Reality Rally

For Reality Rally 2016, we will be privileged to have Ben Waterworth, an Australian native, traveling all the way from across the world to help raise funds for Michelle’s Place! Picture above (middle), Ben has transformed from another Survivor fan to a full-fledged media staple in the Survivor community. Read his story to find out how a simple Facebook message connected Ben with Reality Rally, and why we can’t wait to see him at next year’s fundraiser!

Ben Waterworth: “The last four years of my life have taken on something that I could never have imagined and it started with this simple Facebook wall post by the amazing Reality Rally founder Gillian Larson.

At the time I was a radio host on Edge Radio in Hobart, Australia where I hosted the station's breakfast show called The Brink. I had always been a huge fan of Survivor and it had always been a goal to one day get to interview somebody who had been on the show. Given the wonder that was Facebook, I had managed to friend a few contestants over the years but had never actually reached out and attempted to get one on my show. Well by chance, Gillian posted on my wall asking if I would ever be keen to interview her about her time on Survivor as well as about Reality Rally. I straight away jumped at the chance and as they say, the rest is history! With a simple wall post my life changed, as that then set into motion a string of other Survivor interviews which I ran as a segment on my show called Survivor's On The Brink and soon it become so big that it expanded into a spin off show called Survivor Oz (www.survivoroz.com on Facebook www.facebook.com/survivoroz and Twitter www.twitter.com/survivoroz) which was the only radio show of its type in Australia. After several months on air it soon became a stand alone podcast and I set out on a goal to interview every single contestant to ever appear on the show, something which is easier said than done! Since its inception I have managed to bring 283 out of 459 contestants to Survivor Oz for interviews with many more still in the pipeline. Those 283 have included several contestants who have not done any form of interview or press since their season aired and included several "big gets" such as Greg Buis from the first season of Borneo and the winner of the fifth season of Thailand Brian Heidik who both hadn't been heard from since their seasons ended. But it hasn't all been about the contestants. The show expanded to interview people within the Survivor community such as the creator of the show to which the idea of Survivor came from Charlie Parsons, multi-Emmy winning creator of the US version of the show Mark Burnett and the man behind the music Russ Landau. It also found itself having a website which produces multiple articles a week which are some of the most talked about within the Survivor fan community, forging a core group of helpers called 'The Ozlets' Noah Groves being one of the Ozlets, who assist me with the running of the show and doing extra episodes such as recaps and live episodes as well as landing several iTunes number ones and becoming the second most downloaded Survivor podcast in the world. It has also been successful in regards to awards, twice winning "best international website" at the Czech and Slovak Reality awards in 2014 and 2015. It has been an amazing journey that really has given me an opportunity that I never could've imagined. I've gone from a simple Survivor fan with a radio show to the host of an internationally popular podcast with a strong fan base. It's a cliché to say it but I have to pinch myself sometimes to realize it's real! I have been honoured to work with Gillian over those four years by helping out from Australia as much as I can with Reality Rally as well as having her appear numerous times on the show for various episodes and have even had some of my Ozlets, Lynda Phoa head to Reality Rally in the past to represent the show with "Team Survivor Oz" as well as having someone on the ground each year to conduct interviews and help support the event. I am absolutely delighted and thrilled to say that finally after years of saying I would go that in 2016 I will be attending my very first Reality Rally with my fiancé Louise. I would use the word 'excited' but that is a massive understatement! I am looking forward to being able to meet Gillian in person and thank her for all the help that she has given over the years to make this journey possible as well as to mingle with the Survivor contestants and help raise funds for Michelle's Place. Bring on April 2016!”

Congrats Ben! We look forward to seeing you.

Taryn