After competing on Big Brother not once, but twice, Tully Smyth has revealed there’s still one major item left on her reality TV bucket list.
The fan-favourite housemate exclusively told Chattr she’d love nothing more than to return to the franchise as a presenter, admitting she’s still “devastated” she wasn’t tapped to join the hosting team when the show returned to Network Ten.
“I saw the teaser trailer for [the new season of Big Brother] with Mel Tracina, and it looks phenomenal,” Tully said before The Traitors Australia finale.
“Still devastated that that isn’t my job. I don’t know how I managed to miss hosting Big Brother. Like, that was surely made for me.”
While she’s full of praise for host Mel Tracina, Tully confessed she’s already trying to find a way to sneak onto the show in some capacity.
“I don’t know where my call up was, but Mel was amazing. I’m trying to worm my way in there,” she laughed.
“I’m trying to see if I could do something like, you know how Sonia Kruger interviews the family and friends backstage on The Voice? Surely there’s a role for me.
“Surely we can make room for me to do something this season. Bring back Friday Night Games. That was the best. I would happily host Friday Night Games.“
Tully reveals why she prefers Ten’s revamp of Big Brother
Tully couldn’t hide her excitement about Network Ten bringing Big Brother back to its original format after taking over the franchise from Seven.
While she enjoyed competing in both versions of the game, she admitted the reboot feels much closer to the Big Brother she originally fell in love with.
“I love it because it’s more true to the original format,” she explained.
“It was really fun getting to play both, but I love the new format — the new old format.
“It feels more like the original. The feeds as well… I loved that they brought back live evictions.”
However, she thinks there’s still room for one small improvement and, conveniently, she’s already volunteering for the job.
“I wish that we had more time with the evictees,” she said.
“Again, I’m free to do these chats. I wish we had more time with the evictees on stage to reflect on their time. That was always my favourite part, watching it as a fan.
“But I love that the live feeds were back. I think they did a really, really good job.”
Working with Gretel Killeen was a ‘bucket list’ moment
As if returning to reality TV wasn’t exciting enough, Tully also got to share the screen with legendary Big Brother host Gretel Killeen during The Traitors Australia — and she admitted she was completely starstruck.
“I actually was asked before we started filming who I’d want to play with, and I said Gretel Killeen,” she told Chattr.
“I’d just watched her on The Amazing Race and thought, ‘She is an icon’. It was so nice seeing her back on TV.”
Tully admitted she spent every challenge trying to chat to Gretel whenever she could.
“I’d be like, ‘Hi Gretel! Hi Gretel!'” she said.
“I don’t think anyone else understood the gravitas of Gretel Killeen. I’m like, ‘You guys don’t understand. She is an icon. She’s a legend’.”
She also praised Gretel’s professionalism, saying she was deeply invested in every aspect of the competition.
“She really takes her job seriously. She loved leaning into the character they created. She was very funny, very dry, but she was also invested.”
One moment Tully will never forget came after she opened up about wanting to use prize money to help her family. “I actually got a tear out of Gretel,” she revealed.
Looking back, Tully says sharing a show with the iconic presenter is something she’ll treasure forever.
“It’s such a bucket list moment that I can finally say I’ve done a show with Gretel Killeen,” she added.
“She’s just phenomenal.”
Stream Big Brother Australia on 10Play.
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