Speaker 1: It's in the news today, but it was actually on
Speaker 1: TV Reload the podcast last peak. Their line welcome back
Speaker 1: guys to TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris and
Speaker 1: on this podcast I go behind the scenes with the
Speaker 1: biggest players in television. Each episode you will get a
Speaker 1: front row seat with content makers like executive producers, writers,
Speaker 1: editors and casting agents, plus the talent that we see
Speaker 1: on our screens. TV Reload reloads the shows that you
Speaker 1: are currently watching and gives you a better insight into
Speaker 1: our television industry and our streaming services. Today on the podcast,
Speaker 1: I have the latest eliminated contestant from Channel ten's new
Speaker 1: reality show The Challenge Australia. It is fighter and the
Speaker 1: ring peacekeeper on our screens. It's Sugar Nicks Johnson. Sugar
Speaker 1: is a female pro boxer, winning major championships and making
Speaker 1: a name for herself around the world. Born in New Zealand,
Speaker 1: but when fighting internationally, she represents Australia. This is her
Speaker 1: first reality TV show, but something tells me we are
Speaker 1: bound to see more of her as she was a
Speaker 1: great addition to the series. Sugar did make alliances and
Speaker 1: made headlines across the country for rumors that started after
Speaker 1: Leake suggested that she had a fight with one of
Speaker 1: her major competitors. It also seemed like her pairing with
Speaker 1: Ryan Gallagher was the main reason for her exit, but
Speaker 1: we will talk about that in today's podcast. We will
Speaker 1: also get to the bottom of her rumored beef with
Speaker 1: Susan Matuzi, what it was like to be a reality
Speaker 1: TV star, Who she knew or what I probably should
Speaker 1: say who she didn't know, And of course I'll ask
Speaker 1: her my top five questions, which will leave her no
Speaker 1: room to duck and weave as she dishes the dirt
Speaker 1: on her fellow cast members. However, let's get started with
Speaker 1: today's guest. I'd like to welcome Sugar from the Challenge
Speaker 1: Australia to TV Reload.
Speaker 2: What's involved in reality TV streams, teamwork, resilience, each to
Speaker 2: their own and I don't judge r I don't criticize.
Speaker 1: Sugar's a box art, She's a warrior.
Speaker 2: This is going to be carnage. It was crazy because
Speaker 2: I'm quite icd so I actually don't know how I
Speaker 2: lived in that room as well.
Speaker 1: Now this is a matchup before being waiting to see.
Speaker 2: Where did this even come from? Like I sort of
Speaker 2: have to just laugh about it, because what else can
Speaker 2: you do about it?
Speaker 1: Ryan and Sugar, you were the losers of tonight's elimination.
Speaker 2: I think the people with bigger personalities and more of
Speaker 2: the dramall sort of overtook the line light there.
Speaker 1: Hi, Sugar, how are you good morning?
Speaker 2: I'm very well, thank you.
Speaker 1: How did you end up on a show like The
Speaker 1: Challenge Australia.
Speaker 2: I ended up on that show because I wanted to
Speaker 2: challenge myself. I knew that there was money on the line,
Speaker 2: and I thought that I would be a good run
Speaker 2: for my money to actually win the money. So I'm
Speaker 2: quite competitive and I wanted to give it a crack.
Speaker 1: You also said, you know, when I was reading about
Speaker 1: all the contestants, you revealed in your profile that you're
Speaker 1: actually a quiet person. Was this a real shock to
Speaker 1: the system to be amongst so many people known for
Speaker 1: their big personalities.
Speaker 2: It was a little bit. It took a little bit
Speaker 2: for me to adapt to everyone in the house and
Speaker 2: just the different personalities. But I understand everyone is, like
Speaker 2: you know, each to their own and I don't judge
Speaker 2: or I don't criticize, So it was just a different experience.
Speaker 2: And I took it all on like a bit of
Speaker 2: a learning curve.
Speaker 1: I've been to a lot of events where you see
Speaker 1: lots of different people from reality shows and you always
Speaker 1: get put together, and I always was like, this is
Speaker 1: the reality show, this is what should be on television,
Speaker 1: because drama seems to just find itself there. What did
Speaker 1: you think of reality TV contestants before doing the show?
Speaker 2: Well, to be honest, I actually never really watched TV
Speaker 2: because I'm too busy training or going to bed early.
Speaker 2: So when I first come onto the show, I felt
Speaker 2: extremely rude because I was like, sorry, who are you?
Speaker 2: Or what is what show that you were on? So
Speaker 2: I was still learning about what shows everyone was on
Speaker 2: when I got onto the house, and then it's like, right, okay,
Speaker 2: I see now I see sort of what's involved in
Speaker 2: reality TV.
Speaker 1: Who was the one that was the most offended for
Speaker 1: you not knowing who they were?
Speaker 2: You know, I don't think anyone really took offense, not
Speaker 2: that I knew of anyway.
Speaker 1: Last night, it was interesting to watch the show because
Speaker 1: you guys were safe in the first part of the
Speaker 1: double episode, which was interesting to see. But do you
Speaker 1: think that they couldn't lose you because of the drama
Speaker 1: that Ryan and Emily had been creating at that point.
Speaker 1: Do you think that the producers were like, Okay, we
Speaker 1: need to save these people and give them another episode.
Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know. There was big arguments in the
Speaker 2: house about this, whether it was rigged to be like, look,
Speaker 2: we need the drama here in the house, but who knows.
Speaker 2: It's the challenge, and I feel like maybe they just
Speaker 2: wanted to spice it up a bit. It wasn't the
Speaker 2: halfway mark, but I wasn't complaining. I was still in
Speaker 2: the house and able to compete for the money.
Speaker 1: But you were also being dragged into some of Ryan's drama.
Speaker 1: How did that make you feel at the time, Because
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm talking to you right now. You don't
Speaker 1: seem like the sort of person that attaches themselves to drama,
Speaker 1: So I don't know. Did you feel like Ryan dragged
Speaker 1: you into his mess?
Speaker 2: You know that he was a part of my alliance.
Speaker 2: He's a friend of mine, and I knew that I
Speaker 2: was going into the drama and that side of the
Speaker 2: house with the alliance, and I was happy just to
Speaker 2: take that on board, even though I wasn't involved in
Speaker 2: a lot of the drama. I knew what was going
Speaker 2: on and where my spot was in the house.
Speaker 1: Do you think that it was also fair for the
Speaker 1: producers to cancel or whoever the powers that be, do
Speaker 1: you think it was fair for them to cancel that
Speaker 1: birthday party on the yacht?
Speaker 2: Oh, it was probably probably a good call because there
Speaker 2: may have been a bit more dramas on the boat
Speaker 2: out on the water there with alcohol involved. So maybe
Speaker 2: it was a good call. And I guess we're never
Speaker 2: going to know because we never went out on that
Speaker 2: boat that day.
Speaker 1: You know, you can't get off the boat, Sugar, so
Speaker 1: like if you're on the boat, you know that's that's
Speaker 1: too much. So I think it's probably the right thing
Speaker 1: to do. Was it one hundred percent because of that
Speaker 1: fight between Conrad and Ryan or do you think it
Speaker 1: was a combination of all the fights that were going on.
Speaker 2: No. I just think the tension between Ryan and Conrad
Speaker 2: and then the tension between the Batchy alliance and sort
Speaker 2: of my alliance was just really heated. The tension in
Speaker 2: the house was just crazy, Like I was like, you know,
Speaker 2: you don't want to be stepping on no one's toes.
Speaker 2: Otherwise somebody would probably would have went off the boat
Speaker 2: for sure. Do you know.
Speaker 1: I always think of my boy Marley because he's a
Speaker 1: fellow winner of Big Brother. I feel like we are
Speaker 1: not getting as much from Marley. I wanted to know
Speaker 1: if your take on him, is he really quiet while
Speaker 1: the show was going on, or are we just not seeing,
Speaker 1: you know, enough of him? It was maybe the drama
Speaker 1: was more about other people, so we're not getting to
Speaker 1: see enough of Marley.
Speaker 2: No, Marley was such a cool dude. Really really got
Speaker 2: along with him. He's really down to earth, and I
Speaker 2: feel like he was a little bit of a flow
Speaker 2: cell like myself, Like he just got along with everyone
Speaker 2: in the house. I think the people with bigger personalities
Speaker 2: and more of the drama sort of overtook the line
Speaker 2: light there, you know.
Speaker 1: Apparently one of your competitors, someone that's already left the competition,
Speaker 1: said that there was a bit of a run in
Speaker 1: with you and Susan in the first couple of days.
Speaker 1: We obviously don't need to get into the sort of
Speaker 1: details of that, but was there any truth over beef
Speaker 1: between you and Susan?
Speaker 2: Not at all that I did entertain that story because
Speaker 2: it wasn't true at all. So I had no need
Speaker 2: to really comment on it.
Speaker 1: This must be strange for you to be in the
Speaker 1: media in this capacity and have your name dragged into
Speaker 1: something like that. I mean, it's so strange when something
Speaker 1: gets a headline and it's completely untrue. You have to
Speaker 1: wonder who makes this stuff up?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just like, where did this even come from?
Speaker 2: Like I sort of have to just laugh about it,
Speaker 2: because what else can you do about it? Like I
Speaker 2: was there, we were all there, we knew it wasn't true.
Speaker 2: So yeah, social media is crazy and where these stories
Speaker 2: come up from. I don't know whether it be somebody
Speaker 2: who's jealous or just trying to maybe look bad or
Speaker 2: I have no idea what it is, but I'm not
Speaker 2: too worried because I know what I did and I
Speaker 2: know it wasn't true, So no need to entertain the
Speaker 2: idea of it.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I love your attitude on that. You know, Kiki's
Speaker 1: injury has been the topic of conversation, even you know,
Speaker 1: being factored into these negotiations that were going on. Do
Speaker 1: you think her leaving the competition with having an injury
Speaker 1: is too big of a disaster because losing one person
Speaker 1: would mean that there'd be uneven numbers and they need
Speaker 1: to have those, you know, those duos.
Speaker 2: From my understanding, from what I would think, if Kicky
Speaker 2: was to get eliminated from as like injury, her partner
Speaker 2: would have to go as well, because, like you say,
Speaker 2: it's appaired challenges, so you can't really do it on
Speaker 2: your own.
Speaker 1: That's so interesting. I kept thinking that would have to
Speaker 1: be the case, because you couldn't just leave one person there.
Speaker 1: I mean, it would just be unfair. But how would
Speaker 1: you have felt if you'd been eliminated because your your
Speaker 1: teammate had an injury.
Speaker 2: That's a hard one, Like I would have been upset
Speaker 2: because I would have wanted to keep going to the
Speaker 2: end and it wasn't me at fault. But you know,
Speaker 2: an injury is like, there's a life outside of the show,
Speaker 2: so things are more important than being in there at
Speaker 2: that moment. It was life threatening or you know she's
Speaker 2: going to have a broken back or needs surgery, then
Speaker 2: so be it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess I guess that. You know. One of
Speaker 1: my favorite things of the season was in the second
Speaker 1: part of the double episode last night, which was you
Speaker 1: going up against Emily, and I was like, this is
Speaker 1: actually a really fair fight between the two of you.
Speaker 1: Would you say that Emily was your strongest competitor in
Speaker 1: the competition?
Speaker 2: Most definitely. She's a fantastic man. Look at what she's done.
Speaker 2: I can't many of years, So she's done the hard work.
Speaker 2: She knows what it's like to be fit, healthy and
Speaker 2: compete on the world stage along with myself. So she
Speaker 2: was definitely my strongest competitor in the aw.
Speaker 1: See, she looks like she's got some people up against her, though.
Speaker 1: I feel bad for her now, I'm like, how's she
Speaker 1: going to survive another episode?
Speaker 2: Yeah, everyone's everyone's got a target on him now for sure.
Speaker 1: You know you said last night, just as you were
Speaker 1: leaving the competition, you know you look forward to other opportunities.
Speaker 1: Is there some other shows that you would like to
Speaker 1: see yourself on? Is there anything out there that you think, Oh,
Speaker 1: I've got a taste for a reality now I've set
Speaker 1: my sight on that.
Speaker 2: If it's something competitive, yeah, I definitely want to get
Speaker 2: better crack. I always liked the look of sas that
Speaker 2: it'd be something right up my alley. But if it
Speaker 2: wasn't really competitive, then I'm not really interested in doing that.
Speaker 2: I've got a boxing career to focus on, and I'm
Speaker 2: at the highest of where I'm at the moment, so
Speaker 2: that's that's my number one priority.
Speaker 1: You're a busy woman. One of the last things I
Speaker 1: was going to ask you is is there anything about
Speaker 1: the challenge that you would change? I mean, this is
Speaker 1: a big franchise that's happening around the world, which you've
Speaker 1: been lucky to take part in. You know, is there
Speaker 1: anything about the way in which the competition works that
Speaker 1: you'd change?
Speaker 2: I think from watching the previous some of the other shows,
Speaker 2: like it's really different all the time, Like sometimes they'll
Speaker 2: do single challenges where you have to compete on your own.
Speaker 2: You may stay with your partner the whole time to
Speaker 2: the show. For me, I just took this as it came,
Speaker 2: and I didn't really know what to expect. But it'll
Speaker 2: be interesting to see to see you actually do the
Speaker 2: challenges and compete on your own, because then that way
Speaker 2: it's on you. It's not on anyone else, Whether you
Speaker 2: win or you it's on you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you make a fair point there. You know,
Speaker 1: everyone that's been on the podcast, I've asked them these
Speaker 1: top five need to know questions. It's like a rapid
Speaker 1: fire thing. You don't have to go into too much detail.
Speaker 1: You could also plead the fifth if you don't want
Speaker 1: to say, but are you ready to play the game?
Speaker 2: All right, let's go all right?
Speaker 1: Who was the nicest person in the competition?
Speaker 2: I'd have to say Marley.
Speaker 1: Who were the biggest villains?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Who would be the biggest villain in the show?
Speaker 2: Probably Comma?
Speaker 1: Who would have thought the guy from Master Chef would
Speaker 1: be this? You know there would be this villain. It's
Speaker 1: he's serving something spicy, that's for.
Speaker 2: Sure, very spicy.
Speaker 1: Who is the messiest person to live with?
Speaker 2: Probably my roommates Bryan Grant, Johnny.
Speaker 1: I just heard that the smell of that room is
Speaker 1: so bad that people had to keep telling them to
Speaker 1: clean the room. And I then realized that you were
Speaker 1: living with them, and I was sharing that space, and
Speaker 1: I felt bad for you. You must have had some
Speaker 1: strong impulse deodorant to wear.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just like my little corner of the room.
Speaker 2: It was like spotless. It was crazy because I'm quite
Speaker 2: icd so I actually don't know how I lived in
Speaker 2: that room as well.
Speaker 1: Just imagine you waking up and trying to wipe you know,
Speaker 1: Grant down with a with a squeegee, you know, come on, mate,
Speaker 1: pick up your game. Who is the funniest person in there?
Speaker 2: The funniest Johnny was pretty funny, like he was a
Speaker 2: really cool character. And I find a funny side to
Speaker 2: Surroul as well. I think she's cyclone, she's she's a
Speaker 2: cool check, she's funny.
Speaker 1: I like her as well. I don't know how much
Speaker 1: I could live with her, but I love to watch
Speaker 1: her on television. Who do you want to win? Not
Speaker 1: who you maybe might know who's going to get close
Speaker 1: to the end, but like when you left the competition
Speaker 1: at this point, who did you want to win?
Speaker 2: I want Emily and Grant to win, either of them
Speaker 2: because they are a part of my line. But I
Speaker 2: would prefer, like you know, we got kicked out one
Speaker 2: of my alliances to win, and I feel like anyone
Speaker 2: in the show would want somebody in the alliance to win.
Speaker 1: Sugar, I just want to say thank you so much
Speaker 1: for coming on the podcast. I was so excited to
Speaker 1: chat with you this morning. I'm glad that we put
Speaker 1: that Susan rumor to bed. Now it's come from the
Speaker 1: horse's mouth, everyone can back off. I really loved you
Speaker 1: on the show and I can't wait to see what
Speaker 1: you do next. I'll have to come and watch you
Speaker 1: fight in the ring.
Speaker 2: Yes, that'd be great. I'm probably going to be overseas next,
Speaker 2: but next time I'm here in Melbourne or here in Australia,
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be huge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hit me up. I think it would be awkward
Speaker 1: at this point if I fly overseas to watch you,
Speaker 1: it might seem like I'm stalking.
Speaker 2: Nah, that's all right, that's all right. Thank you for
Speaker 2: the support.
Speaker 1: No, all good. Thanks so much for the chat.