Reality Ravings

Who Magazine has a great article in their latest addition about former reality TV stars, as they picked some more obscure contestants and shows.

Unfortunately it is not on their website. However I will quickly summarise it for you.

Ally Mansell - Australian Princess

Australian Princess was a pre-cursor to Ladette to Ladies, where unrefined Australian girls were turned into sophisticated ladies.

Ally at 24 was crowned the Series 1 winner of Australian Princess in 2005. She had just returned from working at a ski season in Whistler and decided to apply for it. She said it was fun.
"We were totally unsuited to the situations they put us in, so of course the show was taking the mickey. But if you don't approach it with that attitude, that's when you look like an absolute dope.

"Getting back to normal life was pretty hard. They paid us during the show. It was all go, go, go, then all of a sudden the money stopped coming in. Any guy who asked me about the show, I wondered why a guy was even watching it! I suppose it gave me more confidence, but I didn't really get more dates. I got really self-conscious, and sometimes still do when I go out. You get these nasty people that just make you want to feel bad, but my friends defend me.

Overall it was great getting to be part of a TV show, going to England and seeing how those people live. I got to go to the Logies, the ARIAs, and I got a presenting job on 2DayFM radio from it - even now I think how lucky I was to have had all that. I'm in the process of selling my prize. Where am I going to wear a tiara?"

Ally's career on radio did not work out she is currently working as a bartender to save money for travelling.

Cosima De Vito - Australian Idol.

Who magazine say that Cosima was tipped to win the first series of Australian Idol when she was forced to pull out due to developing throat nodules. I don't think Cosima would have won, she is a great singer but did not have the musicality that Guy Sebastian had on the show.

Anyway here is what she had to say about Idol:

"... I was nervous about performing live and being judged. It was a wonderful opportunity to get my face out there, so I threw myself in the deep end. Dicko said "Your eyebrows are too thick - it's all about image.""

"He was my mentor. If you think you're fantastic you're not going to go very far. I grew as an artist, a person made amazing friends and the greatest gift is the fans. They have stood by me."

"As fun as it was, it was very , very stressful. It was really, really, hard to leave the show. I went on with laryngitis and plugged away each week but it became such a hectic schedule and I lost my voice then the specialist said " You have nodules", so I told the producers and they were like, "We'll do the show tonight and you will get up and tell everyone because you owe them." I have no regrets. A lot of people were like "You're not really sick." If you hear my voice now, the difference is phenomenal. People hear the difference and say, "You were really sick."....

" My life since Idol has been an absolute whirlwind. My second album, This Is Now, came out in 2007. We released a dance version of the first track, "Keep It Natural", and it took off in the gay market. I also teach singing. One of the places I do it is Dance@NikkiWebster in Sydney. It's my way of giving back. It keeps me grounded.
Below is Cosima on the Today show singing Keep It Natural. I had forgotten how good her voice was.



Warren Sonin and Gavin Atkins - The Block

How good was this reality TV show where they had to renovate a flat in Bondi, whilst maintaining their own day jobs as well.

Gav and Waz were the first prime-time real-life gay couple. Gavin says they were embraced by Australia. (However John Laws was not quite as open minded.).

After the show they built their own interior design business Designer Boys. Two years ago they relocated from Bondi to Byron Bay. They are in talks to develop their own TV show. They say they can now see when the executive producer sets up a scenario to get a reaction.

They say The Block was totally real. "We were given keys, the budget, and told to go for our lives. It was an extremely stressful process. The first night when we walked in we thought, "Oh my God - we've been duped! This is massive. We've got to do our full-time job, renovate this place, and be on TV."

Alex Ristevski - Big Brother Series 2.

Ristevski 37 is now the head of Foxtel's Comedy Channel and it new channel 111 HITS - he lasted eight weeks and came in seventh on BB2. He reveals he still hasn't watched the show.

He had this to say:

"I'm glad I did it. It's one of those amazing life experiences. It was a challenge, it wasn't to find fame. I'd worked in TV and radio production and it was such a phenomenon, so you can either work on it or go on it, and that was part of the appeal."

"Also being part of this sociological experiment, because I had done a degree in psychology. It is very uncomfortable and intrusive. You're exposing yourself physically and emotionally. I have no regrets but I could have done things a little differently. I get bored easily and like to have fun so played some mind games and was a bit cheeky. I tried to convince them I was working for BB. I got very cynical and could have enjoyed it a bit more.

"How do you measure success on this show? You can survive a long time but it doesn't mean you're better than anyone. It could mean you weren't as quiet or everyone felt sorry for you.

"[The winner] Peter Corbett has been through quite a bit and his story's a sad one. I'm glad the public chose him. Everyone's got a different motive for going on.

"I did the usual dodgy nightclub appearances for the money.

"I ended up marrying the girl, Kirsty, I met two weeks before going in, which was challenging for her. We've got a 2-year-old, Zac and another on the way.

"As a producer I don't question what they did. You're trying to create a story and characters people either love or hate. I laugh about it every day and am still a little embarrassed.

Evan Marriott - Joe Millionaire

Evan was a construction worker who pretended to be worth $50 million while courting 20 women.

"I wasn't looking for the love of my life, but I picked the best girl of the 20 they gave me. I haven't seen the girl since, except for the reunion show."

He now owns his own construction business and reckons that the show wrecked his dating life.

Jennifer Braff - Age of Love

In 2007 Braff was a cougar on the dating show where "kitten" were pitted against the "cougar" whilst vying for Mark Philipoussis's attention. She made it to the final two but lost to 25 year old Amanda Salinas.

"They said the guy was younger - late 30s, maybe 40. He was 30. They said he was looking to date. But when they showed us his video, he said he was looking for someone to get married to and start a family. It's not likely I'm going to get pregnant and have children."

"After taping the show, I met someone 13 years younger. And we're still together."