April 17, 2026 • 26 mins
In this chat, we're joined by Australian Survivor Redemption winner, Caleb. We dive into his journey, from being a complete newbie to outplaying returning players and making it to the final tribal council against Jackson. Caleb shares what was going through his mind during the six-month wait for the finale, and how he managed to stay confident despite the uncertainty. We also discuss his relationships, rivalries and the moves that got him to the end. With honesty and humor, Caleb takes us through his experience and what it's like to win Australian Survivor.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload, the podcast Last to Beat that line.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Gaday, guys, welcome back to TV Reload. My name is
Benjamin Norris, and today we are unpacking Australian Survivor of
Redemption finale with your winner, Caleb. He went all the
way to the end, sat at the final tribal council
against Jackson, and after six long months of waiting, finally
learned the outcome that could have gone either way. Now,
what makes this win even more interesting? Caleb came into
(00:27):
this game a complete newbie. He went up against some
returning players who already knew how Survivor works, and he
still managed to outplay them when it mattered the most.
So in this chat, we break down the finale, what
he thought was going to happen, sitting there at the end,
how confident he really was in those jury votes, and
just how much that last six months wait had played
(00:48):
on his mind. We also get into the rivalry with Jackson,
because what we saw on screen was pretty intense, but
we find out what was really going on between them
and how did that shape the final result. We talk
about the moves that got in there to the end,
including the relationships that carried him through the game and
the moments where everyone could have completely fallen apart, and
(01:09):
of course what it actually feels like to win Australian
Survivor after living with that uncertainty for so long. This
is a great chat. It's honest, it's chaotic, of course,
and exactly what you want to hear after watching a
finale like we got this week. So guys, let's get
into it. Here is your Australian Survivor Redemption winner chat
with Caleb. Congratulations, my friend.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Thanks Ben jeers Man, it's good as.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
When did you start thinking about going on reality television?
Is this something that's always been on your bingo card?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Look, I've always wanted to be on TV, but as
far as Survivor, this was something that found me. A
friend of mine, you know, hit me up saying like
you would be so perfect. I'm going to send them
some videos and all that kind of stuff, and I
just applied with never intention of getting on right. I
never thought I remember the video. I grabbed my phone.
I was still in my truck. I was running around
(02:02):
like I jumped out of the truck and I'm like
you if you take me on, I'll make you so
much money or just so much crazy stuff, thinking like that's.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Just never going to fly and I'm not winning the
damn show.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So well, you kind of liked that. The whole way
through the show, I was, I was. I just kept
thinking of you in this series like a hyena. That
was like the way that I just saw you the
whole way through this show. Is Is there some sort
of inspiration for sort of character work that you put
together for this or are you just a hyena by trade?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I think when I am excited, all right, I am
just crazy.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
It comes from, yeah, an innocent place.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I was good at being able to balance it, you
know what I mean, like being able to be I
think people would look at me a bit as like
the younger brother, a bit annoying, but we have to
love him, you know what I mean. And yeah, I
think that I just managed to find the right balance
of crazy and calculated. So yeah, I guess that the
(03:02):
loud larakan was there when I needed it to be.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
But I could also be quiet and you know, really listen.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
To people as well, And I think that's what helped
me in my social game so much.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, definitely. You know, the thing that really gets me
about this Survivor series, this particular series Redemption, was that,
you know, it was all filmed quite a while ago.
What was the time period between wrapping on the island
and then being there at the finale? Like how long
was that feud to wait?
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And I think that was over six months? I get
out and it was a tough six months. Like I
went through everything you could imagine in your head, you
know what I mean, Like, yeah, I've got it, No
I don't. This is going to be a blind side
within a blind side.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Some people are like, yeah, Caleb, we think you've got it,
but that's them going to be able to get their
last leg up on me. Like, man, it was tough,
but you know everything about Survivor is it's literally the
hardest game in the world. And it's like, yeah, don't
ever expect anything to be an easy ride, because you're
going to be very wrong if you do.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
People would have been sort of trying to work it out,
like you, did you try and work it out? Or
did other people that were on the tribal council try
and work it out? Based on who they all voted for.
Was there any way of being able to predict. This
is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Everyone tries to work it out, but as soon as
you think you know what's going on in any tribal council,
you get bent over the knee and you get spanked
right and you become wrong. And that was my biggest fear,
of being confident that I know where votes are going
and I was going to come up wrong.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
I was so worried about thinking that I'm solid with
people because.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I was proved wrong so many times, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So the way I was going into Survivor, the way
I went into my final and the last six months
was expect the worst and anything else is a blessing.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I love the way that you phrase things as well,
anything is a blessing, A blessing. Fuck my life. I
would have been stressed out of my brain.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, oh man, I was stressing out as every night,
Like there wasn't.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
A day I didn't think about it.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You're the type of person though, that I really like
to think about how you would spend the money. Like
there's some reality TV people where I'm like, I don't
really care about how this person's going to spend this
month this money. But for you, I can imagine you
would have been changing your ideas and working it out
in your head for quite a while.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Now, man, do you know what happened in this time?
I'm going to climb out over us. I'm going to
climb man Everest because it costs you one hundred grand
to climb that mountain. And it's always been something that's
called me. But I've never ever been able to answer
that door. So whether it's ever a thought's in a
couple of different other peaks, or it's going around to
other countries like Madagascar and just filming mad little videos
(05:49):
with animals, I don't know. But I'm gonna do something
crazy because it's me. I can't help not to, you
know what I'm saying. So it's like, yes, I'll pay
off my mortgage, which is only two hundred grand in
the World's my oyster like survivor has given me a
chance to live out my dream.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Now can we do Poziosk go first? Like, maybe we'll
start small. I don't know if I want to send
you up the biggest mountain in the world yet, but they.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Reckon that it's easy.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
People are not easy, but people are like as far
as like a slope, I don't know. I'm going to
do some mountaineering in the South Island of New Zealand
and like learn how to climb mountains before I go.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
To the ball circle back on it, you know, because
that's the thing is like I do understand your determination,
because I thought that the second last episode with your
commitment to that challenge was extraordinary, Like you know, you
brought so much to it as well, like you brought
great TV, but you also like the whistling, it was
like so creepy, but in a good way, like great,
(06:49):
great energy level for television, but also just the endurance,
Like if you've decided to do something, you're going to
do it, you know what I mean it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I'm so like that challenge and be more perfect for me,
right because I love a little bit of pain. I
love a little bit of mental endurance. I love pushing myself.
I love pushing myself so much to the point where
I can truly understand who I am. When your chips
are down, when you're freezing, when you're hungry, when you're tired,
(07:18):
who are you at the moments you need to know
yourself most, right, how long can I go with enduring
hardcore pain with and what kind of guy am I
going to?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Be?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Right? I want to know these things.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
So to have a challenge like that is that it
was so up my alley, right, because like my whole
life has been about taking myself out of my comfort zone, okay,
because I grew up a kid that was scared of everything,
you know what I mean, And so I wanted to
do I wanted to experience everything because like you're going
to be brave, You're not brave if nothing scares you,
(07:54):
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I think you push against the fear, right, That's what
I've always thought.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
One percent you push against and that's what makes you brave.
And so doing a challenge like that where it's just
like you are the hardest thing you're ever gonna do,
you know what I mean. And then like with the whistling,
it was like quite for a second, right, and like
Jackson seemed to just like regain his composure, and I'm like,
oh no, And so then I just started doing this
ominous whistle and it worked, Like my strategy worked.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
It got to him and that's good.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
It was like serial killer whistling.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
It was fun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I loved it, and like having the old man there, like,
oh man, as.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Good as he was.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
At one point, like it was too much and I'm
just like I need silence, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Your dad made me cry. Actually, I felt so emotional
with the interaction between the two of you because it did.
You know, there's a lot of these reality shows where
they reintroduced the family and it feels a little forced,
or it feels a little bit disingenuous. But what we
got to see between you and your dad was quite real.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
And that's why I'm so glad because, like, you know,
so many qualities of my personality. He taught me how
to be a worker, right, Like, as much as you
don't want to hear it as a kid, I listened
to it, right, even something as simple as like looking
a man in the eye when you shake his hand.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
There's so many things I learned from my old man.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right, because he's gone through his life, you know, and
his challenges he's learned, and so if you don't listen
to people that have gone through it, you're going to
fall up short. And so to have him there in
the most biggest moment of my life was awesome, and
I was so in the game.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I wasn't I didn't come up emotional.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And then when I watched the episode later at home
on my phone, like I just bulled my eyes out,
you know, like it all just came flooding back. But
I remember he said one thing to me when I
saw it, when he saw me, and he goes, yes,
look how skinny you are? All the pain that I
had been through. Like that's when I was like, do
not cry. Do not cry, because like I've been putting
(09:55):
on a brave face that whole game, you know what
I mean, And like my body is showed the pain
that I had been gone through, the starving, and He's just.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Like, look how skinny you are.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I was like, oh, like Dad, I'm trying to keep
a brave face and nearly broke me.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Man.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Was he at Sagami's last night with you? Was I
was doing my research on you, you know, after you won,
and you know it was doing more of it this morning.
And then I came across the Facebook post of yours
being like come and watch Survival. Hepsagamies with me. Is
it out of Baronia?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Like you're out instead of where I grew up around Baronia,
and Mate, it was packed.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
It was amazing, fun night.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
There was people that saw the posts and travel down
to go there and like.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Reorganize it to be watched in the bistro.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And then right before it happened they couldn't get any sound.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
We're all freaking out, and they managed to put it
on in the sports bar. So all the old fellows
are a bit like what's going on? But it turned
out just to be perfect.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So when did you become aware that there was going
to be returnees in this game? And I want to know,
do you get sort of pushed in a direction of
get rid of the returneys or did you just feel
that in your blood straight away?
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Good question, mate, It was crazy, right. So, like when
I found out that I was going, I was like
binging a few seasons and I was actually watching Mark's season.
I was in the uber, I got to the airport.
I get to the airport and I look up and
the guy that I'm watching on my phone is sitting
right there, Mark right, And I'm like, oh, no way.
And then I look at who's in line, and Simon
(11:26):
is standing in.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Line, and I'm like oh, what the hell?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
And then obviously we don't see them until we actually
get out onto day one, and I just saw such
a difference in black powerhouses. I saw returnees who were
very green, very green in the game, didn't really know
what to do and what to say, and then returnees
(11:51):
being like, oh, yeah, this is it, so calm.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
The nerves were so high on day one, they were
so chilled.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
There was such a difference, and I'm like, yeah, this
is you know, rise of the underdogs. If we don't
take these guys out, how the hell are we ever
going to win?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Like they are so far in front of us, and
if we want to be the best, we've got to
beat the best.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Like I want to be on their level one day.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You know, well, I mean you could be returning at
some point in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Is that going to be a hard pitch.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I just I just want to see people come for
you the way that you came for them. I just
want to see how that sort of flips. By that point,
you'll be like, I've already won a season. I'm back
just to you know, for nostalgia.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I want to I think that I have a pretty
good pitch because I've thought about it, right, I've pretty
good pitch.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
To be able to be like take me out at
the end.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I don't care, but I'm going to teach you guys
how to get to the end in Survivor.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Do you think though, that that's actually because you know,
I'm going to take you to task on something. I
loved you on this show. I think you did a
great job, but I did feel like there was a
lot of luck for you as well, So like, is
are you the best Survivor player to talk about successful
game building agency and making it all the way to
(13:04):
the ends?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Like, come on, obviously, No, it's like a hand of
po guy, it's the cards. You get lucky, or you
get you know, you get shot.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
So it's certainly something that I can say.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
It doesn't necessarily mean that I have all of the answers,
But I noticed a huge shift in game.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
When I became you know.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Aligned with Laws, Right, So as soon as me and
Laws became this couple that were legitimately, you know, not
lying to each other and telling each other everything about
what people are saying, we started to you know, like
go forward in the game, and we started, like I
didn't even hear people saying we need a break Caleb
(13:44):
and Laws up right, so like there might be something there,
There might be something you know, to say there, because
like we both fan each other at a time when
we felt like we were friends with everyone but close
with no one, you know what I mean. And that's
a pretty hard place to be when you're seeing people
have chats every day that you're not in it. You
see people laughing that you're just like, I don't have that.
(14:05):
So to finally like align myself with Laws, it was
like such a great fresh breath of breath afresh.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I just don't think that they even thought about it, though,
do you know what I mean? Like, I'm looking at
the poster right now. This is how weird I am.
This is how big a survivor I am.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
I love it, man, I love it.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Sitting here with my You're probably not going to see
that with my weird CGI background, but anyway, I've got
it got everyone's face. Yet. I don't know if any
of these people looked at you and Laws and thought
these are the people we have to beat, do you
know what I mean? No, And that's that's fine, that's
a good thing. That's still good strategy though it was.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
A great thing, right, I don't want to be a
big target. Look at Mark, Mark. Everyone wanted to get
him out right. He was the biggest target in the
game because he played such a loud, abrasive, crazy game.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
And I've asked him out of the game, I go,
were you really playing for five hundred Grandmark?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Like, if you were, would you have really blown up
that first Bible counsel the way that you did? Like,
were you playing to win or are you playing to
create a legacy for yourself?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I think the answer to that is academic. I don't
think he was playing for the money. I think he
was playing to have fun. And I think you realized
that if he was going to go in there and
make and be Mark, be this iconic player, then he
had to just be big, bold and brash and just
try and blow things up.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
And I think that's what I would try and do
if I ever go back.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Well, that's because you've already got the money, honey, that's it.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Then that's it.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
So I just want to go back to this laws thing.
Everyone in Australia that was watching this at the same
time around the country just made this Oh my god,
noise when you decided to turn on her. You know,
do you now retrospectively, still think that that was what
you need to do? Do you think you would have
won if you had brought laws to the finale that
(15:56):
you're in Sydney with.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Look, I I do, but I think that I would
have rather have you know, taken her out there than
you know, beat her for four hours in a pitch, you.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Like, I also was starting to think like she was
going to make her one large, big move and take
Jackson and blindsided me. Okay, So I was like, oh,
I can't afford for that to happen, So I've got
to do it before she doesn't take Jackson.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Have you had that conversation with her offline though? To
be able to work out of that is something that
she was planning on doing.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
She says she wasn't.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
And do not believe her because I feel like you
too have a good friendship Ryan.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I do believe it, and I do believe she was
going to take me now. But at the time, you're so.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Got brain fog to the max, and you just you know,
you start second guessing yourself. Our body excuse me, our
body language that morning before we went on Pigs was
all different. The eye contact, excuse me, wasn't there which
where it had been, you know, so strong before it.
And something just smelt fishy, something smelled off and it
wasn't my arm pits. So I also really wanted to
(17:06):
beat Jackson, you know what I mean. I wanted to
make good TV men, right, like I want I want
all of the channels to see that in front of everything.
I'm down to make TV because like that's what it's
That's what we're all here for, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
That's why he.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Called me out at the start, like let's get something
going here, Let's let's go at it, let's be.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
You know, how's Jackson taking all of this? Though?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I think he's been a lot better than what I was.
Probably would have been.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
You would have been crying right now, you would have been.
He would not be okay ah.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I mean like I I also wouldn't have like targeted him,
so I wouldn't have had such a high place to fall.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
From that he did. But he's handling it like a champion.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
I thought your underdog speech was undercooked. I just think
I mean the underdog speech in reality TV shows has
been around for so long, and I feel like, yeah,
I get it, but I felt like it had been
seen and heard and done a few times that wasn't
strong enough. But what do you think is the real
reason that you pulled those votes over from the majority
(18:10):
of people?
Speaker 3 (18:11):
It's just my social game, right, Like.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I do you think people like you better than they
like Jackson? Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I think Jackson had shields in his game, so he
only worked with a very small amount of people, and
the rest he didn't even really want to talk to.
He didn't grow relationship with Blanche, with Cam, with Laws.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Right, he didn't do that. He didn't make that effort.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
I could tell you everything about everyone on that jury,
personal stuff, right, I found something that I relate to.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
On a personal level with all of them. Where Jackson
did it with Brooke, he did it with Simon, who else? Ben?
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And he rode that train, and you know what, he
wouldn't have stayed in the game for as long as
he did unless I needed Kearley to get out, I
needed Brooke to get out. We were dragging Jackson along
because right now he's not a threat, you know, what
I mean. So come on, Jackson, let's go because there's
so many people in front of you that need to
go out first, you know what I mean. And he
(19:10):
just wasn't versatile, like trying to create bonds with everyone
where that's what I did.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Let's just say, you have to drop out some money
and give some of your prize money to two people.
And Mark was and Mark.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
It wasn't for them, Man, I wouldn't be in the game, right.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Mark carried me through my pitch, right he and so
Di Loss okay Los.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I was like, obviously, you know, she.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Could have taken me out before I even went to
fire at that final four, and she was compelled to
keep me in the game, Like I am going to
give her a gift, you know what I mean, I'm
going to I'd made that decision up a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
But you you wouldn't give any of that to Jackson.
That's the only thing I don't know. Nah, Did you
talk to him while we were waiting for the six months?
That's what I was curious about.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
I think we spoke like once once.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And you guys are living this parallel life because he
would be in the same boat as you'd be sitting
at Christmas lunch going happy Christmas everyone. I was on Survivor?
Am I going to win half a million dollars?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It's it was such a weird dynamic because we weren't
m mates, you know what I mean, Like every time
we came at each other, that was real. So I well,
that's how I interpreted it, right, whether he was like
I felt like it came it was serious at the start,
and then he's like acknowledged that he couldn't really get
it over me and he wanted it to become a
(20:34):
bit lighthearted. But like you know, I wasn't really going
out on my way to do a welfare check on
him all the time, because like when we were together,
we were, you know, going at each other's throat. So
it's like it was a weird dynamic between the two
of us. But like I have nothing but good words
for the bloke now.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
I just think the whole thing in a Survivor's cooked?
How cooked is a man like pushing people to be
the worst version of themselves and then have it celebrated
internationally like very strange. It's so strange, Like I was
even looking at the downloads right on like a Torrent site.
You know, I don't download them because I watched them
(21:14):
through ten, but I was looking at it and the
people downloading this show around the world. The finale was insane,
Like the Australian Idol finale was out and it was
like nothing compared to this. You know, Australian Survivor has
this cult following all around the world that is quite celebrated.
Oh and back to what I was saying for being
(21:34):
horrible people, yeah, but.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
There's also so much other aspects of it.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's really showing where we are as a generation, as
all black. You know, you've got you know, you've got
your friendly neighborhood next door neighbor on the show, you know,
you could be anyone. You can be someone a diplomat
like Mark, or you could be someone who's just been
a rubbish truck driver on the beach together and you're
going to see what where we yeah, as people, right,
(22:02):
And I think it's really interesting to see, you know,
the strategy behind it, to see the human that happens.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
There, because you never prepare for.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
The human change that happens when you're twenty four hours
around the same group of people and years are starving
and he's a freezing and he's a wet like.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
You can't train for that. You can't.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
You might have an idea of how you're going to react,
and then you get out there and you might lose
your marbles. I watched people's I'm not going to say who,
but I watched people's eyes change and they weren't the
same person they were when they started.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
You can't prepare.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
For that, you know what I mean, There's no way,
no way. Yeah. I did a reality show that was
eighty seven days, and I remember thinking there was people
right at the start who I was like, shut the
fuck up, like it's so loud. Yeah, and then fifty
days into it, you know, they were crying for their parents.
It's like, you know, a large part of this is endurance.
I mean, you have to be genuinely the person you
(22:58):
are on the show, tend to be something you're not,
because as the time goes on, it's like them, you
can't ask things anymore. You just have to be yourself.
I want to ask you about Malaysia because we've had
that being announced and there's gonna be a lot of
people listening to this right now who want to be
the next Caleb, what advice do you have for these
people applying for Malaysia.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Honestly, I don't envy them at all. Malaysia is going
to be hard.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Why, dude, Malaysia has all of the creepy crawlers you
could imagine, right, Like, here's the thing, Samoh doesn't have
spiders or snakes. What they have is centipedes, right, And
this never made the air. One night, a centipede crawled
over books face and bitter on the face and her.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Whole face swallowed up like the elephant man. Right. She
refused to put it on TV, but it was brutal.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Now Malaysia has all like, don't let this stop you
from applying everybody. But like you think you're going to
go in and have an easy ride, it's going to
be rocks. It's going to be hard. But you know
I'd do it if I got the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, they rang you up and asked you to do
it straight away. I know you, I know you, he'd
be there. I have to finish up. I've run out
of time. I've got to go and do this other interview.
But I would talk to you all day. And let
me tell you, Caleb, I would talk to you all day, to.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
You all day. Man, You're a legend.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
But the way I finished the podcast, I always ask
for a behind the scenes question, and for you, I
thought about this every time you did a piece to camera.
How did you manage to get your energy levels always
so high for your pieces to camera? Like was there
a I mean, I've never done a piece of camera
for a reality show, so I don't know how that
(24:41):
comes together, Like how do you do it? But you
were like high level, consistent personality energy. What was the
process like of doing that every time?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Man, It's just the same as going into a challenge
when you're starving and tired, right, Like you might go,
you know, walking to do an IV like the interview,
you might be really not wanting to do it.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
You put your bag down, camera, sitt's rolling right.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
But I was so crazy, you know, let's go, and
it all just goes out the window.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Honestly, that's not every single time. But I also was
just having so much fun, you know what I mean.
And again when I'm having fun and I'm excited, I'm
at one hundred.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
So well, I just saw it right there. I think
I just saw your piece to camera personality just lang
there it is, mate. Can I just say congratulations on this?
And I feel like you were genuinely yourself throughout this show.
I thought you brought something really unique to Survivor, and
I think that's all we want to see when we
turn up and watch this, because it's very you know,
same game, same say me, where we want to see
(25:46):
rich characters. And I thought you really stood out the
whole way through this. You were you were your own
self and it was unique and interesting. So thank you
for doing that, and congratulations.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Man, I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Like you know, obviously we wouldn't have a show without
people like you and all the fans and everything like that.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
So you know, I watch it like the football, like
I literally and you should see me. I have a
big screen TV which you can't see, which is over there.
It is like it's a home cinema, and I will
I watch Survivor like the football, like the neighbors must
think that, you know, the Hawthorne's playing the Bombers. I
don't follow the football, but like they must think that
there's a sports game happening because I scream and yell
(26:26):
at the TV the whole way through. That's the best
I have to run. But look after yourself. Enjoy turning
to the media. I can imagine everyone, all the fans
that have these podcasts are going to just eat you
with a spoon today.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
It's crazy. It's crazy. But thank you so much, man,
I love you.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Look after yourself.
It's in the news today, but it was actually on
TV Reload, the podcast Last to Beat that line.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Gaday, guys, welcome back to TV Reload. My name is
Benjamin Norris, and today we are unpacking Australian Survivor of
Redemption finale with your winner, Caleb. He went all the
way to the end, sat at the final tribal council
against Jackson, and after six long months of waiting, finally
learned the outcome that could have gone either way. Now,
what makes this win even more interesting? Caleb came into
(00:27):
this game a complete newbie. He went up against some
returning players who already knew how Survivor works, and he
still managed to outplay them when it mattered the most.
So in this chat, we break down the finale, what
he thought was going to happen, sitting there at the end,
how confident he really was in those jury votes, and
just how much that last six months wait had played
(00:48):
on his mind. We also get into the rivalry with Jackson,
because what we saw on screen was pretty intense, but
we find out what was really going on between them
and how did that shape the final result. We talk
about the moves that got in there to the end,
including the relationships that carried him through the game and
the moments where everyone could have completely fallen apart, and
(01:09):
of course what it actually feels like to win Australian
Survivor after living with that uncertainty for so long. This
is a great chat. It's honest, it's chaotic, of course,
and exactly what you want to hear after watching a
finale like we got this week. So guys, let's get
into it. Here is your Australian Survivor Redemption winner chat
with Caleb. Congratulations, my friend.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Thanks Ben jeers Man, it's good as.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
When did you start thinking about going on reality television?
Is this something that's always been on your bingo card?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Look, I've always wanted to be on TV, but as
far as Survivor, this was something that found me. A
friend of mine, you know, hit me up saying like
you would be so perfect. I'm going to send them
some videos and all that kind of stuff, and I
just applied with never intention of getting on right. I
never thought I remember the video. I grabbed my phone.
I was still in my truck. I was running around
(02:02):
like I jumped out of the truck and I'm like
you if you take me on, I'll make you so
much money or just so much crazy stuff, thinking like that's.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Just never going to fly and I'm not winning the
damn show.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So well, you kind of liked that. The whole way
through the show, I was, I was. I just kept
thinking of you in this series like a hyena. That
was like the way that I just saw you the
whole way through this show. Is Is there some sort
of inspiration for sort of character work that you put
together for this or are you just a hyena by trade?
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I think when I am excited, all right, I am
just crazy.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
It comes from, yeah, an innocent place.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
I was good at being able to balance it, you
know what I mean, like being able to be I
think people would look at me a bit as like
the younger brother, a bit annoying, but we have to
love him, you know what I mean. And yeah, I
think that I just managed to find the right balance
of crazy and calculated. So yeah, I guess that the
(03:02):
loud larakan was there when I needed it to be.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
But I could also be quiet and you know, really listen.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
To people as well, And I think that's what helped
me in my social game so much.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, definitely. You know, the thing that really gets me
about this Survivor series, this particular series Redemption, was that,
you know, it was all filmed quite a while ago.
What was the time period between wrapping on the island
and then being there at the finale? Like how long
was that feud to wait?
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And I think that was over six months? I get
out and it was a tough six months. Like I
went through everything you could imagine in your head, you
know what I mean, Like, yeah, I've got it, No
I don't. This is going to be a blind side
within a blind side.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Some people are like, yeah, Caleb, we think you've got it,
but that's them going to be able to get their
last leg up on me. Like, man, it was tough,
but you know everything about Survivor is it's literally the
hardest game in the world. And it's like, yeah, don't
ever expect anything to be an easy ride, because you're
going to be very wrong if you do.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
People would have been sort of trying to work it out,
like you, did you try and work it out? Or
did other people that were on the tribal council try
and work it out? Based on who they all voted for.
Was there any way of being able to predict. This
is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Everyone tries to work it out, but as soon as
you think you know what's going on in any tribal council,
you get bent over the knee and you get spanked
right and you become wrong. And that was my biggest fear,
of being confident that I know where votes are going
and I was going to come up wrong.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
I was so worried about thinking that I'm solid with
people because.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I was proved wrong so many times, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So the way I was going into Survivor, the way
I went into my final and the last six months
was expect the worst and anything else is a blessing.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I love the way that you phrase things as well,
anything is a blessing, A blessing. Fuck my life. I
would have been stressed out of my brain.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, oh man, I was stressing out as every night,
Like there wasn't.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
A day I didn't think about it.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You're the type of person though, that I really like
to think about how you would spend the money. Like
there's some reality TV people where I'm like, I don't
really care about how this person's going to spend this
month this money. But for you, I can imagine you
would have been changing your ideas and working it out
in your head for quite a while.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Now, man, do you know what happened in this time?
I'm going to climb out over us. I'm going to
climb man Everest because it costs you one hundred grand
to climb that mountain. And it's always been something that's
called me. But I've never ever been able to answer
that door. So whether it's ever a thought's in a
couple of different other peaks, or it's going around to
other countries like Madagascar and just filming mad little videos
(05:49):
with animals, I don't know. But I'm gonna do something
crazy because it's me. I can't help not to, you
know what I'm saying. So it's like, yes, I'll pay
off my mortgage, which is only two hundred grand in
the World's my oyster like survivor has given me a
chance to live out my dream.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Now can we do Poziosk go first? Like, maybe we'll
start small. I don't know if I want to send
you up the biggest mountain in the world yet, but they.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Reckon that it's easy.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
People are not easy, but people are like as far
as like a slope, I don't know. I'm going to
do some mountaineering in the South Island of New Zealand
and like learn how to climb mountains before I go.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
To the ball circle back on it, you know, because
that's the thing is like I do understand your determination,
because I thought that the second last episode with your
commitment to that challenge was extraordinary, Like you know, you
brought so much to it as well, like you brought
great TV, but you also like the whistling, it was
like so creepy, but in a good way, like great,
(06:49):
great energy level for television, but also just the endurance,
Like if you've decided to do something, you're going to
do it, you know what I mean it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I'm so like that challenge and be more perfect for me,
right because I love a little bit of pain. I
love a little bit of mental endurance. I love pushing myself.
I love pushing myself so much to the point where
I can truly understand who I am. When your chips
are down, when you're freezing, when you're hungry, when you're tired,
(07:18):
who are you at the moments you need to know
yourself most, right, how long can I go with enduring
hardcore pain with and what kind of guy am I
going to?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Be?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Right? I want to know these things.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
So to have a challenge like that is that it
was so up my alley, right, because like my whole
life has been about taking myself out of my comfort zone, okay,
because I grew up a kid that was scared of everything,
you know what I mean, And so I wanted to
do I wanted to experience everything because like you're going
to be brave, You're not brave if nothing scares you,
(07:54):
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I think you push against the fear, right, That's what
I've always thought.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
One percent you push against and that's what makes you brave.
And so doing a challenge like that where it's just
like you are the hardest thing you're ever gonna do,
you know what I mean. And then like with the whistling,
it was like quite for a second, right, and like
Jackson seemed to just like regain his composure, and I'm like,
oh no, And so then I just started doing this
ominous whistle and it worked, Like my strategy worked.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
It got to him and that's good.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
It was like serial killer whistling.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
It was fun.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I loved it, and like having the old man there, like,
oh man, as.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Good as he was.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
At one point, like it was too much and I'm
just like I need silence, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Your dad made me cry. Actually, I felt so emotional
with the interaction between the two of you because it did.
You know, there's a lot of these reality shows where
they reintroduced the family and it feels a little forced,
or it feels a little bit disingenuous. But what we
got to see between you and your dad was quite real.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
And that's why I'm so glad because, like, you know,
so many qualities of my personality. He taught me how
to be a worker, right, Like, as much as you
don't want to hear it as a kid, I listened
to it, right, even something as simple as like looking
a man in the eye when you shake his hand.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
There's so many things I learned from my old man.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right, because he's gone through his life, you know, and
his challenges he's learned, and so if you don't listen
to people that have gone through it, you're going to
fall up short. And so to have him there in
the most biggest moment of my life was awesome, and
I was so in the game.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
I wasn't I didn't come up emotional.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And then when I watched the episode later at home
on my phone, like I just bulled my eyes out,
you know, like it all just came flooding back. But
I remember he said one thing to me when I
saw it, when he saw me, and he goes, yes,
look how skinny you are? All the pain that I
had been through. Like that's when I was like, do
not cry. Do not cry, because like I've been putting
(09:55):
on a brave face that whole game, you know what
I mean, And like my body is showed the pain
that I had been gone through, the starving, and He's just.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Like, look how skinny you are.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I was like, oh, like Dad, I'm trying to keep
a brave face and nearly broke me.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Man.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Was he at Sagami's last night with you? Was I
was doing my research on you, you know, after you won,
and you know it was doing more of it this morning.
And then I came across the Facebook post of yours
being like come and watch Survival. Hepsagamies with me. Is
it out of Baronia?
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Like you're out instead of where I grew up around Baronia,
and Mate, it was packed.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
It was amazing, fun night.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
There was people that saw the posts and travel down
to go there and like.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Reorganize it to be watched in the bistro.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And then right before it happened they couldn't get any sound.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
We're all freaking out, and they managed to put it
on in the sports bar. So all the old fellows
are a bit like what's going on? But it turned
out just to be perfect.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So when did you become aware that there was going
to be returnees in this game? And I want to know,
do you get sort of pushed in a direction of
get rid of the returneys or did you just feel
that in your blood straight away?
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Good question, mate, It was crazy, right. So, like when
I found out that I was going, I was like
binging a few seasons and I was actually watching Mark's season.
I was in the uber, I got to the airport.
I get to the airport and I look up and
the guy that I'm watching on my phone is sitting
right there, Mark right, And I'm like, oh, no way.
And then I look at who's in line, and Simon
(11:26):
is standing in.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Line, and I'm like oh, what the hell?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
And then obviously we don't see them until we actually
get out onto day one, and I just saw such
a difference in black powerhouses. I saw returnees who were
very green, very green in the game, didn't really know
what to do and what to say, and then returnees
(11:51):
being like, oh, yeah, this is it, so calm.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
The nerves were so high on day one, they were
so chilled.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
There was such a difference, and I'm like, yeah, this
is you know, rise of the underdogs. If we don't
take these guys out, how the hell are we ever
going to win?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Like they are so far in front of us, and
if we want to be the best, we've got to
beat the best.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Like I want to be on their level one day.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
You know, well, I mean you could be returning at
some point in your life.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
Is that going to be a hard pitch.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I just I just want to see people come for
you the way that you came for them. I just
want to see how that sort of flips. By that point,
you'll be like, I've already won a season. I'm back
just to you know, for nostalgia.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I want to I think that I have a pretty
good pitch because I've thought about it, right, I've pretty
good pitch.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
To be able to be like take me out at
the end.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
I don't care, but I'm going to teach you guys
how to get to the end in Survivor.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Do you think though, that that's actually because you know,
I'm going to take you to task on something. I
loved you on this show. I think you did a
great job, but I did feel like there was a
lot of luck for you as well, So like, is
are you the best Survivor player to talk about successful
game building agency and making it all the way to
(13:04):
the ends?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Like, come on, obviously, No, it's like a hand of
po guy, it's the cards. You get lucky, or you
get you know, you get shot.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
So it's certainly something that I can say.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
It doesn't necessarily mean that I have all of the answers,
But I noticed a huge shift in game.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
When I became you know.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Aligned with Laws, Right, So as soon as me and
Laws became this couple that were legitimately, you know, not
lying to each other and telling each other everything about
what people are saying, we started to you know, like
go forward in the game, and we started, like I
didn't even hear people saying we need a break Caleb
(13:44):
and Laws up right, so like there might be something there,
There might be something you know, to say there, because
like we both fan each other at a time when
we felt like we were friends with everyone but close
with no one, you know what I mean. And that's
a pretty hard place to be when you're seeing people
have chats every day that you're not in it. You
see people laughing that you're just like, I don't have that.
(14:05):
So to finally like align myself with Laws, it was
like such a great fresh breath of breath afresh.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I just don't think that they even thought about it, though,
do you know what I mean? Like, I'm looking at
the poster right now. This is how weird I am.
This is how big a survivor I am.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
I love it, man, I love it.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Sitting here with my You're probably not going to see
that with my weird CGI background, but anyway, I've got
it got everyone's face. Yet. I don't know if any
of these people looked at you and Laws and thought
these are the people we have to beat, do you
know what I mean? No, And that's that's fine, that's
a good thing. That's still good strategy though it was.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
A great thing, right, I don't want to be a
big target. Look at Mark, Mark. Everyone wanted to get
him out right. He was the biggest target in the
game because he played such a loud, abrasive, crazy game.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
And I've asked him out of the game, I go,
were you really playing for five hundred Grandmark?
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Like, if you were, would you have really blown up
that first Bible counsel the way that you did? Like,
were you playing to win or are you playing to
create a legacy for yourself?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
I think the answer to that is academic. I don't
think he was playing for the money. I think he
was playing to have fun. And I think you realized
that if he was going to go in there and
make and be Mark, be this iconic player, then he
had to just be big, bold and brash and just
try and blow things up.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
And I think that's what I would try and do
if I ever go back.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Well, that's because you've already got the money, honey, that's it.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Then that's it.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
So I just want to go back to this laws thing.
Everyone in Australia that was watching this at the same
time around the country just made this Oh my god,
noise when you decided to turn on her. You know,
do you now retrospectively, still think that that was what
you need to do? Do you think you would have
won if you had brought laws to the finale that
(15:56):
you're in Sydney with.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Look, I I do, but I think that I would
have rather have you know, taken her out there than
you know, beat her for four hours in a pitch, you.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Like, I also was starting to think like she was
going to make her one large, big move and take
Jackson and blindsided me. Okay, So I was like, oh,
I can't afford for that to happen, So I've got
to do it before she doesn't take Jackson.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Have you had that conversation with her offline though? To
be able to work out of that is something that
she was planning on doing.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
She says she wasn't.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
And do not believe her because I feel like you
too have a good friendship Ryan.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I do believe it, and I do believe she was
going to take me now. But at the time, you're so.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Got brain fog to the max, and you just you know,
you start second guessing yourself. Our body excuse me, our
body language that morning before we went on Pigs was
all different. The eye contact, excuse me, wasn't there which
where it had been, you know, so strong before it.
And something just smelt fishy, something smelled off and it
wasn't my arm pits. So I also really wanted to
(17:06):
beat Jackson, you know what I mean. I wanted to
make good TV men, right, like I want I want
all of the channels to see that in front of everything.
I'm down to make TV because like that's what it's
That's what we're all here for, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
That's why he.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Called me out at the start, like let's get something
going here, Let's let's go at it, let's be.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
You know, how's Jackson taking all of this? Though?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
I think he's been a lot better than what I was.
Probably would have been.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
You would have been crying right now, you would have been.
He would not be okay ah.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I mean like I I also wouldn't have like targeted him,
so I wouldn't have had such a high place to fall.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
From that he did. But he's handling it like a champion.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
I thought your underdog speech was undercooked. I just think
I mean the underdog speech in reality TV shows has
been around for so long, and I feel like, yeah,
I get it, but I felt like it had been
seen and heard and done a few times that wasn't
strong enough. But what do you think is the real
reason that you pulled those votes over from the majority
(18:10):
of people?
Speaker 3 (18:11):
It's just my social game, right, Like.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
I do you think people like you better than they
like Jackson? Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (18:18):
I think Jackson had shields in his game, so he
only worked with a very small amount of people, and
the rest he didn't even really want to talk to.
He didn't grow relationship with Blanche, with Cam, with Laws.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Right, he didn't do that. He didn't make that effort.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
I could tell you everything about everyone on that jury,
personal stuff, right, I found something that I relate to.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
On a personal level with all of them. Where Jackson
did it with Brooke, he did it with Simon, who else? Ben?
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And he rode that train, and you know what, he
wouldn't have stayed in the game for as long as
he did unless I needed Kearley to get out, I
needed Brooke to get out. We were dragging Jackson along
because right now he's not a threat, you know, what
I mean. So come on, Jackson, let's go because there's
so many people in front of you that need to
go out first, you know what I mean. And he
(19:10):
just wasn't versatile, like trying to create bonds with everyone
where that's what I did.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Let's just say, you have to drop out some money
and give some of your prize money to two people.
And Mark was and Mark.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
It wasn't for them, Man, I wouldn't be in the game, right.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Mark carried me through my pitch, right he and so
Di Loss okay Los.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
I was like, obviously, you know, she.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Could have taken me out before I even went to
fire at that final four, and she was compelled to
keep me in the game, Like I am going to
give her a gift, you know what I mean, I'm
going to I'd made that decision up a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
But you you wouldn't give any of that to Jackson.
That's the only thing I don't know. Nah, Did you
talk to him while we were waiting for the six months?
That's what I was curious about.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
I think we spoke like once once.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And you guys are living this parallel life because he
would be in the same boat as you'd be sitting
at Christmas lunch going happy Christmas everyone. I was on Survivor?
Am I going to win half a million dollars?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
It's it was such a weird dynamic because we weren't
m mates, you know what I mean, Like every time
we came at each other, that was real. So I well,
that's how I interpreted it, right, whether he was like
I felt like it came it was serious at the start,
and then he's like acknowledged that he couldn't really get
it over me and he wanted it to become a
(20:34):
bit lighthearted. But like you know, I wasn't really going
out on my way to do a welfare check on
him all the time, because like when we were together,
we were, you know, going at each other's throat. So
it's like it was a weird dynamic between the two
of us. But like I have nothing but good words
for the bloke now.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
I just think the whole thing in a Survivor's cooked?
How cooked is a man like pushing people to be
the worst version of themselves and then have it celebrated
internationally like very strange. It's so strange, Like I was
even looking at the downloads right on like a Torrent site.
You know, I don't download them because I watched them
(21:14):
through ten, but I was looking at it and the
people downloading this show around the world. The finale was insane,
Like the Australian Idol finale was out and it was
like nothing compared to this. You know, Australian Survivor has
this cult following all around the world that is quite celebrated.
Oh and back to what I was saying for being
(21:34):
horrible people, yeah, but.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
There's also so much other aspects of it.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's really showing where we are as a generation, as
all black. You know, you've got you know, you've got
your friendly neighborhood next door neighbor on the show, you know,
you could be anyone. You can be someone a diplomat
like Mark, or you could be someone who's just been
a rubbish truck driver on the beach together and you're
going to see what where we yeah, as people, right,
(22:02):
And I think it's really interesting to see, you know,
the strategy behind it, to see the human that happens.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
There, because you never prepare for.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
The human change that happens when you're twenty four hours
around the same group of people and years are starving
and he's a freezing and he's a wet like.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
You can't train for that. You can't.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
You might have an idea of how you're going to react,
and then you get out there and you might lose
your marbles. I watched people's I'm not going to say who,
but I watched people's eyes change and they weren't the
same person they were when they started.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
You can't prepare.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
For that, you know what I mean, There's no way,
no way. Yeah. I did a reality show that was
eighty seven days, and I remember thinking there was people
right at the start who I was like, shut the
fuck up, like it's so loud. Yeah, and then fifty
days into it, you know, they were crying for their parents.
It's like, you know, a large part of this is endurance.
I mean, you have to be genuinely the person you
(22:58):
are on the show, tend to be something you're not,
because as the time goes on, it's like them, you
can't ask things anymore. You just have to be yourself.
I want to ask you about Malaysia because we've had
that being announced and there's gonna be a lot of
people listening to this right now who want to be
the next Caleb, what advice do you have for these
people applying for Malaysia.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Honestly, I don't envy them at all. Malaysia is going
to be hard.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Why, dude, Malaysia has all of the creepy crawlers you
could imagine, right, Like, here's the thing, Samoh doesn't have
spiders or snakes. What they have is centipedes, right, And
this never made the air. One night, a centipede crawled
over books face and bitter on the face and her.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Whole face swallowed up like the elephant man. Right. She
refused to put it on TV, but it was brutal.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Now Malaysia has all like, don't let this stop you
from applying everybody. But like you think you're going to
go in and have an easy ride, it's going to
be rocks. It's going to be hard. But you know
I'd do it if I got the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Yeah, they rang you up and asked you to do
it straight away. I know you, I know you, he'd
be there. I have to finish up. I've run out
of time. I've got to go and do this other interview.
But I would talk to you all day. And let
me tell you, Caleb, I would talk to you all day, to.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
You all day. Man, You're a legend.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
But the way I finished the podcast, I always ask
for a behind the scenes question, and for you, I
thought about this every time you did a piece to camera.
How did you manage to get your energy levels always
so high for your pieces to camera? Like was there
a I mean, I've never done a piece of camera
for a reality show, so I don't know how that
(24:41):
comes together, Like how do you do it? But you
were like high level, consistent personality energy. What was the
process like of doing that every time?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Man, It's just the same as going into a challenge
when you're starving and tired, right, Like you might go,
you know, walking to do an IV like the interview,
you might be really not wanting to do it.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
You put your bag down, camera, sitt's rolling right.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
But I was so crazy, you know, let's go, and
it all just goes out the window.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Honestly, that's not every single time. But I also was
just having so much fun, you know what I mean.
And again when I'm having fun and I'm excited, I'm
at one hundred.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
So well, I just saw it right there. I think
I just saw your piece to camera personality just lang
there it is, mate. Can I just say congratulations on this?
And I feel like you were genuinely yourself throughout this show.
I thought you brought something really unique to Survivor, and
I think that's all we want to see when we
turn up and watch this, because it's very you know,
same game, same say me, where we want to see
(25:46):
rich characters. And I thought you really stood out the
whole way through this. You were you were your own
self and it was unique and interesting. So thank you
for doing that, and congratulations.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Man, I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Like you know, obviously we wouldn't have a show without
people like you and all the fans and everything like that.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
So you know, I watch it like the football, like
I literally and you should see me. I have a
big screen TV which you can't see, which is over there.
It is like it's a home cinema, and I will
I watch Survivor like the football, like the neighbors must
think that, you know, the Hawthorne's playing the Bombers. I
don't follow the football, but like they must think that
there's a sports game happening because I scream and yell
(26:26):
at the TV the whole way through. That's the best
I have to run. But look after yourself. Enjoy turning
to the media. I can imagine everyone, all the fans
that have these podcasts are going to just eat you
with a spoon today.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
It's crazy. It's crazy. But thank you so much, man,
I love you.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Look after yourself.
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