DEBRIEF AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR WITH 'BENNY!'

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last week.

Don't welcome back guys to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris and on this podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest players in television.

Yeah, great questions.

The show's about the game.

There's a lot of great television out there in Australia.

But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers. The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't had nothing to do with the news and casting agents.

They know from a casting point of view what they need.

And editors because that's what we do as editors where storytellers. Not to forget some incredible executive producers who are making some of the best TV in Australia.

I have been on the program since the beginning and it's kind of in my DNA.

So thanks for joining me each week and I hope the podcast continues to give you real insight into the magic of television today. On the podcast, I have Ben Watson from Australian Survivor, who is the tenth person to be eliminated from that Network ten series. It may appear to everyone that I have become an exclusive Australian Or podcast. But I promise you I have a great merit at first site chat coming up thanks to the team at Channel nine, and I have a chat with one of

We're messing with.

Mother Nature out there and you can't deal with that.

Previously on Australian Survivor to.

Run the numbers by me with Kroc. Hopefully at some stage in the future we can get Benny out, but.

We're going to punch him on the chin when I see him next.

The whole game revolved around fending.

Then it's just silly to have that wall of testosterone and.

Then becomes the tenth person voted out of blood versus water.

There's no amount of kid cats out there that would have saved me from that.

Hey mate, how are you.

I'm good. I'm good. Head still spinning from last night. I voiced a bit husky from yelling at the TV, so, I mean, I know I was there and it happened, but I was still it was like a footy game that you watch on replay, like, surely he can't score again. I was like, surely the breeze lostn't that bad, and surely it wasn't that close. And I was around my friend's house and I'm pretty sure that was staring at me like what are you doing. It's like, I don't know.

You can't control the elements. But I should say to you straight off the bat, you know, congratulations on your time in Australian survivor what a ride. But you've been on, especially in the last week, it's been fantastic.

I can wholeheardly say that first time in my life. I am. I'm really proud of myself of what I achieved out there.

And you really got to see Benny play his game in the last couple of days, which I really would love to have seen emerge, especially for myself to go how far can I push this Australia as nice as us whole vibe? I really wanted to play that card a bit more. But look, so I have a godswin on my side that last night. But it happens.

Look, I think sometimes we all get a little bit of Pete Evans in our face, and I think that happened to you a couple of times where I was like, oh, I think we're getting that. You know, you've kind of cooked yourself.

Look, yeah, it's that I'm doing. Okay, No, I'm not.

I just don't know what to do a way to look at least.

You're an amazing eye Candy. I'm just going to say that to your you know right now, because you know you're talking the chart there. You've one survivor in that department. But I have to ask you to over the whole experience. You know, what was the feeling watching it back leading up into this point At.

The start, it was kind of like listening to that voicemail that you've given to somebody that you don't remember, and you go, I say that for and you see yourself on TV and I'm like, oh, surely they're not going.

To put that in. And then they put that in. I'm like, you're an idiot.

Like great, and then the speedos came out and I'm like, fantastic, here we are, this is me.

Now you welcome everybody. And it was good.

And then I could see myself changing the lack of food and getting a bit skinner in the face, and just my mentalities and my mannerisms of like, oh, you should have bit your tongue there then, but you really didn't. And I think back now, having a nice bed and some food. I'm like, I would have bit my tongue. But out there, yeah, forty seven degrees, you're literally getting beaten up by what he's read at Ralph Mark, Wales, and you just forget all that stuff and it's just

You know, that's what the producers are doing to you, right, They're starving you, they're not letting you sleep, and that's so you are going to say and do things that you probably wouldn't say and do in the real world.

God yeah, I mean there are some things out there that I'm so happy and so thankful for the producers not putting them in because I would have come off just like the complete dummy of not having a clue because I say something that ian that didn't make any sense.

But it's hard, I mean, tough is an understated I.

Think that the producers actually do a very fair job these days with reality television. You know, you often hear people coming out and saying, oh, they played me unfairly or the editing. But I actually found, more often than not talking to people coming off these shows that they feel more saved than they do feel exposed, and I think that that's saying something for I guess endemol Shine Australia.

Yeah, I mean I am over the moon with my edit. I really I'm a very humble, nice guy who very vulnerable and very emotional and they definitely showed that. I mean, I cried a lot more than what I did in the show that they didn't show. But I'm happy and it makes me proud to watch that. I'll gladly watch these episodes back and really sort of be grateful for

I'm still reeling from that fire Challenge. I just have to say that to you right now. I mean, it really was anyone's game. I don't know if that's how it played out at the time, but my stress levels as a viewer was fever pitch. I mean, my string burnt, I think before the real strings burnt.

Look out there, I wasn't paying attention to what mel was doing. I would glance up at Shay and I would get the little thumbs up in the small I were good, I could keep going. But I actually physically had to move my fire with my hands because of that breeze. I thought it was close out there, but swatching it back, I was like, it was legitimately exactly how it played out. It was five more seconds than I would have had it, because again, it's the fire gods,

The affinity that you both have was palpable, you know, watching the show, you could see that you have such a great relationship and disappointing in some ways that we didn't get to see you, you know, properly playing together as the teams do. Merge, which we'll see coming up on Sunday. But you know, we often hear about the conditions and about how horrendous it is. But I think in some ways you seem to adapt better to this

An Aussie trady. You're out in the elements every day of the week and you're doing some grunt work that you are getting paid for, but it's not your your dream, I guess. And then we shane over a competitive in CrossFit and fitness and just making sure our feet are on the ground and our heads in the right space. So adapting was something I needed to go in there

But when you're six foot four angry.

Man, it's a big hungry man walking into drive and I'm like I'm hungry.

I'm like, oh, you're an idiot, don't say that.

It's a lot to deal with. I kept thinking throughout this whole experience, how have you and Shae gone discuss seeing your game plan? You know, I can imagine with my partner it be such a slippery slope. You don't want to say, well, could have done that differently? And did it become a little heated?

Look, the only thing that we sort of we laugh about now is when Shaye played her idol for no apparent reason. I laugh about that and I actually walked up to it with an empty coffee cup and I just gave it to her afterwards, just what's this? And I just want to give it to you for no reason? And I walked off. And that's our bans, and we're so supportive of one another. It's like actually phenomenal, and like it's kind of ikey cute, how cute we are?

I just think that she is the ultimate strategist. She managed to make sure she was in Sydney and not bear with you in Queensland while you watch the show because she's like, he's gonna have a meltdown. I'm not going to be here for that.

She's good. She's good. So I'm not sure if it was planned or not, but she she says she feels bad, but it's okay. What it is.

I have to ask you who was your favorite player in previous seasons, because you know, we all prepare to be on shows like this and we must go back and watch and sort of take a few tips. Yeah, I just wondered whose game plan you'd previously respected.

Look, I do love Jericho's game plan in regards to just being that had to blend in and I wanted four. It's hard to blend in, but I know how to do that and to adapt as well.

But then Simon from last season it was and funny enough like.

We got voted out at the same time, but just to have that you have a voice, but step back, and I believe like Simon had that voice and he sort of stood in the background as long as he could. And that's sort of what I went in there to be shadowed by somebody. But as we know, I removed that big shadow, which was Kroc. So it's a bit of a tough one to chew.

Well.

The rollercoaster ride for you over the last few episodes proved that you know, you were not going down without a fight. What was the beginning do you think of your fall from grace? You know, in those early Dancy seemed more structured, So you know, what do you think that fall from Grace was?

My fall from Grace would be my tail feathers being up and out and about. As soon as we won, I was celebrating I was a team player. I put all my emotion into it again, holding those logs up just for my team, because I needed not to prove that I'm a team player, but just to show to myself like You've got this, like you've got the ball, run with it and when we won, we won. I won.

Just remember, in the Surviving universe, you could always be brought back, So you know, I don't know what that theme would look like, Heroes versus villains or something. In the Tribal Council, you made some really dramatic moves, which made for some fantastic television.

I know full well that the votes are definitely going to go towards me. I've got Khn and Chrissy voting my name, But I have come up with a plan the flash Cahn's idle tonight.

And get rid of Chrissy.

I want to know, was that structure or was that scramble that was structure.

I've told Cahn from day one that I wanted to work with him. I needed to work with him, him and his idol thing that's been in his back pocket for how many days? And I said some things, even on camera and off camera, that I just needed to work with him. I didn't care about anybody else. I knew Kahn was a threat from the day one, and I wanted just to reassure him that I had his back.

Well, I kind of feel like you might have answered the next question for me, but because I was going to ask you if there's anything that you could change, what would that be? And would that have been maybe trying to start an alliance with Khan a little bit earlier, that would.

Be one of them. Yeah, definitely trying to sort of really talk rather than sit back and say, oh hit just assuming Chris he's with Sam and things like that. It would have been ideal for me to run in horns blazing and say can't I need to work with you? End of story.

But also lowering those tail feathers a fair bit, I think, and biting my tongue about how hungry I was, because there's no amount of kit kats out there that would have saved me from that.

So I was pretty traumatized by how hungry I was. I should have just bit my tongue and go from there. So hopefully a fingers crossed survivor gods want me back, and that's the game I'll play.

We can only live and learn and the opportunities to have people be allowed to have a second chance. You know, we got to see that last night with a fire challenge. Do you think that those opportunities to have a second chance of popping up at the right time.

I'd like to think they were because the twists that kept me in the game kept me in the game, and I like to think that gods are on my side. But again, a fire challenge just wasn't my forte and the little breeze which haunts me, but it's mother nature. We can't control that.

In this day and age, is it too dangerous to align yourself with a male strong alliance, because I'm sure you've seen, you know, people commenting about that on social media, And the realities of the situation might have just been that these boys found their best chance to survive on the show to stick together. But is it a smart move.

I don't think it's neither smart or dumb. I just think it's actually no, I'll take that back. I think it's silly because the boys being boys, they don't realize how much of a threat Shay and caj are in that blood two point zero. I mean, my first move personally would have been to drop the head off. It would have been Mark try to take him out and again, and that would have been.

A hard, hard pill to swallow. But to do that and break that up.

I feel it's just silly to have that wall of testosterone because okay, you've got four guys, five guys playing with each other. They got their backs, everyone's got each other's backs. Sorry, But also that's a massive target. That's five guys is a massive target for somebody else to go, hey, this looks shit, let's start picking this up. I mean I got called out because I was saying I'm too hungry. Imagine being a wall of testosterone and then go we

In the Tribal Council last night, there was a lot of discussion about the intense bonds that seems to be so prevalent in this series. Why do you think that As Survivor has progressed here in Australia Australia, I should say, with my Australian accent, Yeah, why do you think it's progressed to that point?

I mean, you're spending twenty four to seven with these people.

I like to call some of them some of my forever friends, and we had now our late night chats and things off camera. It's just in my post today was I loved hearing about the memories lived and the world's traveled, their lives traveled, and for that to connect you with somebody and know that you're still playing a game, it's something else, and it's you know so much about this person that you feel connected to them forever. Like Jesse for example, I've regardless of the blind side, I've

Have you not seen him place to place? Yeah?

No, not yet. Actually that's a lie. I've seen him since we've been out, but not after last. It will be fine, I'm sure. So I might have to womb with a couple of years or something, but it will be fine.

TikTok. That experience for us, well, you're the Survivor fans out there. We want to watch. We just want to fly on the wall.

It might be brutal, but I'll see I can do Yeah.

So I was going to say, the Twins appear to be headlining some social media frustration from the fans. What is the consensus from all of you castaways behind closed doors? Do you think the girls are being unfairly portrayed?

In my personal opinion, I just feel they're not being portrayed enough. They haven't got the airtime that they deserve. I feel it should be equal. I'm not saying everybody's gotten more, or somebody's got more, somebody's got less. But the twins are some fantastic human beings. They are so smart, mish. I spent a lot of time with Michelle, and she is the funniest, the smartest person one of a dear

There's so many people playing the game, you know, so it's hard to work out all the time who's going to get the screen time because a storyline has to evolve. For me personally, it just makes me think they're going to go really far in the game because I feel like the producers are keeping that storyline in the back pocket,

I think that's a great point to have in regards to they go far, and they are the twins in the shadows, so to speak, but they play a big role off the screen.

They're fantastic people.

So I can't talk highly enough of anybody out there.

I guess the best question to ask you at this point is who is your prediction to win? At this point?

Do you have to ask my girl? I mean, all bias aside, so if either have her in a tight little package, she's fear. She's a warrior. She's a fit, strong and so socially capable to destroy this game. I cannot wait to see what happens next. I can't wait for the world to see my little spud Shine.

And this is a national podcast means that you know you're playing the game finally, much better than you did on Survivor because you know that she's going to listen to it in Sydney. If you said anything else, I think you'd be in trouble.

No, she knows how much love I have for her, and you did Shaye all the way. But if I had a second pick, I'd say JORDI very big underdog. Yeah, a very very odd pick, but from day one I kind of picked him. I mean, it might be the overalls of the mustache, but I heard there's something about that kid that is going to go good.

I'll go and check sports Bet after we have this conversation. My last question to ask you is something that ask everybody who joins the podcast, and that's something that might have happened from behind the scenes that we as an audience didn't get to see, but we might appreciate from hearing that happened behind the scenes.

It's like a personal note. It's more so the personal growth that happens out there. You have all this time that is not on camera. I caught those three fish, but it took me four and a half hours sitting out there thinking about nothing but my own thoughts. You grow as a person, you quite easily. I could see myself and feel myself changing and thinking how can I bring a better bent back to the table when I get home. And that's where my mind wandered, not on Instagram,

Well, I can feel it, buddy, I can feel it. I can hear it in your voice. And I think that's such an amazing thing to walk out of this experience with. And I just want to say thanks again for taking part of the competition and playing as hard as you did to the show and it was fantastic to watch.

Thank you very much. I absolutely appreciate it. I appreciate it all my fans out there, I guess you call them.

That, and your mum and dad, your mom and daddy, Shay, that's it.

No, no, no, I'm absolutely certain that there's a massive alliance of fans out there for you, that's for sure.

But I will say that this isn't the last you're going to see if Bennie Watson. I've got some things in the works in my photography career and I'm going to be on the radar for a lot of people. So yeah, I can't wait.

I just can't wait to see what happens things well, mate, I'm in your audience.

Then, thanks for joining TV REALO today.

Thank you very much for having me. Really appreciate it.