It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload, the podcast Last Weep Their Life. Hey, guys, welcome back to TV Reload. I want to thank you for clicking and downloading on today's episode with the winner of channel Lines the Summit, which finished this week in
a nail binding and somewhat polarizing finale. In the last episode, we saw an obstacle challenge for the final hiker's nerves, plus a brutal sacrifice where it ended with an agonizing decision for one hiker alone, proving the ascent to the Summit was never going to be easy. And I have all the behind the scenes goss I have to say, I don't usually see as much negativity online for a decision from a reality show, and I'm a little bit disappointed that so many people have been saying that Charlotte
should have split the money. Evenly. Hey, that's just my opinion, but it is a game, and I want to remind people that we all don't know what we would have done in that situation. I will talk about the highs and lows from climbing the summit, from the conditions to the hard decisions that choice not to split the money, and what Charlotte will remember now that the experience is
behind her. We will unpack the trolls online and how to deal with the comments section, with some insights into who's been her biggest supporter after filming, and what Charlotte's friendship looks like. With Simone and Matt, Charlotte will talk about her disability and what she did to prepare for the show, including what we didn't see turned out to be a pretty big disadvantage. You will find out what the host Jai is really like, and if those helicopters
are as menacing as they look. There's actually so much to unpack with Charlotte, so sit back and relax as we unpack the wonderful world of the Summit Australia.
Hello, Hello, Hello.
Hi, is this Charlotte. This is Charlotte God Hi. Sorry we were having different connecting through to you, so I.
Was like, hello, hello, at the top.
Of the Summit.
I'm at the top of the Summit. Actually it was live, so just climbing down now I'm free.
Congratulations on on the win. I mean you get to walk away with the title, but the three of you did so well in this competition.
Thank you. So much. It's so exciting to watch. I'm just like, oh my god, I did that top.
How do you feel after watching the show back, because you know, it's really interesting. You could take part in a show like this and have sort of an understanding about how it all went down in real life, but then when you watch it back on a show, it probably can feel quite different.
Of course, because you know, we were filmed twenty four seven, so you know, forty eight hours is condensed into one episode. So obviously there's so much nuance that people miss, and you know, the little intricacy of different relationships and dynamics doesn't sort of come across sometimes, but then sometimes it does, and so in that way, it's really interesting to see sort of what has been chosen and you know, how people come across in juxtapocision to how you experience them.
So yeah, it's very interesting to watch.
For me, have your opinions changed of any of the people because you've watched the television narrative effort?
Not at all. My opinions have not changed about the other competitors. I feel like everyone was themselves. I think some people came across as sort of an amplified a version of themselves. But in essence, I feel like everyone was portrayed in a way that was true to who they were.
You know, what's really interesting about you saying that was that I did a reality show many years ago, and there was like quite a few people who took the editing to task. But it was interesting because everyone who said that they were actually played exactly who they are and exactly who ya and you know, it was interesting that they might have had a bit of a disconnect with who they are and how they come across to people day to day, and maybe that's where the issue was, you know what I mean.
Yeah, they're the problem.
I mean, it's easy once you've won these shows, right, so, like you know, you can be quite reflective in a different way.
Yeah. Yeah, listen to me commenting from my high horse of you know, winning a reality TV show and taking home three hundred and thirty six thousand dollars for two weeks.
That's a good paycheck and you deserved it because you know, when I saw you joining the show and we all got to see briefs on the different characterizations, I was like, well, how are you going to go with this disability? Considering that the Mountain is already an impossible feat for anybody. But I think that in itself helped me gravitate myself to you. It was almost like I was rooting for you right from the start.
Thank you. I mean, I shared your exact thoughts and I, you know, through the casting process, I was like you, guys, sure, like you sure you want me to do this?
Like, have you seen that I've got one arm?
Yeah? Have you do? You remember me Charlotte one arm from birth? But no, I I too had no idea. You know. My game plan was just to try my best for as long as I could, and it turned out that that was the whole fourteen days. You know, I'm under no illusion that I did this by myself. You know, I had so much support from so many contestants, and you know, especially mattch Like, there's no way that I would have got to the shop without him, you know,
just one foot in front of the other. Through through the tears and the fears.
There was a lot of crying.
I had a lot of crying.
I think they could change the name, you know, because or at least be sponsored by Tissues, you know, because.
Yeah, that would have been great. Three Tissues forever, forever.
You don't want to ask you the big question at this point because I want to get it out of the way, and it is what everyone's talking about. How did you go about making that decision on splitting the money, because the three of you did make it to the top, and you know, I think between the three of you, you all really deserve the money at that point. So you had a big decision to make. And that's the big question.
That is the big question, And I mean it was such a hard decision to make, and it was I mean, it's so rare in life that we ever make big decisions like this by ourselves. If you ever make a big decision in your world, you talk to so many people about it. Well, I know, I do. You know, my partner and I hash it out, my mom and I my dad and I my friends, and I like, you know, you talk things over and you take your time. But I sort of had to make this choice in
an hour one hour by myself. I got to listen to what the other contestants would do, but ultimately, you know, I couldn't really ask any questions of anyone, and it was really hard. And I guess the things that I considered, you know, I was very lucky in that moment, and Matt and I jumped on that bag at the same time, and for all the haters out there, the producers rewound the cameras, watched it in slow over and over and over again, and we hit it at the exact same time.
I think sometimes can do that though, because like the angle that they played it on, I think almost like it kind of triggered everyone because do you know what when you hit a bag at the same time and you use the camera angle fit's to the left and you're on the left, it will make it look like it's you. And I'd already heard that.
You know.
The result at the end was just neck and neck, and so I think in some ways it's kind of polarizing for us to sort of go but is it that, you know, can we slow it down? You know? I think that that just makes the show a little bit more potent and maybe a little bit more dramatic.
Yeah, of course. And you know, Matt and I had a conversation. I was like, you want to open it and he was like, nope, you open it.
Shar like, well, here's a good he's a good guy.
He's a good bloke. It's reflective of who he is.
And I also like the fact that you were the one that got the money in the end, and you were the one with the decision, because it does seem stupid of me to say this, but I mean, the other two had been on television in experiences before that had offered them sort of otherworldly or very limited opportunity that everyone else would get, and this is kind of
your first. So they've probably had about one hundred thousand dollars in their bank account for being on television in the past, and this is your first time to have that.
Oh, it cannot be overstated how out of my reach three hundred thousand, out of my reach one hundred thousand would be without this, you know, once in a lifetime opportunity, Like I don't know if you know how much nurses in your South Wales health get paid, but I'm at senior nurse and I get less than fifty dollars an hour to deliver baby.
And you know, they like, you're defending that at this point. You know, I didn't mean to cut you off, but you know what's really it is really powerful to say yes and no at this point of our lives. And I think that you gave them one hundred thousand dollars each out of your money. And I defy and deny anyone that ever watched the show to be in the situation where they would dig into their bank account and give someone that they've only known for two weeks one
hundred thousand dollars out of their bank account. It's unusual to be a viewer on the couch watching the television and saying what someone should do. Where I watched it and thought, well, Shah just gave those people. She just handed out two hundred thousand dollars out of her bank account that you could have kept. That's a couple of deposits on a house, you know what I mean? Like, that's life changing, and you need to be proud of yourself that you gave them that, you know, and I think.
Thank you so much.
Own it.
I'm trying to own it. I'm trying to I'm trying to stand by it. But it's there's a lot of hatred on the internet to that choice.
Well shut that down, because let's get rid of those voices, because at the end of the day, no one knows and we know this about everything in life. No one knows how you feel and what happened in that moment unless they were there. And I'm sorry being at the top of a mountain with low altitude, no friends, no family, no telephone to call a friend, and you've made a very generous decision that you could have just taken all that money and you gave it to your friends. I think it's powerful.
Thank you so much. That is just so kind.
And also, don't read the comments. CenTra Bullock says this all the time, the comment section on the Internet. It's a dangerous place to be after you've been on a show like this because you can let other people's opinions infiltrate the reality and then it starts to pull apart and it starts to make you feel a certain way. Shut it down. You don't need that in your life. You're a nurse, you're helping people every day, and you're being on a reality show that you've won. Like, celebrate it.
Thank you so much, that's so nice.
Well, you know, a fifteen day deadline. I mean, this show was never going to be easy. Let's just talk about that. What was it like in comparison to what you thought it was going to be like when you decided to apply.
So I thought that my greatest challenges would be the physical aspect, just how sort of physically grueling it would be to high call day with a heavy pat and how like how challenging the obstacles would be. But to be honest, the hardest part for me was just being around a group of people twenty four to seven. I found that exhausting socially.
Not to mention the fact that people don't realize this, but the type of people that are willing to go on reality television so many extroverts, and that's not normal group scenario in any situation. And so when you find yourself with these extroverted type of people that would want to go on a show that believe that they can climb the summit and win, that's a type of personality. It's like an A grade personality type, and that can be very daunting and sort of suffocating.
You know, yeah, well that's exactly sort of how it felt. And it was very amplified after Lockie and Olympia left because they were my sort of you know, meadow of tranquility, and you know, they I feel like they just were we were just like a little a little gang, and we had so much fun and we laughed and you know, we went to bed when the sun set, and it was just it's so easy wish the two of them.
But yeah, for me, that was probably the most challenging part was just navigating the personality, navigating the game, not being able to have a break, like you just couldn't tap out. You know, it was twenty four to seven, and you know, it's so unlike any situation that we would ever be in our normal lives, like when we go camping or when you're on a holiday and you're around people of time, they're your best friends or you know, your partner or your family and you can say to them,
I'm going to go and have some quiet time for you. Yeah, but yeah, that was sort of impossible in this experience, and I found that like truly exhausting because I love being alone.
Yeah. Well, I'm a highly extroverted introvert, so it's interesting people would know me. And I remember if someone one said to one of my housemates like ten years ago, oh god, you know, must be flurry full on living with Ben. But she was like, no, actually, it's really interesting because I guess people whould only see him being
social would think that he is really loud. Where at home, I'm actually quiet, you know, And that's because I require an enormous amount of downtime to find the energy to go out there and be like that socially. You know.
I feel that I'm very similar to that, you know. And the way that we sustain giving so much much socially is because we can go home and retreat and recharge. But having that opportunity sort of taken away, yeah, I found really really hard. And also just being so dirty. I hated it. I hated so.
And I mean dirty, yes, But also the heightened reality of cameras does something really unusual to someone, It's bizarre and you can't explain that until it's on you. But it's a heightened reality. It's an added pressure that I don't think people realize because you become this sort of self conscious. It's almost like you're giving yourself a new narrative all the time, a new voice.
It's so amplified. It's so amplified, and every decision that you make, every that you make is so extreme, which is so exhausting. Like for a week I.
Was going to ask you that. I was going to say, what kind of what kind of you know, aftermath, like what do you do? Did you book yourself into like a retreat? Like how do you recover?
I came home and my body was pretty battered as well, Like we were just covered in bruises. I had, you know, my poor feet were just destroyed. You know, I had a like a nail bed infection because we were so dirty all the time. It just wouldn't heal. So I just came home and snuggled down and you know, swam in the sea, ate lots of delicious food that I wanted to eat, and just had quiet time for like a week before I went back to work.
You deserve it, That's all I can say. I guess it would be remiss of me not to ask you. This season, it did sort of feel like every every episode we got you on a bridge climb, a rope climb, there was something every single day that you were having to face of a challenge for you. What was the hardest bridge or rope climb that you faced throughout filming?
I think in the beginning, So I think for me, it was such a mental gain, Like I really all of those obstacles were so physically challenging, but in the beginning I hadn't proved to myself that I was capable of overcoming them, and so the obstacles that were earlier in the series was so much harder because I was so much more fearful and I had so much more doubt. Whereas as the show progressed and as the days progressed, I was like, well, if I did that, I can
do this. It's just one foot in front of the other. And you know, my brain had been in that high stress situation just the day before, so my body was sort of getting more used to it. Resistance, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're building up a sort of tolerance to these extremely high stres situations and so and you know, you've got the frame of reference, so you know, if I climbed a waterfall yesterday, I can go on a flying fox today,
like that kind of thing. So yeah, getting sensitized, desensitized a little bit, but you know, it was really hard. The hiking I found surprisingly challenging as well, just because a lot of the terrain that we were hiking was very slippery, and so the way that you're supposed to hike it. If you're doing like a fairly verticful crime is you take big fistfuls of the long graph to
support you. But I couldn't really do that because I needed my arm to sort of balance, and so I just slipped and fell, slipped and fell, slipped and fell all day hiking And yeah, so yeah, there.
Were lots of right now that had a negative thought about the way in which the show ended. Have a think about that, Have a think about have a think about that, because that is the stuff we didn't really get to see, and it's an impossible thing to do. That's a true sign to me of your mental strength and your capability.
Yeah, it was a lot of problem solving. I mean, life with disability is problem solving because you know you're having to apply a different, you know, approach to doing things that everyone else does in a different way. But yeah, I think the way that I sort of worked through was looking at those obstacles problem solving them, trying to work out the best way for me to do them, and the hiking as well. It was all just problem solving all day.
I can imagine I need to ask you about you know who the hardest person was to eliminate to get to the top. You know, you're facing big decisions, and people were sent home, dreams were crushed. Looking back for you personally, maybe not for everybody, but who was the hardest person to eliminate or for you to see go?
Well, obviously Olympia and I was devast stated when Olympia left, and it was on the back of Lockie leaving the day before, and you know, Lucky in Olympia and I, I feel like our friendship wasn't really represented on the show like it was in life, and the three of us had so much fun, and you know, we had a really beautiful bond. And Lucky left and Olympia and I were devastated. And then Olympia left and I felt so lost, and it really shocked me that I was
so emotionally affected by her leaving. And I think at the time, I really felt like he was the only person that sort of didn't look at me like a disability advocacy poster.
You know, like a real person. Well, she looked at you like everybody else, Which is that thing that you want? I can yeah, it's the thing that you want is to be treated like everybody else. It's really interesting because people be like, well, Ben, you don't have a disability, how are you relating to this? But I remember in school, because I was so obviously gay, you know, there were some people that would treat me differently in both sides
of it. There was homophobia towards it. But then people talk to me like they were doing me a favor, you know, to sort of pull me along. And all I want, yeah, was to be like everybody else, you know, I just wanted for people to treat me the same. I kind of wanted to blend in.
You know, yeah, because there is no difference. And yeah, and I just felt, you know, in the moment, I felt like I was losing the last person that you know, saw me for who I was, which is a just the absolute break that I am. You know that we all are.
What's going on inside our minds, what's going on inside our minds is the same thing.
You know what I mean, Like, yes, don't absolutely, I.
Don't know if people really see that. I'm running out of time and I really need to ask you just a few quick questions.
Oh yeah, no, go run ahead, because.
Charlotte, I honestly, like I have been so excited to talk to you today. Yeah, and I've been thinking about all the things that I could talk to you, and I could talk to you all day, let me.
Tell you, and Black Lives it's been my favorite interview of the day. Honestly, some of them have been like pulling to.
No. I just I just feel so I love the show, and I think that's that's important when you're talking to someone. But I also just think you were fantastic and I love and an ending that we don't know, I think that that's also something really important to me. Like I don't know if it just ended, you know, in a way that was predictable, I think I wouldn't have enjoyed this series as much. Where you've given us something, you know, given us something to bite into, which I think is great.
But you know, Jay, who's the you know, he's like the host of the show, but he's quite menacing, you know, when he's sitting around and he meets you guys. It was it quite comical at times to listen to his taunts because when I was watching it on the show, like sometimes it's just he was like very dramatic and what he was saying, and I kind of whether or not I would laugh at that kind of thing.
I think that when you're in it, you're so in it, and so his presence is so meaningful because you know, when he's around, things aren't good, like he doesn't bring good tidings. So I think for that reason, and we took him really seriously because he was the lens through which we understood the game, even though from the outside it might seem comical, like when you're in it, yeah, he's the boss of you kind of thing.
Yeah, you kind of have to play along. Yeah, I can see that. I remember people sometimes didn't understand when I did Big Brother that I would be scared by a Big Brother and it was funny. They would think that was really strange. But when you're in it and you've committed to the idea of the show, your reality has become your reality. Do you know what I mean? If that makes any sense at all?
Like people, No, it completely does, Yeah, for sure.
And then you're frightened, you know what I mean. Like other people would be like, oh, because they can go back into the kitchen and get themselves a cup of tea, they can turn the TV off and get on with their day. But when you're in it, and you can't get out when you're in it.
It's your life, it's your reality.
What about these helicopters, you know, the mountains keepers? Are they as scary as they look? Because I'd be frightened of those helicopters. It was once in a helicopter fir a sh show, and I felt nauseous every time I'd hear the propellers start. So I was curious about the participants' reactions to these helicopters.
No, they it's in a similar vein to sort of the presence of Jai. This loud, looming, shiny, black, zippy helicopter was also really scary because number one, I'm not a writer, I thought, and I'm kind of low center of gravity, like running not my strong suit. And if the helicopters were around, you knew that something that hasn't going to happen and you're going to have to run for something. So they did feel really threatening, and they're a huge part of the game.
It's like the Yah dogs, you know, remember that psychological thing where yeah, absolutely so. Then after all you're like, you know, your brain is conditioned into saying, okay, I can hear those helicopters happening, and the last three times this happened it was not good news.
Not good news. No, it's never good news.
Would you give to anyone that would dare to do this show? You know, this is a show that was first happened, I believe here in Australia, and now it's going to be seen overseas. They're going to have their own versions of it. I'm sure people are going to be listening to this podcast, someone like yourself who's just been cast and is looking for information on how they can do it. You have advice for them.
My advice would be that it is a social game, so sharpen your social tools because no matter how strong you are, if you don't have good relationships and good bonds, you're not going to win.
You know, interesting that you say that, what's the relationship like? Then with Simona Matt, what's your relationship like? After the show?
I've spoken to Matt heat He has been an absolute legend. You know. He was defensive of me and my choice till the end. You know, he yeah, and he warned me, he was like, this isn't my first rodeo shak. I think there might be some backlash, Yeah, backlash for the last episode. Just be prepared. Don't read the comments. And I was like whatever, and he was right.
Yeah, don't read the comments. I remember once I didn't read the comments for a few months, and then I just was on a weekend away with a group of people who all went to bed early, and I had a bottle of wine there and I drank this bottle of wine while reading the comments on a forum and I just and now you know, I have a podcast. This is episode four hundred and ten. I'm talking to
people from reality shows. And it's the one piece of advice that you know, it's kind of addictive in a way, you know, like as much as I want to do, isn't it? Yes, it is interesting. It's kind of like a scratchy you know what I mean, Like, you know, like a gamble. You want to keep reading because like one of the comments can be positive and then another one can be negative, and you become addicted to the highs and the lows and the dopamine hit of something.
And so what I've learned is it's just as important not to read the positive comment as it is to take on board the negative because we don't know who they are.
Absolutely I'm not engaging. I'm not engaging.
Well, I'm happy with that. I have to let you go. I had a million questions to ask you. I'm sure, I'm sure I'll run into you in my life it often happens after something like this, I somehow ridiculously walk into it. But as four hundred and ten episodes, I have to ask you, what is something from behind the scenes, something that we maybe didn't get a chance to see?
Yeah, what's something from behind the scenes. I mean we were film twenty four to seven, so there wasn't really any behind the scenes. Like the only time that we were not with each other is when we were taken aside for our video one on one interviews. Wow, I
mean there was no breaks from the cameras ever. But I guess, you know, maybe things that didn't make it, you know, onto the interview episodes, just how much fun Olympia and Lucky and I had, and you know, after they left, how much fun I had, Tay and Matt and we just laughed so much. And you know, there was a lot of lightness that didn't make it on
the show because I guess it's boring. Guest. Yeah, they're building an intensity, and you know, Matt was sort of really came across as a strategy mastermind, which he is, but he's also very funny and like entertaining and clever and you know, an absolute clown. So sort of that kind of stuff, that social lightness I think didn't make it because we all had a lot of fun as well while we were while we were hiking and while we were waiting for each other on the other side
of these obstacles and that kind of thing. And you know, you have this shared intimacy because you've spent so much time together in these ridiculously challenging conditions. So yeah, I guess a lot of the lightness and the joy I think didn't make it into the episodes, given how much of that there was.
If that makes sense, that makes perfect sense. And you know what they are the things. They are the jewels to these sorts of poes. They are the memories that you get to have that no one else has, hang on to the stuff that meant something to you. But I have to let you go. But can I just say, Shark, I am so excited about you spending this money. I'm so excited about your journey and how this show is going to change your life. Thank you for signing up
and doing it. And oh, thank you your generosity today talking to me.
I love it. Oh, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed chatting and you've given me some really beautiful little pearls of advice, and yeah, I really appreciate it, so thank you so much,