UNPACKED REALITY - AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR - ELIMINATION CHAT

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last weep that line. Hey guys, welcome back to TV Reload. Thank you for clicking and downloading. On today's episode with Blue Speedos otherwise known as Nathan, the fifth eliminated contestant from this year's Australian Survivor on Network ten, I will be talking about his time in Samoa and of course what he thinks now that the smoke has well and truly been snuffed out and faded

It was good fun.

Like I made obviously my personality, and I think like I'm obviously a cast as bit of a dumb jock, and I think I just played up to it a little bit and had a bit of fun with it.

So it was good fun and hopefully I was entertaining.

Throughout my whole entire life and I'm in my forties. Maybe it was a way of surviving at school, but I always aligned myself with the alpha male in any social situation, and that might seem strange to you because I'm this really camp man, but it is a way of survival. So for me watching the game, I would have aligned with you first, where I don't know what happened all these other peo that no one wanted to align with you. It was very strange to me.

It's funny.

I think in the game of Survivor, it's completely different to obviously real life, where in real life we're not voting each other off an island and we're not competing for half a million dollars against these people.

So I think it's a bit of a double edged.

Sword, being a bit more of an alpha and a bit more of an outgoing personality and strong and whatnot. So yeah, I mean, if you can play it well, you can do really well. But I think by design you're probably out numbered. I think the Alphas are probably out numbered. So yeah, maybe I like, I mean, if I have my time again, I might have just tried to dial it down a little bit and probably try

Yeah, but this is great though, because like next season it won't be because I'm going to say the nerds they're not nerds. They're definitely not nerds, and if they're

Yeah, I'd love.

To go around on the next one where they're not voting out there's strong.

Players, so I can make it a little bit further.

But Nathan, I will apply and I will be there and I will let's do it. I will not be voting you out, my friend, there is no way.

And you will make a good due, I think. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean maybe it had to order a bit to do with a whole new cast as well, whereas like no returning players, everyone's new, everyone's fresh. Maybe if there's returning players or people who have been through the game before or that, I'm more open to aligning with the

Have sort of made it through to at least merge. So just the way it went.

I'd read something somewhere and maybe I've finished the Internet on you, and maybe that says more about me that I should really reveal. But how did the strengths have ever come up to you? Because I read somewhere that you'd applied a couple of times before. Is that wrong?

No? No, I'd never applied before.

No, I think fan fiction is what someone someone's obviously out there running to fiction.

It was just basically like through Instagram, went through the process, and yeah, it sort of just eventuated that way. So no, I'd never I'd never applied or done any reality TV before. Obviously my background in sport and footy and AFL had some exposure to the media and stuff before that, but nothing reality wise.

And I wasn't even sort of thinking about it.

And then obviously this opportunity popped up and I thought, this is like a crazy experience and I'd love to jump on it. So yeah, and just eventuated from there.

Okay, So that kind of makes a little bit more sense. I think. Also, when I was talking to Frankie, she was, you know, I threw this question out like who might not have done their homework this season? And she threw your name out there, said maybe it was you. How much of the past ten seasons did you try and watch before going in there?

I watched a little bit. I mean I had a few friends that have been on it before, like Shawnee is a good mate of mine, Oh wow, Dave's a hi arcis a few people that I sort of just like got so.

They did really well, You've really laid it down.

I did really well. I did let them down.

I was actually speaking to Shanny this morning and she's like, what happened? And I was like, I got to ahead of myself. She actually gave me some good pointers. I literally did the opposite to what Shannie told me to do. So, oh, I think it was just I don't know, I'm just really not like add but just like really competitive and always wanting to have fun and creatics and sort of just entertaining myself and others.

So I think we just sort of came out too hot.

Probably should have just relaxed and chilled for a little while and sort of built those like social relationships and those yeah alliances before being too open and out there and trying to have a bit too much fun and maybe pissing a few people off. So but it's fine, Like once you're out on the island, I think it does funny things. Yeah, Like you're just you're not thinking rationally, like some people are really really good at sort of

Oh that was happening. I had no idea. But it's like a.

Different it's a different game though, like when you're watching it on television. I always laugh at those people that are watching it and they're like, well, I would have said this because that person just said that. And I'm like, okay, so you don't ever hear what everyone else has to say.

Eat a handful of rice and sleep on the ground for four days and then go to work and see how you go. But it's yeah, it literally tests you on like every facet of your being like the mental, the physical, the emotional, like everything. It's just like the ultimate game. So yeah, I think I didn't go in unprepared. I think I tried to prepare as best as I could, But I don't think you can ever until you're actually

I I was going to ask you this later on, but I feel like really nervous about this question. So I'm going to throw this Thursday question out really early on when it came to these blue speedos, because everyone referred to you as the man in blue speeders, So

This, I don't know.

I'm not against I'm not you know, ex footy, like I.

Wears all the time, wearing one of my footy shirts and everything.

So I think that we were sort of like obviously when I got cast and they want to put forward, like what wardrobe we want to wear?

And I was like, well, I'm going.

To wear speedos because you know, I can wear them in the water, I can wear them just a wonder where, like they're pretty multifunctional. So of course, obviously the Titans were blue, so I just went and got no fight out blue ones and obviously like Alex on the other tribe had pink ones, which was funny, like we didn't even that was a thing, Like.

We just wasn't coordinated.

Yeah I wasn't coordinated, but just the way it turned out, so yeah, I don't know. Hopefully it gave a little bit of eye candy or just a bit of Sunday.

Did it did? And you know, to the fans out there, feel free to say you're welcome, but like, you know, I'll veer away because I feel like people will be listening to this and they'd be like, how perverted do you want to be? Bit Norris?

You know, Kelly, I'd Kelly talking to me. Everybody challenge about wanting to come sleep with me and everything.

So I was Kelly at home. I was yelling that at the screen. And then when Kelly would say it and people would say she was crazy, I was like, leave that woman alone. She's she knows what she's talking about.

You know, it's great. She was great value.

I wish that there was an immunity idol sort of laying under the table where you write down your votes, like, I just wish that there was something there, because it did kind of it could have worked, and it would have been good television if they all stacked like that on you and then you were able to pull out an idol. It leads me to ask the question, though, were you looking for an idol?

Yeah, so, honestly, kudos to anyone that finds an idol without a clue, because it's so hard. The area is so big, camp is so big, there's so many places where an idol could be. So even now like looking and seeing like you know, Ferris find an idol without a clue, It's like, like, I don't think people understand just how hard that is. And obviously Winter finding the idol from inside the banana, and obviously they don't show what we do during the day because they're trying to

That makes more sense. That makes sense to me.

Yeah.

Also what's also strange to me as well as like why don't you goes fishing all the time and eating nuts and berries on the ground, Like you told you're not allowed to eat berries and stuff off the floor and go fishing.

Now we can or you can do whatever you can. Honestly, like, do whatever you want.

It's fishing's really hard, Like that was I don't think we caught anything. We tried a lot, but we didn't really catch anything. Once you basically like eat all the coconuts around the area, like you've just got to wait for water fall down or it's all legit, like it's you sort of just like fenjure yourself out there. But yeah, you go, you go through your not your rations, but like you find coconuts around the place, but you eat them so quickly and then.

There's none left.

And it's like so you're always trying, you're always trying to eat like catch fish and find coconuts.

And berries and stuff. But yeah, it's like it's not as it's.

Not like they're plentiful, they're easy to find out there because they're not.

You're sort of just relying on the rations of the ice and the beans.

And also like the reward challenges, like that's when you really want to fill up.

And for my time I was there for was it just over two weeks?

We didn't win one reward challenge that gave us a good feed, Like we won a can of I think I had a can of beans or something.

I don't like it, like green beans in my lid al can.

But like we were so hungry and we were just like the other tribe. Every second day we're having a feast like they are the toasties and the kids party and everything. So wetuggled, we struggled so hard like we were fitting it.

You know. It was funny after Frankie's elimination and there was this big target that was put on your back, it kind of felt like you were targeted very early on. Would you have wanted to have played that any differently now that you saw that that first episode really dictated your demise, I think like I when I have.

My time again, if I go on again, like, I'll do everything exactly complete opposite to what I did obviously, banding together with other people that were like I would have put a lot more energy into getting to know and like especially really early days when those relationships are being formed, like getting to in with the people like the Chilesers and the Violas and the Marks, because yeah, I think once those battle lines are drawn and those

I just thought that you would have charmed these women more. There was a lot of women there and like, look at you, and I'm sure you're not unfamiliar with a v How did you not get those women on your side?

Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, Valeria has a husband outside the game, Carolina's husband outside the game.

Even Frankie had a boyfriend.

So that there was just like I want to take you to task on that, because I thought that was pretty outrageous that comment to the camera about her having a boyfriend, but she still wanted to cuddle, you know.

So Frankie was so loyal to.

I didn't come across that way, mate, It didn't come across that one.

I was like, okay, I wasts on opposite sides of the but we did have a lot of fun.

Like I was, I was being a little bit cheeky, but no, she was a great girl.

Did you get in trouble from her or her boyfriend if you had any calls?

No, no, No, they're rock solid and they like I know them, like obviously know Frankie, but I know her partner now and he's like an absolutely ripper.

Like it's all just good fun.

And I mean, like you look at the other tribe, like the Cuddle Crew and stuff. Honestly, it's if you're not like you're always wet cold at night it is freezing. I think night one night one I gave Valeria my jacket, Frankie my hoodie. Like I gave all the girls my clothes just because like I'm okay with the cold, Like I slept in my shorts every night, but the girls like had to rug up because they were freezing of course.

I mean you do ice buckets every day to have a body like that, right.

Yeah, yeah, so exactly like I was.

I was okay with the cold, so I just gave all the girls my clothes and they just wore that. But if you're not like cuddling up, or if you're not sleeping really close, like I think, you've literally just got to, like like you need to. You're sleeping like shoulder to shoulder, you have to cuddle if you have to.

Like, I think it's a survival thing.

It's a vible thing.

Yeah, it's not sexual flow, you know nothing, it's not sexual at all. It's like we're just all trying to like get through the night. So yeah, I mean like anything like that with like that you know, innuendo or like romantic sort of stuff, I think that's a little bit overblown.

It's literally just us trying to stay warm.

You know.

The Middle aged Alliance and whatever they're calling it, you know, they really slap you with this whole sort of mini frat boy thing, and I thought that was a little bit unfair that they kind of stereotyped you quite quickly with that. Watching it back and watching people's understanding of your character. Did you feel misrepresented? Did you think they took the wrong end of the stick? How did it feel watching it back instead of hearing the way that you were being discussed.

I think that's just the way I know, like what my stereotype may look like. I did play up to it a little bit, just for very few laughs. But yeah, I don't know, like I'm complete. I think why people don't realize, like I'm completely different to what I am in that game.

I think I just sort of played up to.

It a lot.

Well, even now today I'm talking to you, seem a little bit more personable, Like I'm stuck for a better word because we're on a podcast with a tight timeframe, but like I think, yeah, there's a little bit more warmth to you today in this conversation than to maybe what they saw.

Yeah, and then it.

Does sort of beg the question if you're going to play Survivor, well, shouldn't you just stick to your truer self as opposed to try and amp it up in somebody?

Yeah? Yeah, I think so, I think. But the funny thing is, like it's a really good late Like me and Kitty are really tight off the game. Even Charles Mark like a messing this morning, like we were all really really close and really good friends. Like, but I think just the nature of the game is you sort of just got a we're all playing a game at the end of the day.

So Kitty really came out at that, you know, the tribal council. Kitty sort of came out for Jayden, and I thought that that was really hard to watch, where she's like everyone who matters and then Jaden sticked to the plan. It was kind of brutal to watch considering we hadn't seen much of Kitty. Should she be acting like that at this point of the game, Like it seemed kind of out of character.

Yeah, a little bit.

Like the funny thing is is Kitty was me and Jaden and when I were really tight with Kitty, Like I adore Kitty. She's amazing, And I think it might have come across that way as well.

She's very dry, she's very funny, witty.

I think that just sort of like not taken out of context, but I think it just came across as very brutal. Well, obviously we haven't seen like literally anything of Kitty yet in confessionals or in the gameplay yet so it was almost like a like, oh, what the hell, like who's kitty? But yeah, I think like I was, I was really tired with a lot of the people. But at the end of the day, I think I

I could Ge're probably right. I did actually contemplate that sort of theory myself, like as in whether you'd been on that side because there was such big personalities over there, I think that you wouldn't have stood out as much. But then I also wondered whether or not not to go back to the Blue Speedos and this podcast is now called Blue Speedos. But I wondered whether or not even sort of not wearing something that stood out that much would have been good for you, do you know

Yeah, definitely, definitely.

Like I mean, like I said before, if I go on again, I'm going to I literally do the opposite to what I to what I've done now.

But then people already have such a strong connotation, no one's going to forget you. So when you turn up, I feel like your impact on the game was so strong. I actually think that that impact could even translate and still exist in your next play potentially.

Once you're out there, funny things happen too. It's like, it's not Australia aren't voting each other out.

We're voting each other out.

But again, like who knows, I might go on and I could play the exact same game I just played and make it a lot further just based on tribe dynamiccent it's dynamics. Yeah, yeah, if the tribe want to vote out the weaker players, first, maybe I'll last longer. So, like you can say all the ifs and butts, but it's just the way it turned out for me.

I always call it Sunday Morning quarterbacking, which is a sort of a sporting term, which I think you might understand, but you know that is what happens. You can't help but do that. It's the nature of any kind of reality. It's actually the nature of any kind of sporting game, you know what. I mean to look back and see. But we would be crazy not to talk about Kelly, because Kelly is the most hashtagged and talked about person

Paths, we know that she's on the outer like, we know that everyone's pissed off with her. So when she came to us, I think we had we sort of just like wrapped her arms around her and we're just like. She was very because we didn't have we didn't have much excitement in our tribe, like we didn't we were not boring, but it was just like Kelly coming over to us, it was like a fire cracker. We were like, yeah, this is awesome, and like tell us everything, like what's happening.

So well it wasn't really her choice though, to be able to sabotage that, because I mean she was benched.

Yeah, yeah, we benched her, and I think and she didn't even put up a fight because I think and then like obviously we went to tribal counsel and she said, she goes, I just loved you guys too. She was almost like in that trouble counsel went for ages and she was in tears and she was so grateful that so nice to her.

So do you know, I've got this theory with her, right, Like, is there a possibility that she's a genius because she fooling everyone with this kooky old lady act? Like is she pretending to be like a mister Bean type character of just some kind of buffoonery, But then in real life she's super duper smart or if.

That's an act for the island, then she's great in the world.

So she's the kokie old lady, she's not the genius.

Well, yeah, I think she's a cookie old lady.

But again again like you just don't know, like she, I don't know if you could keep up an act for that long, true, in that sort of environment and not show any cracks of not being who you are. I think it's it's very, very hard. But she was funny, like she she comes from a great place, like she's she's very nice, very warm hearted. But I think she just doesn't over the line is to sort of just like pull back a bit.

She's great television, Like I think that she's fantastic, and when people say things about her online it's funny. I always look at the profile pictures of the people that rip her the most, and I'm like, you are, Kelly. You look at their photos and you read their status updates, and you're like, you're upset with her because people don't like what they like in others, what they see in themselves. Yeah, because I'm like, she doesn't bother me at all. I'm

Yeah, she gets people talking. That's I think that's the most that's the most important thing.

So Mark ripping that box open was amazing to me. I would have liked it if he picked up like an axe or a shive and went over and smacked it open. But he ripped it open with his bare hands, which left like the fence, you know, scratching their heads about how fair that is considering he didn't have the key. How does that land with you?

Well, I didn't even know about it. I didn't know that even happened. I didn't know Mark had an idol.

But now that you've seen that, is that fair? He didn't have to wait for the key.

I don't know, to be honest, if I was in the same situation, I'd probably rip it open.

Myself as well.

I don't know if he I don't know what was going through his head, if he if he thought he needed to get the key or whatever. But like if I found an id like that, I'd want it to still be in play. But I guess that's up to the game and the producers and jilp whether that's a thing.

But it looks looks like it is and it.

Was great television. I mean, we haven't ripped over with his bare hands.

Mark's so underrated, Like.

He's a strong fishing We saw him leap that fence. Do you know there was a challenge where he was like he just and everyone was like, Oh, there's Mark.

He's a head swimmer. He's amazing. He's impressive guy.

Mark.

Okay, So, just because we're running out of time, I need to ask you, and this is a difficult question, can we work out the hierarchy from your perspective of the order of what's left with the Titans? So we have Mark Eden, the two V's, Charles Jaden, Winner and Kitty Ye. Can we just talk about the order of that hierarchy. Who's sitting at the top of that at the moment.

I'd probably say Mark's at the top, followed probably by Aiden, Beal, Area, Viola, Charles Kitty, Caroline Winner, Jaden.

Right, Jaden's at the bottom, like Jadens at the bottom. Yeah, but Jaden's on the wrong show. I think like Jaden's like a little bit like I don't.

Know if Jaden knows what's happening most of the time.

Jada be good on goggle Box though, because like he's kind of goggle boxing the experience, do you know what I mean? Like he's like, Okay, I really do enjoy that. So we got to see the buffs are down in the promo for next week, and I think that's signed for, you know, a new alliance. Who do you think is going to find a much needed new alliance once we see that kind of emerge.

I think Jayden for sure, because I think there's a lot of strength still on the other tribe and like you know, the Alexis and the Ferrises and the Kirby's. Even Rihanna is a bit of a challenge beast as well. I reckon Jaden will find a bit more of people

And I think you're really smart. And this is one of the I threw this in there because I want people listening to this podcast to sort of see a different side to you. But Ferris was prompted that an idol can be used for multiple ways. Can you name two other ways an idol can be used? That is not saving yourself, that's not saving yourself obviously saving others. You can save someone else. There we go, Yep, you could save someone else. You can hand it over to someone else.

Yeah, handed over to someone else, save someone else. I don't know, like what he's done. He's created a bit of paranoia if he hasn't actually shown anyone the idol yet, so I don't think anyone except for Ray, So there's I think there's probably still questions about whether he has.

One or not. Just to throw a bit of a spanner in the works.

Yeah, so sort of double fake people with the whether or not you've got one. Okay, so there you go. Not a meadhead.

I was even contemplating making a fake idol to try, and we've.

Seen that in a previous series, mate, and I don't think you watched that in your homework episodes. It didn't work out, I.

Know exactly, and I'll just it also looked.

Like it made people feel that guy got eliminated, Benjamin Laura. It was, and he was eliminated because people were like that guy making a fair you know, a fake idol that rubbed people the wrong way, was like yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I didn't know what.

It looked like anyway, so I could have made something completely stupid and the people they know what it looked like, would have been like, you're an idiot.

Okay, So last two questions finished this sentence In Australian Survivor owned to the bar.

I have learned that Eddie's the best game in the world.

Better than your footy. Don't throw your footy under there.

I want to throw a footy under the best reality TV show in the world.

That's the only one you've done. So I don't know if you're the rape box poppy now it is, what is something from behind the scenes, something we didn't see, something of a behind the scene secret. Obviously, so much is not shown on the show because we're fitting forty eight hours into an hour and twenty minutes. What's something from behind the scenes we didn't see that you'd like to share.

I don't know, probably going back on what we said before, just how much we actually try to search for idols. I think it only gets shown the people that find the idols, but like we're out there for hours an hour. It's just like searching in the bushes for idols. Like my hands all cut up and my body's cut up from going through the bushes.

I think watching some iron you're like, what, how are they looking for an idol?

Why aren't they searching around the reward challenges like trust me, we we have you get out of place over like under everything.

So I think that's like a big one.

Just how much we actually go out there and try and get a fucking little advantage.

So I swearing, that's okay. I like to swear on the podcast. I don't like to tell people to swear that they can because if you say that at the start, just so you know you can swear, then they just swear the whole way through. Yeah, no, no, no, it's fine. A couple of pepper, a cheeky swear word's good. Anyway, mate, I just want to say thank you for being so generous. I've ordered a life sized banner of you to put in my podcast studio here, So thank you for that,

That be amazing, mate. Yeah, I'll try my best.

Amazing. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.