Big Brother’s Tully Smyth Writes About Her Experience, Calls Out Kelly From My Kitchen Rules
"I think it's a little rich for Kelly to blame editing for the way in which she was depicted."
You might remember Tully Smith from the most recent season of Big Brother. Her schtick in the house — and they all have schticks — was that of the hot bisexual, who entered the house with a girlfriend back at home, and then cheated on her for a fellow housemate: Anthony Drew.
After Tully was evicted, and her girlfriend Tahlia dumped her over Twitter, Big Brother sneaker her back into the house to tell him she was single. “Way to show Australia you’re proud to be a cheater,” Tahlia tweeted. “Good riddance”.
Smyth and Drew pose for The Daily Telegraph.
It’s been seven months since that drama unfolded — seven months of which Tully has spent brewing over her experience on reality TV. She finally took to her Tumblr last night, publishing a long essay about her time on and after the show, while conceding that sch a confessional might not be the best idea: “The last thing you would want to do, as someone hoping to stay in the television and media industry, is bite the hand that feeds you”.
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On My Kitchen Rules Finalist Kelly Ramsay:
Although she had been working on the piece since September last year, Tully says she was compelled to hit publish after My Kitchen Rules semi-finalist Kelly Ramsay — who, with her team-mate Chloe James had been painted the villain all season — slammed the program in an exclusive interview published yesterday.
In the piece, Ramsay, who was admitted to hospital for exhaustion last weekend, lamented the toll that such a high pressure environment had taken on her life. She spoke of online and offline trolls, strangers calling her names on buses and in bars, and the financial hardship she’s found herself in since the show’s finale on April 29. She also blamed the editing: “I think they took it too far this year with the whole villain thing,” she said. “You never saw us cry when anybody left, you never heard anything positive come out of our mouths. We said a lot of positive things and we cried on several occasions when people left the show. By taking that out it made us look like super-negative people.”
Will you just look at those expressions.
Tully Smyth takes issue with this complaint.
“I think it’s a little rich for Kelly to blame editing for the way in which she was depicted,” she writes. “Was it a glowing example of her personality? Not exactly. Was it fair? Maybe not. But she knew what she was signing up for and she said every single word that was aired — she just probably wishes they hadn’t picked and ignored the parts they did.”
On Taking Responsibility:
By now, Tully Smyth points out, anyone putting their hand up to go on a program like Big Brother or My Kitchen Rules would be foolish not to know what they’re getting into. “I never once blamed the editing of the show, or the producers,” she says. “Did they force me to make the decisions I made in that house? No. Did they put words in my mouth? No. Did the producers call me into the diary room and ask me to act a certain way and use certain words? No.
“Did they put me in alien situations where I would act differently to [how] I perhaps would [in] the outside world? Yeah, of course. Did they make conscious decisions to show certain clips of me, where I may have been at my most entertaining (even if that meant I was crying)? Yep.
“But what did I expect? It’s a reality television program designed to entertain. I knew what I was risking, I knew what I was putting myself up for, and I signed along the dotted line anyway.”
On The Reality Of Reality TV:
Smyth goes on to write about the dark side of reality TV as she experienced it: “Just how fucking tough it is after the bubble bursts”.
“One minute you’re being pampered and cared for by everyone, from executive producers of the show who can’t stop telling you how fantastic you are, to chaperones who’s one job in life for the next ten days is to look after your every whim. You get cars to carry you from A-B, publicists air-kissing you, patting you on the back and telling you how fantastic you’re doing. You have the glowing prospect of a career in the field you’ve always dreamed of — shimmering just off in the future like an oasis in the desert.
“Yeah sure, there ar a few negative Tweets coming your way, but it’s no skin off your nose — you’ve got a plane to catch, a fancy dress to slip into, and a celebrity event to attend.
“And then it all stops.”
Smyth didn’t feel comfortable asking for her old job after the show was finished. She was forced to move back into her parents’ house, and struggled relating to her friends. She writes about how hard it is readjusting to normal life with no job, no money, and an entire population of strangers who hate you. “Don’t get me wrong, all the online love from people who call themselves ‘fans’ is heartwarming. You put up a half-decent photo of yourself and you’re inundated with compliments,” she writes.
“Unfortunately the negative comments are the ones that stick with you, worming their way into your brain, making you question and second guess yourself. “Maybe my boobs ARE really saggy?” “I thought I looked good in that dress….” Whilst they were easy to ignore during and immediately following the show, back when you were up to your eyeballs with appearances and post-show commitments — now, back at home, by yourself, at 10pm at night, after a day of doing nothing because remember, you don’t have a job — they make you feel really fucking shitty.”
On The Necessity Of Psychological Care:
She ends the piece praising the Big Brother producers for supplying adequate psychological help to her once she left the show, and calling all other networks to do the same. “I believe it would be hugely beneficial for all future reality television contestants of all shows, on all networks, to have compulsory check-ins with an independent psychologist once a week, 6-12 months after completion of the program. At least.”
“Yes, we put ourselves in the limelight. Yes, we do receive certain benefits, such as invites to some cool parties and free clothes here and there. But do we deserve the online bullying or constant public scrutiny after the cameras have stopped rolling? No.
“We’re human. We’re people. We have feelings and insecurities. We make mistakes — just like you. We just happen to be silly enough to agree to have them filmed for a national audience.”
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