magic of Big Brother is we all
Speaker 1: can see or we think how would we go, Or
Speaker 1: we see people interacting on the screen and we think, oh,
Speaker 1: go and have a beer with that person, or that
Speaker 1: would be my mate. That ability to connect is really
Speaker 1: the essence of Big Brother.
Speaker 2: Don't you think the diversity in the age group is
Speaker 2: really interesting because series of Big Brother and s j
Speaker 2: who is sixty five and the coolest sixty five year
Speaker 2: old woman I've ever met in my life, is like
Speaker 2: has inspired my outfit and I know you have one
Speaker 2: to be somewhere, but that whole kind of like nineteen
Speaker 2: nineties Jimiroquai ybe.
Speaker 4: The added ass tracksuit.
Speaker 1: We're both we're wearing it, but for people playing at home,
Speaker 1: we were wearing the same clothes.
Speaker 2: Has like a green and purple version that I've never
Speaker 2: seen before.
Speaker 3: It's wait, I'm sixty five years old. I am an
Speaker 3: anti jewelry dealer. All my life, I've lived outside my
Speaker 3: comfort Sir, I am going to get emotional because people
Speaker 3: think they can't do what they want to do.
Speaker 2: And here we are, Hello, Sarah Jane. I have chosen you.
Speaker 1: She's the coolest old person I've ever seen. But you
Speaker 1: know that leads me to something, and that is Isn't
Speaker 1: it amazing that we are here in twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: and the diversity of this cast, like we are seeing
Speaker 1: all ages in the Big Brother House like we've never
Speaker 1: seen before. We're seeing so many different people being recognized
Speaker 1: and represented, like Carlos being there is a fantastic housemate.
Speaker 4: Hey, can you hear me some to dance with me?
Speaker 2: I have chosen you.
Speaker 1: I think that this is the best cast of Big
Speaker 1: Brother we have ever seen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we've got a really good mix of people.
Speaker 2: And I'm not involved in the past and process, but
Speaker 2: I love the fact that we have people who are,
Speaker 2: you know, culturally different, geographically different. We have people from
Speaker 2: final Queensland to you know, a sheep farmers from Adelaide
Speaker 2: in a city Melbourne, their ages are different. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of diversity in the past in that regard and
Speaker 2: I think that that is another reason that people will
Speaker 2: find somebody that they can relate to in there. And
Speaker 2: from a personality perspective, when you look at somebody like Danny,
Speaker 2: for example, who features quite strongly in the promos, and
Speaker 2: Danny's a real estate agent from Geelong, he is probably
Speaker 2: one of the most polarizing people you know that you
Speaker 2: will meet because I guess he's always doing deals. You know,
Speaker 2: he's that's in his DNA. But and you go through
Speaker 2: this ride Danny where you love Danny and then you
Speaker 2: don't love Danny, and you go through this whole thing
Speaker 2: and he makes friends with somebody who is the opposite
Speaker 2: of him, Nick, who is a color blind house painter.
Speaker 4: A redhead color blind painter. I'd try to stick to
Speaker 4: my wife in that way.
Speaker 1: I don't have to tell the client that how you're
Speaker 1: dealing with a color blind painter.
Speaker 2: He's good with white.
Speaker 4: It's about it beyond the color he can paint.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think even the fact that these unlikely
Speaker 2: friendships get formed in the house, that is something that
Speaker 2: is fun to watch Nick meet Danieline.
Speaker 1: We are so different, but I like you.
Speaker 3: I like you at least four What are.
Speaker 2: Their animals and they are represent you Daniel.
Speaker 4: That lion right there, that's a fairal cat mate.
Speaker 2: And those two together create some television goals because they
Speaker 2: are like they are self described. They describe themselves as
Speaker 2: being the wet band from home alone, the bumbling books
Speaker 2: who are spot not really you know. Like, so there
Speaker 2: are a lot of great, great characters in this series.
Speaker 1: How have you gone with the format changes over the years,
Speaker 1: Because did you watch any of the overseas version, because
Speaker 1: like Big Brother now in Australia is quite similar to
Speaker 1: the Canadian version which Tim Dormer, you know, winner of
Speaker 1: Big Brother in twenty thirteen, he went and did that series,
Speaker 1: and now we've borrowed a lot of that essence. How
Speaker 1: have you gone with the evolution of Big Brother to
Speaker 1: this point?
Speaker 2: I actually love it. I don't think if there's one
Speaker 2: thing you may not have noticed about me, Ben, I
Speaker 2: feel like if I sit in one spot for too long,
Speaker 2: I would get a little bit anty. And that's why
Speaker 2: I think. You know, switching back to seven and doing
Speaker 2: everything that I've been doing has been great fun for
Speaker 2: me because I get to change things up. The format
Speaker 2: changes have improved the show. The way we watched Big
Speaker 2: Brother twenty years ago and the way we watch television now,
Speaker 2: those two things weren't gelling. So you know, we want
Speaker 2: something that's fast paced. We want an outcome every episode.
Speaker 2: We want to see an eviction and something happen, and
Speaker 2: then I hook for the next night so that we can, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm coming back because I want to see what happens
Speaker 2: next in that story. So I think it's evolved in
Speaker 2: a brilliant way, and it's now perfect for audiences who
Speaker 2: are at home watching. It's broad enough too for everyone
Speaker 2: to watch, Like maybe we'll often watch over my shoulder
Speaker 2: if I'm looking at episodes and my laptop shell into
Speaker 2: like she us to see who wins the challenges, you know,
Speaker 2: and there's nothing in there that concerned me. You know,
Speaker 2: there's nothing in Big Brother that I think I didn't
Speaker 2: feel if I really want to see that. You know,
Speaker 2: there are some confrontations that confrontation doesn't necessarily have to
Speaker 2: be a bad thing. I think people who are confrontational
Speaker 2: are also asserting. And we send our children to school,
Speaker 2: I mean, we try to teach them to become assertive.
Speaker 2: And I think that's not a bad thing to be
Speaker 2: able to be asserted, and it's not a bad thing
Speaker 2: to be reserved and to sit back from that either.
Speaker 2: And there are all different personality types in the house,
Speaker 2: so I think that in real life we have to
Speaker 2: interreact with all different personality types and we have to
Speaker 2: be able to get along and at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, that's what happened.
Speaker 1: Your relationship this year with the contestants is really interesting
Speaker 1: to watch because I think you really grill them, and
Speaker 1: I think it's a pull through for each episode. Is
Speaker 1: that excitement of you being able to unpack what's happened
Speaker 1: earlier and sort of unearthed things that have gone on, Katie.
Speaker 2: A little Birdie told me that you and Max knew
Speaker 2: each other on the outside. Yes, we dated. Do we
Speaker 2: potentially have like a love triangle on our hands? I
Speaker 2: don't think so.
Speaker 1: I can imagine that must be a very different process
Speaker 1: and your what's your relationship like this year with the contestants.
Speaker 2: Look, it's great in that every time I turn up
Speaker 2: and I say hi, they're very happy to see me,
Speaker 2: and I'm really happy to see them because we have
Speaker 2: this kind of, you know, symbiotic relationship going on. It's like, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm their window to the outside world in
Speaker 2: a way, although I don't tell them anything about what's
Speaker 2: going on in the outside world. But then I've become
Speaker 2: the prosecutor in Big Brothers' courtroom, and it's my job
Speaker 2: to really sort of get to the truth of what's
Speaker 2: going on without without blowing anybody's game. And that's not
Speaker 2: always easy to do because sometimes there are issues that
Speaker 2: arise that you need to get to the bottom of.
Speaker 2: And it's I actually really enjoy it. I have to say,
Speaker 2: I've never been in this This type of posting is
Speaker 2: very different from anything else that I've done, where you know,
Speaker 2: where it's a big, shiny floor show, and you know
Speaker 2: you're introduced with amazing people onto the floor, incredible singers, dances.
Speaker 2: This is more about thrilling down into what's actually going
Speaker 2: on in the house amongst certain people and their relationships
Speaker 2: and who's kind of forming, who's forming an alliance with
Speaker 2: herm and what the real deal is. So I enjoy it.
Speaker 2: I really do enjoy those evictions. I think the first
Speaker 2: series I was I sort of understood what I was doing,
Speaker 2: but it's kind of not really. This time around, I
Speaker 2: get it and I've enjoyed the process a whole lot more.
Speaker 1: You can really tell that though that from and I
Speaker 1: really want to stress this to anyone listening to this
Speaker 1: right now, is the show is now worlds Apart from
Speaker 1: last year, like twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, you
Speaker 1: and the team of people at end de Molshine sort
Speaker 1: of listen to what people were saying, and this series
Speaker 1: that you have more chance to get to know these housemates.
Speaker 1: It's it's more like we understand the brand and now
Speaker 1: everyone is just full steam ahead. How emotionally connected are
Speaker 1: you to these different contestants? Is it hard not to
Speaker 1: form favorites?
Speaker 2: The weird thing is at any point in time, you
Speaker 2: know it's someone's my favorite and they're not. Then the
Speaker 2: next day I come in and I love this person
Speaker 2: and I don't love that person, and I'm like everybody
Speaker 2: watching at home, I'm the same. I'm like, oh, you know,
Speaker 2: when they first go in, you always kind of you
Speaker 2: judge a book by its cover, and you go, I'm
Speaker 2: going to be behind that person. I'm going to back
Speaker 2: them in. And then as the show goes on and
Speaker 2: you start to get to know them and the layers
Speaker 2: of the onion get peeled away, you start to realize
Speaker 2: that actually this person is who I didn't think I
Speaker 2: was going to like. Now I really love that person,
Speaker 2: and so it changes, and it's like any sort of relationship,
Speaker 2: you know, it ebsonent flows, and your feelings towards certain
Speaker 2: people change and develop, and sometimes they disappear. It's so weird,
Speaker 2: it's hard to explain. You can't use the word journey
Speaker 2: because it's my least favorite word. It's the most overused
Speaker 2: wordy television. But you do go on a relationship experience
Speaker 2: with these people, and that's part of a big part
Speaker 2: of the appeal for me.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, you know, one thing I was thinking of since
Speaker 1: twenty twelve till now, since the moment you became a
Speaker 1: part of this brand of Big Brother, is how would
Speaker 1: Sonya Krueger go as a housemate in Big Brother? Because
Speaker 1: there's a lot of blind siding and bac stabbing and
Speaker 1: you know you've got to be like, have this strategic game.
Speaker 1: How would you go if you found yourself in the house.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I think that i'd have to partner
Speaker 2: up with someone who had the smarts. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: like I could carry out I'm a good soldier. I'm
Speaker 2: a good foot soldier. I could carry out a plan.
Speaker 2: But I think I would need somebody, you know, like Amreily.
Speaker 2: He's the executive producer of the show. I would need
Speaker 2: her to kind of like direct the plan and then
Speaker 2: I would be the foot soldier carrying it. And you
Speaker 2: can see that in certain dynamics in the house too,
Speaker 2: with friendships that go on. Also, I'd possibly be the
Speaker 2: persons bitching about nobody cleaning up because I'm a little
Speaker 2: bit like and i'd be They're going, then let's just
Speaker 2: dishes in the sink again?
Speaker 4: Are you going to pick that up? Yeah? Those dishes?
Speaker 2: That is not big television that is boring, so I
Speaker 2: suspect I could be voted out in the landslide.
Speaker 4: Are you competitive? Like how competitive are you as a
Speaker 4: person I used to be.
Speaker 2: I used to be when I'm as competitive dancer, I
Speaker 2: was trained to try to read. Now I know I don't.
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm less inclined to want to compete.
Speaker 2: I'm happy. I'm really happy with what I get to do,
Speaker 2: which some people have said he like, like, you're you're
Speaker 2: You're doing so much and and I'm like, yeah, but
Speaker 2: I'm really just the bus driver, you know, Like I'm
Speaker 2: driving the bus. People get on and get to the end,
Speaker 2: and that they provide the entertainment on the way and
Speaker 2: then they hop off the bus. So my role is
Speaker 2: fairly minus in the grand scheme of things. It's not
Speaker 2: a big role, and I like it like that, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm like less is more so I kind of like
Speaker 2: the fact that I don't have to compete. I can
Speaker 2: watch them trying their hearts out, particularly in those challenges.
Speaker 2: They wow, they're nail biteam So I'm on the edge
Speaker 2: of my team. I'm yelling at the TV. But what
Speaker 2: I want to be one of those people right now?
Speaker 2: I'd rather just drive the bus.
Speaker 1: You'd rather drive the bus. Yeah, And I love how
Speaker 1: humble you are. You're always so humble. You're like, I'm
Speaker 1: just here to drive the bus. I mean, looking like
Speaker 1: el McPherson hosting a show presenting better than pretty much
Speaker 1: anywhere in the world. Mate, you are more than driving
Speaker 1: the bus like you.
Speaker 2: Are Channel seven Big Brother VIP.
Speaker 4: Not at all.
Speaker 1: But that brings me to something quite interesting, and that
Speaker 1: is I think you need to ring your mate Todd
Speaker 1: mckennie and ask him to do a Big Brother VIP
Speaker 1: because how do you think he would go in the
Speaker 1: format of Big Brother.
Speaker 2: Well, one of the magazines reported that he was actually
Speaker 2: doing it, so I sent it to him and he
Speaker 2: was like, oh, I look forward to being asked to
Speaker 2: be on that show. So it was supposed that he'd
Speaker 2: heard about it. I actually think he'd bred him. I
Speaker 2: think he would. I think he would almost be a
Speaker 2: little bit like Nick and Danny from this series in
Speaker 2: that he would be incredibly clever, but probably just a
Speaker 2: really dumb things.
Speaker 4: Time amazing, that's good television.
Speaker 2: Super entertaining. Yes, exactly exactly, and I would just love
Speaker 2: to be able to grill Todd in the eviction ceremony.
Speaker 4: That would be the best television.
Speaker 1: I mean, some of the best television for twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one so far is the zingers between the two of
Speaker 1: you on Dancing with the Stars, Like it's palatable, it's
Speaker 1: so funny and so fantastic and good to see people
Speaker 1: being authentic and having real relationships on telling because I
Speaker 1: think that makes us relate better.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, one undred percent. That's why I could. I
Speaker 2: was a terrible actor. I can't ask for the hope.
Speaker 2: It's the same. It's sort of like, you know, if
Speaker 2: something's working for us, you'll know we're having a good time.
Speaker 2: And my philosophy has always been if I'm having a
Speaker 2: good time and the people around me are having a
Speaker 2: good time, and hopefully the audience will be too.
Speaker 1: So again, being so humble, Big Brother is a show
Speaker 1: that we can all relate to, I mean, being locked
Speaker 1: in a house. In the last year, we all saw
Speaker 1: ourselves around Australia in similar situations, being lockdown with you know, COVID,
Speaker 1: What did you manage to do? What does Sonya Krueger
Speaker 1: do during lockdown? What do you do to stay sane?
Speaker 2: A lot of cupcakes with my little girl mate are
Speaker 2: behind me now desperate to catch up. She's finished score.
Speaker 2: And so what you'll see in this series of Big
Speaker 2: Brother is covid sonya. It's that a lot of cupcakes.
Speaker 4: You would never tell.
Speaker 1: I have a question for you, which is the last
Speaker 1: question I ask everybody, and that is what's a funny story?
Speaker 1: That is kind of the take home from working on
Speaker 1: Big Brother after all of these years, like, what's something
Speaker 1: that's funny that happened behind the scenes that is a
Speaker 1: good story to get out over dinner conversation.
Speaker 2: It was on the very first night of working on
Speaker 2: the show with Alex Mavadaik's back in twenty twelve, and
Speaker 2: I had to once all the housemates had gone into
Speaker 2: the house, I had to provide this live commentary over
Speaker 2: the top of what they were doing. And he is
Speaker 2: Ben and he's checking out, he's talking to you know,
Speaker 2: his friend over here, and I think Alex got in
Speaker 2: my ear and said, Michael's in the kitchen making peace.
Speaker 2: And I went, Michael's making peace because there's obviously been
Speaker 2: a massive calling out and playing the role a peacemaker.
Speaker 2: And Alex was like, pizza, he's making up, not peace.
Speaker 2: Pizza and I was like okay, and I think I
Speaker 2: said it out loud live on air. So and there
Speaker 2: were more. Just go to YouTube you'll see all the
Speaker 2: moments where I spoke loud about what was happening in
Speaker 2: my ear or on the UNO at the time.
Speaker 1: Well, congratulations on this new series. I cannot thank you
Speaker 1: enough for taking the time to have this chat with me.
Speaker 1: I'm such a big brother fan. But beyond that, this
Speaker 1: is legitimately the best season I have seen. Let me
Speaker 1: tell you, it's freakin' amazing and you are in your element.
Speaker 2: UNTI episode eleven, it all happens. Thank you so much, Ben,
Speaker 2: enjoy it and let me know. Let me know on
Speaker 2: social media.
Speaker 4: I'll be tagging you.
Speaker 1: I'll be hashtagging as I have done for the last
Speaker 1: many years.
Speaker 4: Thanks so much.