It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload, the podcast past keep that line. Welcome back, guys to TV Reload. As you may know, my name is Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast to get all the inside goss on the popular TV shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment, and yet very little is known about how our favorite shows
get made. So I've been looking for guests that want to dieve just that little bit deeper to the shows they've just been on or currently making, so that you can hear all their exclusive stories and gain access to the biggest names in Australian television. I want to thank you for downloading or subscribing to this podcast however you've found it. I love hearing your feedback, so make sure you leave a review or a comment on your chosen
podcast platform. This chat, I'm joined by Australian Comedy Royalty Peter Hellier, who has just been eliminated from the African Jungle on I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, the former host of the project and staple on the comedy Circuit and Australian TV screens has been keeping us laughing for you. I personally loved him on the Rove back in the day and have always enjoyed his obvious humor and social commentary, even if at times it does
border on dad jokes. The fact that Peter said yes to the Jungle, took on all these challenges eight disgusting food, but gave us so many laughs is a test of it to the awesome guy, Pete is truly behind the scenes. I will talk to Pete about his time on the project and what he really thought of the people who said yes to going into the Jungle when he would previously interview them. We will discuss that final food trial and why we never see the celebs hold their noses.
We will also get shock admissions as to who he thinks should replace doctor Chris Brown as he leaves the show this season. Plus we will get plenty of exclusives from behind the scenes. If I'm a celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, which you can now watch on Network ten and you can also catch up on ten Play if you've fallen behind anyway, Let's bring Pete into the podcast. I'm a big fan of his and always have been, and I really hope you enjoy this chat mate.
How are you I'm good man, How are you.
Are you surviving?
I am it's it's I've.
Had a shower, a bit of a beard trim, a haircut, got a cup of tea.
Yeah, life's pretty good.
Since you've been gone. What you don't know is the Tom Hanks castaway look is huge here in Australia, so you might have done yourself for your service.
My plan has become the Richard Hatch of this season of iMOS. Already get me out of here, so keeping the beard for a little bit longer.
Would you have said no to that final challenge, which was disgusting by the way, had you known that you were going to be the next person you know, eliminated.
I know, you eat some pigs and as you expect, at least, you know, get voted back in at least for one more night. But the truth of the matter is that you get to the point where you really want to do the trials. And I kind of came into this experience going I can't exist by hoping that I don't get chosen. As it turned out, I've done two trials plus reaching my hand to a box of snakes,
which I consider a trial. You know, I probably done, I guess three trials, but it felt like I really needed to get it, you know, at least another one before I went.
So I was really excited when.
I was chosen, because you want to leave here with stories and to tell people and my kids to see me, you know, try to do something against my will. And so eating pigs genus and you know, fermented herring was a bere Yeah.
If you ever get bored, you know, you can just do that at home.
Yeah, I mean, I know, and I'll be auditioning from one to wife if I can find another pig who's up for it.
I want to know why doesn't anyone ever hold their nose while they do shots of fermented disgustingness? You know? Is it a part of the instructions that you're not allowed to cover your nose?
That is correct, you cannot You're not allowed. Because I was like, okay, cover your nose. And the other thing I was going to do was cut it up nice and small and just eat it kind of like bit by a bit, but there's no cut. Worry is that they want you eating out of your hands. So my plans, my clever little plans went out the window very quickly.
There seems to be like days as well when you're not on television, because we're watching this live. So then what do you get to eat on the days that you haven't won challenges? Is there like, you know, like a whole lot of crocodile tails or whatever it may be that last for a couple of days, or is it just rice and beans when we're not watching it?
So breakfast and lunch stayed the same. It's always porridge in the morning, oats okay, and lunch is always just rice and beans. If I've never seen another beaning on my life, I will be a very happy man.
Play.
The lack of flavor that I've had over the last twenty six days is staggering.
But what we were doing, which I'm not sure I want to check up.
I'm not sure it was the first camp to do it, but we saved a lot of our rice from lunch that was in case they came with you know, the trialis came back with not many stars, so just bulked up any meal that we had. I think we're reasonably overachieving camp, though like it was not many times did they come we come back. I think three and a half stars was the lowest we got and I think that was the maybe the the Dombkak incident, yeah, incident Catgate.
Yeah, so just so you know, because there was nothing else that happened this season that was referred to as an incident, it was just literally the incident. And everyone's like, oh yes at the water cooler. If you said, I'm a celebrity incident, I think all of Australia has seen it by now. So it's just the incident. It was.
It was a staggering series of events.
Well I'm going to I'm not going to pest you for that. I'm sure people already doing that. But you know, while we're talking about food, everyone eats rice and beans and you know, loses a staggering amount of weight. Is there food that you won't go back to eating, Like, is there a possibility that these labs like yourself might come back and try and keep the weight off or is that just not a is that not a smart thing for me to say?
Even I will try. I imagine I'll put my weight back on on the on the plane ride back. It's almost torture. The amount we spoke about food in the in the camp, like you're kind to get to the point where go we why are we torturing ourselves by talking about the food? And sometimes it'll be like amazing dishes described, you know by people like Dom or Liz or you know Anna obviously you know people who know.
How to describe food and like cook food and all that.
But sometimes it would just be like, oh, how good would someone video chips be oh my god, you know, and then would discuss our favorite confectionery and what happens You kind of come out and then you have something to eat, and then you kind of be like, Okay, well that's done, you know, Like I was going to tell it even when I was in there, I was trying to say, once you eat a couple of things, you won't you then won't be starving, like you know, it's not like we're going to be gorging for the
next three months on our favorite foods. But it'd be interesting to see, you know, if I can keep off some of the kilos that I that I lost.
But we'll see.
When you were interviewing these people as they would come out of the jungle or throwing to the Jungle in previous years. Did you ever imagine that you would eventually say yes and do it.
No, I honestly didn't.
And I remember seeing Barry Hall in like a Grave full of Rats or something like it very early on them. I've been season one or two, and I just remember thinking, I'll never do that show. But I was very adamant. And when we would speak to you know this, this celebrity shield would come out and sometimes you know carry and I will chat about it in my lead and I was just adamant.
I would never do it. There's just too many things that I don't like. I like my own space. It would really rub me up the wrong way. It was too far out of my comfort zone. Basically.
You know, obviously Ten had the inside running on me leaving the projects, so they gave me a call. They got me in a weak moment, obviously, and I just went, sure, why not? And you know, there was I wanted to know how it works, and you had a couple of questions, and the other thing was to be honest, I know,
not just interviewing the celebrities when they come out. But I've known a lot of a lot of my done the show and almost uniformly they have come out and raved about the experience, and I was very curious as to why that was, and so that was probably one of the other driving factors in me saying yes.
Esentially, they want to do this show all the time, and then people do it and they say that it's changed them, and you know, it's kind of like saying, oh, I want to go on a journey in reality television or what a journey and it's such, you know, a buzz word that we don't want to hear. But do you think that doing a show like this could possibly have changed you forever? Like the next thing we see you in, do you think that we will see a very changed Peter Hellett.
I mean, it's it's very raw, and I'm still processing a lot of it. I know I had a great time, but as far as that stuff goes, I don't know.
Like that.
The most amazing thing for me was how much I enjoyed being disconnected from the world and from the new cycle and from my phone. I hated not being able to contact my family and that was the hardest, absolutely the hardest thing, which I you know guess would be the hardest thing going into it, but the disconnecting from the.
Phone was just you know, repulatory for me. And even though you know, and there's no phantom kind of like reaching from my pocket to check, you know, to check my phone.
So I hope that you know, coming out, I can kind of monitor my screen time and you know, there's there's conversations you know, they had in the jungle about how we all live our lives and about mental health and all that that I know will want to take on board.
And you know, it's it is a really amazing experience and it's interesting to see what I'd take out of it.
Maybe they have got you to do the show because you might have been easier asked on a step to trying to get carried big more or maybe even rove to come and do the show, because I think, you know, with this sign off that you're giving at the moment, it sounds like it's a retreat that you know, seems pretty cheap.
Well, to be absolutely honest, I didn't think that, like people are paying being top dollar to go on these you know, like detos retreats.
Certainly didn't pay my fair to get here.
So I said to the team already, you know, I will be an ambassador if you if there's somebody in my in my world that you wanted me to nudge towards coming on, I'll certainly recommend it. And I never thought i'd be in this position where I'm looking back going yeah, I'm a celebrity. Is one of the one of my favorite things I've ever done.
You could be pretty quiet times. I mean I was expecting you to be a little bit louder. I mean, you were very funny, and we got to see some amazing moments of you in there. I wondered, because I've met you a couple of times, and you're a very generous person by nature, and you're a very generous person in your interviews. You really do give people a lot of space. Was that a thought process for you, thinking, Oh, some of these other people are a little lesser known
and I'm letting them have some time. Was there a reason?
Why?
Is there a rationale behind being a little bit whieter?
No, it was.
It certainly wasn't a strategy, but I was very much I did think there are times when I'm going to, you know, be a bigger part of a conversation or a moment, and there are times when that moment should belong to somebody else. And so it wasn't as rational as the.
Way you put it. But and I think it's just the way I am in my life.
You know.
I don't need to walk into a room and be the loudest person in the room.
Or I don't need to dominate a conversation, and there are times when I might and I just kind of thought, and I'm not sure what went to where, you know, And that's a weird thing about doing these interviews that you're not really sure because also you can't be on
twenty four seven, you know. And as a comedian in the camp, I know, I'm sure Mammy saying, but I think acm had a really tough time in the camp because he didn't know when he was supposed to be on, you know, And so I just went in and tried
to be myself. And that's what you saw is kind of how I would be if I was on a camping trip with my mates, you know, up in Comproom where we you know, we camp with my family and friends, and you know, sometimes I'm on and you know, and lively, and other times I'm a bit quieter, and you know, sometimes it's more to do with me, and other times it's more to do with you know, what's going on in the group. And yeah, so it's probably just a pretty true reflection of what I'm actually like.
I mean, I remember watching Rove Live years ago, and I remember thinking, what on this show is so loud? Like Rove does his monologue and I felt like he was yelling at me and then and great, but I mean that's a part of his comedy. Like I'm not saying it's a negative, but I remember being blown away by your humble attitude to being on that show. You weren't the loudest, but I thought you were the funniest
because it was very much authentic. It was very real, and I think people are sitting at home want more of that.
Yeah, well, what I love about this season is because I'm told it's like the biggest season they've had, and you know, they reached.
A million votes, you know, for the first time, which is you know, staggering, and you.
Know it's obviously been a really big show for ten and that's it's amazing to hear that when you come out not knowing how it's going, I was gonna I almost wanted to pretend I got to like get on the microphone and actually say a final goodbye to the camp mates from the control room, and I actually wanted to say the show has been the show has been accident. It hasn't been not for the last six nights, but
that might be a bit cruel. But what I love, what I love about its success is there wasn't really a villain in this This season has not been built on conflict. I think it's a win for positivity. And you know, I love shows like Shit's Creek and ted Lasso, and you know, I'm not saying every show should be like that and can be like that, but I think, especially in the reality kind of genre, to have a positive show is really great.
No, I think it, And you know what, it's a really good antidote, is what I say to some of those other shows that do surround themselves with conflict. I still think that conflict exists in real life, and that's probably where we got the incident from as we now refer to it.
Yeah, I don't think.
It's the worst thing for the Jungle, but it's certainly not the center point.
In regards to the incident. I mean, you can't You don't cast for that?
You know that was and that you know, I understood that happened and the human nature involved from both points of view, to be honest, and and that was an organic kind of thing that happened. And and I you know, I thought like this is the first of I wonder how many, But then there's nothing after that. We kind of just got on with it and put our arms around each other and you know, supported each other and existed.
Well, interesting that you've sat across from carry Anne, you know, a live television and you've watched her go through a lot. You probably have never seen her in a situation like this. Was this a very different Carry Anne to her what you'd seen any way working with her on the project?
Yeah, I mean I love Kak and I have had I've got so much time for her and I was excited that when she arrived and then to see her kind of upset when she came back in the camp was actually it was upsetting, you know, and you know, we were kind of wondering what this means and you know, what's what has dom gone and done? And how she going to address this when she comes back? Is it's you know, we can't condone, you know, some of the
language it was used and the attack. But when Dom came back in and basically took ownership of it, and you know, I said, yeah, I shouldn't. I shouldn't have used those words, and that she backed herself in her the reasoning, which you know, I think is fair enough when you're under those circumstances. Are I understood both points of view, but it wasn't nice to see Kerry Anne.
You know you feel like that and go through that, and I look forward to kind of reaching out and maybe happily having a game of golf with her.
Yeah, you know, it's almost impossible to ask at this point. We have seen shock elimination after shock elimination. No one I've I don't think anyone watching this show would have predicted the last three people that have come out. So instead of really asking you who you think is going to win this, because I don't think it's too hard to pick, who do you think could replace doctor Chris Brown? That's what everyone's talking about. Why you've been in there,
And I was looking at you with them yesterday. I was thinking you and Julia very good together. Could it be you or do you think there's one in the industry that would be, you know, a formidable person to take over from doctor Chris Brown.
Yeah, I like where you're going. I me and Julia I like it. Keep that going, keep rolling with it. There else.
There was somebody else in the industry that I kneo'd be great for the job, I probably wouldn't put them forward because I think it's it's.
A plum gig.
And I think I think the powerful thing about if it was if it was me, is that Chris and I basically looked like before and after shot of some kind of horrible experiment.
So sorry, I'm running out of time, but I have to ask you just something very quickly. What is something from behind the scenes that we did not see that we might not see. I know you don't know what we've seen, but we kind of want a little behind the scenes secret of I'm a celebrity.
Well, the one thing I can tell you is how amazing they are at keeping us in the dark. So when we leave for our trials, as soon as we step out of camp, we are blindfolded and we literally walked.
We walk a short a short distance.
Then you kind of see his filmed doing that, and then but then they put on the blindfold. We have blindfolded, and then walked another couple of hundred meters, put into a car that is blacked out and still blindfolded, and driven to the trial, and they only and then they walk us again blindfolded.
They guide us through and they basically only take.
Off the blindfold at the last moment, and then we bastually turn around and they're at christ and Julia.
And I'd be casting before I got there.
Get it, gets it gets a little bit triggering after while. I can tell you, though, I.
Think you were so funny. I've been in your audience for so long and I just was so happy to see you turn up on the show. I thought you did a fantastic job and I made I'm always going to be in your audience.
Oh thanks, mate, Thanks man, I really I really appreciate that, mate. And yeah, I'm really glad you're enjoying the show. And yeah, I look forward to seeing these last few episodes. And yes, something should be coming out and in a couple of hours I think, so I'll be to see who that is.