PAULIE - AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR WEEK 6 - NETWORK 10

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload, the podcast Last Weep thereby.

Hey everyone, welcome back to TV Reload.

I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode featuring Paulie, who was recently eliminated from Australian Survivor Brains Versus Braun two. Pauli was a fantastic addition to the Braun tribe and I have loved seeing a queer man representing with just as much strength as the.

Straighty one eighties.

The six week of the competition brought a major twist, forcing some of the players back to basics. It also delivered one of the most chaotic tribal councils yet so wild in fact that it deserves its own podcast, which will be out tomorrow. In this episode, Paulie opens up about his sexuality, including his experience coming out to his

Seen so far on the jury.

There is actually so much to unpack with Paulie today, with plenty of inside revelations. So sit back and relax and enjoy as we dive into the incredible world of Australian Survivor, which returns this Sunday night on Network ten.

I've been so excited to talk to you.

You've been one of my favorite and my partner and I we've been watching it obviously and you've been one of our favorites.

Oh stop, thank you. That's so kind.

I think it's because you have a bit of an underdog status though, and I think I'm drawn to the underdog.

How do you take that? Is that a positive? A? You know what?

I think it definitely is something positive, you know, to be called to be seen as an underdog, because I think I am an underdog naturally, do you know what

That's a litably why I was so emotional when we saw your video about you talking about your dad and your bringing. I don't know whether or not we are living similar lives, like I mean, a lot of it was quite different, but the trigger points for me were really accurate, and I was like, I feel like I'm living my life in some way looking for some validation and redemption and I think in some ways we might share that.

I think so too.

Yeah, absolutely, because it resonated with a lot of people.

The amount of love and support and letters.

Of appreciation that I got from that moment was not even tell you how overwhelming it was, Like it really just touched my heart and the sad thing is as well that not many people have the same story. They have a story where you know, they've come out to their family and they haven't been accepted, And so I had to read a lot of stories of people saying thank you for sharing that. It's given me hope that there are still fathers out there that are accepting their sons,

At the time.

I was kind of like mortified for it to be captured, and I kind of had this anxiety about them airing it because I'm like, it's such a huge moment for me, not only as a player but as a man, and to have that aired around the world was scary starting. But it was received so beautifully. It was one of one of the highlights of my survivor.

Jenny, for sure, what you offered to us in that moment was brave. I'm going to say that to you, and I know you know that, and I guarantee you there was boys walking into their fathers and telling them that they're gay, and that is powerful. Yeah, one you might not have won Astray and Survivor, but right there this is might sound really dramatic, and the listeners for me right there, you're saving lives.

That's what I think.

Oh, thank you so much.

That's a lot, you know, it's a lot of emotion to process, it's a lot to hear. But I'm just I'm happy that I'm in a position to be that vessel for people and to have a story to share that's going to inspire hope for people.

It's beautiful and I'm pretty sure that you just gave a lot of gay men some body oddiody goals like you turn up on that show ready to play.

You are a weapon.

I was not mucking around, girl, I'd tell you now.

I can't tell you how many people I've spoken to you from this season who have told me this. They have all said how lovely you are as a person. Interesting to hear because I don't know if they really valued you enough on the show. I think there was a lot of times where they took your kindness and turned it into something else.

What's your read on all of that.

Do you think that there's been a bit of a disconnect between your kindness and the way in which you were treated.

Yeah, one hundred percent.

And I think it all stemmed from the narrative of the snake oil salesman. AJ was the creator of that, and to his testament, it worked because the only thing that was going to harm my game was dragging my name through the mud, which is what he did. He recognized my strengths, which is my character, which is my name, my personality, and that was the only thing that was going to disarm me, and so that's exactly what he did.

I thought that makes blood salesman quote is iconic to the show, and I did enjoy it so like whilst it was detrimental to your gameplay, and well done to AJ.

I mean, he's a hot mess on this show.

If babes all over the place up down, sideways, somebody knows what's going on. But he's such a beautiful man outside of the game, Like he's so warm, he's so caring, he reaches out to me all the time we go for lunch, like he's just he's a beautiful man. It's just his gameplay was so chaotic that everybody was just so mad at how messy it was.

And now you're both together, great glad. I'm joking. I'm drink no tea there getting a lot.

Of people sliding into your dms though, because not to go back to the body ODDIODI and make me look crazy as I already sound, I'm assuming you're getting hit at the dms.

Well yeah, I mean it's cute people are sliding into the dms.

Not only like thirsty dms and things, but I've been getting a lot of love and support for the game. People are asking me a lot of questions about paramedicine and things like that, a lot of like up and coming paramedics, so like, tell me about your story, and I'm like, okay, So it's been really nice. It's like consuming, it's a lot. It's hard to go through them all, but I do my best. But in regards to the body Oddie, I worked really hard because I used to be quite large when I was younger.

Yeah, there's the tea. So I used to be, yeah, a bigger boy.

And then yeah, and I went through a bit of a breakup and then I was like, okay, well, if I'm going to deal with this awfulness that I'm feeling, I'm going to try and channel it somewhere positive. And so I threw myself into the gym. I started reading books, and then I joined day LGBT Swilm club. Like it I've incorporated into my lifestyle now. I don't do it just for aesthetics. I do it because I like it and I need it for my mental health, my well being.

We want to talk about that.

You kind of gave me a tease on it with the snake man salesman thing from AJ. But they put a target on your back quite a few times. Where does that come? Where's your what are you thinking? Where does that come from?

It came to me. I just always saw it as a little bit of a compliment.

I always saw it that they recognized me as a threat that I was, and they wanted me out sooner rather than later because down the line, I'm going to be a problem. You know, those endurance challenges I'm really good at. I'm good at all the challenges really, So if I had made it further in merge, you know what, I've started winning those necklaces because I think now that I'm gone and Karen's gone, who's the challenge beast? Kaylin's

You know, Killen for me is a really interesting character because do you I can't work it out. He's like a Golden Retriever, right, Yeah, now that he's still in the game at this point, do you think he played the Golden Retriever up until now? Because it was only in last night's episode that I started looking at him like, you kind of look like the Golden God. Right now, like, yeah, you look at a bit, David. I didn't notice this,

I think she creates this narrative along the way, because when you go out into Survivor, you always go, Okay, this is how I'm going to play. This is what I'm going to change about myself. I'm going to say these things. I'm going to do this, which is not who I am, but it's how I'm going to play.

Did I call him killan before? What did I call him?

I called it something. I knew what you meant. I was just pining for him the whole time.

I was just looking at him across the mat and doing the challenges, and I was just in all.

I was just like hikaylen Hi. But I don't know if it made the cut.

They were trying to spare whatever dignity they could have mine, and I appreciate that.

We have to unpack. Miles, what is your rationale for how this man has survived beyond apparently being the luckiest man alive finding all these Yeah.

I think Miles is playing a really good game, and Miles is a really charismatic, personable guy. So I think him being the original target was purely based around his size and him maybe being a little bit too straty, chatty and a bit too like irritating sometimes. So I think that that was his initial sort of target being placed on him. But as the game sort of developed and he started surviving, I think people were starting to

And he even saved me along the way. You know, how beautiful is that?

But then did you feel sort of is it vindicated? This This is where I try to use words to sound smarter than I am. But when he saved you, and then in his piece to camera the next episode where he said, yeah, I've saved him, but I am really going to keep him around.

For very long.

Literally every night after that, saved every night after nine votes with my name coming out of that earn was a gift as far as I will say, And that man can say whatever he wants about me. He gave me an extra what four or five days in the game, which I wouldn't have had I wouldn't have been on the jury had it not written for Miles.

Actually, that is worth celebrating.

So he can say whatever he likes and at the end of the day, he's a strategy player. I worked for him at that time, and then if push came to shove and he had to vote me out because it was better for his game, my hat's off to him for sure.

It's you can't get angry at the players. You can only get angry at the game.

This is why you're picked for the show, because you're so good at these lives, turning a phrase on saying things about very clever. Can we talk about your bitchy faces on the tribal council?

You know what, There's many layers to my personality and if I were to be a little bit salty, then I'm gonna be a little bit salty, and those well, can I say, bitches, Yeah, go for it.

Bitches voted me out again?

Were you a bit emotional?

Like I was looking at you wondering whether or not you look like you were going to cry in some of them.

I shed a tear during Noonan's voter because I knew what was coming. So that was a really hard one. I didn't want to write hand Dame down. I had to write hand Dad down, so that was tough. There's always a massive element of anxiety, so you're always literally on edge at tribal council because you just don't know what's going to happen, and especially towards the end, I sort of got used to that anxiety, so I was

Yeah, look, I think it's a really interesting set of clothes that you're about to show us. How do you go about picking all of those outfits? And did you get at your best one first, like the the no shirt, the suit jacket and the African queen necklace.

It's like, I know, right, you look.

Yeah, I wanted to have a nice blend of outfits that expressed who.

I am as a person.

So you know, when I was selecting my Dorey outfits, I was praying that I didn't have to use them, but obviously I did, and so I just wanted to honestly represent how I dress in my everyday life when I go out or when I just go for coffee, you know, So I yeah, I made sure that the fits were cute, but unfortunately for me, there were a couple of outfits that wouldn't work on camera, so yeah, they stroved with the camera lighting.

So I was wearing these like beautiful.

Sheer see through like long sleeve numbers that hold this like Allett paint design on them and stuff like gorgeous from Amsterdam, but they got canceled because of there they stroved on camera, so I had to sort of reassess. I had to figure out two more outfits for the tribal councils. And who who's closet was I going to aid Laura's at this point, So I had to rumish through Laura's.

Closet to find an outfit, and you know what, I made it work.

Just before we wrap up, because I could literally talk to you all day, I wanted to quickly unpack the Zara and Logan personality types. What's your read on these two women and do you think that things aren't looking great for them at the moment.

I was obviously a lot closer to Logan than I was Tazara. Meansara actually really didn't have much to do with each other. She was in one very separate alliance. We never came together until she came over to the Braun tribe, but that was really close to merge, and when she did come over, I was the target and she was talking to all of her friends and stuff.

I think that that's where they went wrong.

They were playing for themselves obviously number one to win, but I think there was a transition where they started to really see themselves as a unit in the buddy system and they forgot about themselves as the number one, and I think that that was a bit detrimental to the gameplay.

Logan to me, is a very emotional survivor player. You know, she either likes people or she hates them, and to me, that's my read on it. She might be really different, and hopefully I've got a chance to talk to her about that, but I did think that she is. When you're an emotional player in a game like this, it can be quite dangerous.

Yeah, well, I was an emotional player in the game. I was by the end of it.

I was really playing in from the emotions because that's all I had left. I had had no alliances, I had no community necklace. So you're naturally responding from an emotional place, especially because you were so fatigued just so man marriage. So it's really really hard. But Logan's a wonderful person, like she is an amazing girl, and sometimes emotions get the better of her when she has her

It's really hard to censor yourself when you're so weak.

Well speaking about being weak at the knees. So JLP is he intimidating in those tribal councils, Like, I mean, this guy's no man.

Total swurm.

He does a really great job of being able to ask those questions. When you're in the moment of that, are you all sort of chomping at the bit for him to ask you a question? Because I mean, obviously this is made for TV, so it probably plays out over a longer period of time. Is there a competitive nature in the way on which everyone sits there on those tribal councils wanting some JAILP time.

I didn't think anybody goes out of their way to get attention from JAILP because I think he automatically evens it out between everybody during the filming of the Tribal Councils, like, it takes a lot longer than what you see on TV, So there are a lot more questions asked to a lot more people, so you don't really feel isolated by anyone. He just sort of asks everyone a certain amount of questions and they're sort of tailored to the way the

Could return three people from your season to come back, and of course you'd want to say yourself, So we'll try, and I don't know.

Yeah, no, of course I would.

I can see a love your face.

Yeah, okay, so three people I would want to take with me Noonan for sure, Number one.

I would probably take Laura as well, and I.

Would probably take aj Oh wow, yeah, I would because I me and him were really really close. So that's one thing that you know, obviously they can't show in the edit, but our relationship, we spent a.

Lot of time together.

You know, we were on that on Brawn two point ero together and we have a lot of similarities. You know, he's Lebanese, I'm Lebanese, you know, so we've got like these big family stories to tell.

You know, we had a lot in common.

So we really did spend a lot of time getting to know one another.

And he's an amazing person. He's a great friend.

So i'd probably take him back with me, and this time he'd be on my side.

Do you think, though, that that is what you're saying now, because there's been a lot of time since the show have you talk, so you're talking about that in real time of being in Samoa.

Yeah, when we were on the beaches, we spent a lot of time together talking about our lives and becoming friends.

You know, I don't know, there's something about him that I'm just like, Oh, I just don't know.

Yeah, And this is what I've been saying to everybody, because everybody's coming up to me and they were like, oh, AJ's a demon, and I'm.

Like, he's not.

He's absolutely not like that at all. He's very strategic and it's a bit messy, but there is a whole other side to Aj that we all know because we spent so much time with him, and he's beautiful.

It's great.

Didn't you love them all?

Talking about the shields as well, Morgan's like, yeah, Morgan, you're a shield.

What the hell are you talking about?

Absolutely well, that tribal Council.

To watch that was glorious to watch Kas go down like that.

The salty player in me was over the moon. Obviously.

I felt for her dramatically because I know what it feels like multiple times.

But you know, I took my hat out to go down like that, huge.

Huge, massive, Like, yeah, I've watched it twice already, So that trouble is definitely one of my favorites.

I'm proud of her for doing that.

Like I empathize with her decision making as well, because you're not making the best decisions when you're out there. It's been thirty six days, thirty seven days for her, no food, like just this much rice and beans like it's nothing.

It's so hard.

So if she wanted to, you know, make a grand move, she thought it would work, but it didn't unfortunately, and she goes. But she made a decision and she stuck to it, and she paid the price ultimately.

But I don't think she deserves any hate for it.

Oh, I don't think she's going to get any hate for it a bit. People will support people who blow up their game as long as it's vision, as long.

As and everybody thought I got cooked.

Oh hell no. As it was happening, I was like, what damn woman, what's going on? I know, shocking, so.

Bad for some of the other people that you know with collateral damage in that I didn't ask this question before, and I am sort of stepping back to ask this. But the twist that happened on Sunday night, to me and to a lot of people watching the show was a little bit too confusing and maybe felt a little bit contrived. Did you all understand that TWISZT because it did take me time to proas it and now maybe that says something about my personality, But was it confusing in real time?

No?

Because JLP explained it quite well.

I think we asked questions along the way and they just popped and tailed with the edit. But it was very clear that there was going to be two separate tribes, and it was just like do you like day one of the game, but just with two smaller tribes. So we knew that we were going to have to fire through a tribe immunity. We knew the Baron tribe were obviously not going to get anything good and that the Bounty tribe were going to get everything great.

So it was clear to us at the time.

Okay, I wish that you would have explained it to me. I'll get you on speed Dom. Yeah, before you go.

Every person who joins the podcast asked on this question, what is something from behind the scenes, something that's sort of like a behind the scenes secret that we may not have seen on the show. With this series, we have to be careful not to break any nbas. But I just was curious about anything that didn't make it to the edit that you thought was like a fun paulling moment. Is there something we didn't see that you expected us to see.

Umm, I think all of the good stuff was there.

There was a lot of the bad stuff that they edited out, like I cried a lot a lot during filming.

I remember I was having a moment where I.

Was like bathing in the ocean and it was like I was by myself because you're constantly surrounded by people. So I needed to just take five minutes for myself. Went out into the ocean, had this amazing moment where I put my hand under the water and washing my hair and I could just hear the sound of the water right and I remember thinking, oh, it's like I'm back at the pool and I'm swimming again.

And then I came up out of the water.

And for some reason, I just started hysterically crying.

And then everyone comes rushing over. They're like, what's wrong. What's wrong? They're like, did you get bit by something?

And I'm like, I don't, just crying and everyone's hugging me.

It was just wild. It's wild. So I'm glad that they didn't put that in there, but it happens.

I look like my big brother, which is a long time ago. It was really interesting because when I won and I came out and I was like, what did they think about me crying all the time? My mom is like they never showed it, and I was like what, I literally spent the entire season crying and they.

Never played it, which is real.

It kind of made me look more like a bitch because it made me look like I wasn't sympathetic to people.

By Now you were phenomenal on Big Brother. It's all coming back to me now, Yeah, I remember it was so good.

I cried pretty much everything. I got into the diary room and pressed the buzzer. Anyway, you don't want to hear this, Oh tell me, Pallie. I am in your audience. I am obsessed with you. I thought you were so such a great contribution to this cart.

Thank you so much.

That's what we want, isn't it Like, if you want to go and do one of these shows, you want to sort of penetrate the audience.

And I wanted to be.

I was really proud to be a gay man on the Born tribe. I was happy to be someone representing the lgbt QI plus community who can fitting with the boys, who could hold their own in a group of like brawn men, and to be the last brawn male standing.

As well phenomenal.

So I was really happy to to represent my community on.

Survivor represent represent I love it, enjoy chatting to everyone. I'm sure there's looking forward to unpacking this series with you and I'll keep stay tuned to see whether you turn up with noon In and AJ.

You never know, trad Survivor Gods gods are always looking always

Thanks so much, watch out to you, so let's love bye bye