Gogglebox
The couch potatoes return
As Gogglebox kicks off its fifth season on Australian TV, returning Melbourne couple Wayne and Tom tell Danielle
McGrane about their hopes for the next season and what it’s been like to be a part of the show.
Another season of Gogglebox is about to kick off. How does that feel?
Tom: It’s come so quick. We’re very excited to see what’s coming on TV, let’s hope we get some new shows this year.
Wayne: I’m spewing that so far we missed out on Pauline Hanson and Donald Trump. It’s not fair, there’s some good stuff we missed out on.
Tom: But we do have angry men on My Kitchen Rules so we do have someone to pick on.
What are you hoping to see? Politics?
Wayne: Yeah, I think this is the year. If Trump keeps on going the way he’s going there’s going to be a multitude of stuff for us to watch.
President Trump used to be a reality TV star, so there seems to be power in the medium.
Tom: Are you telling me I might be president of the United States? I’d rather be a dictator, dictator sounds better.
Do you think being part of a reality show means you could have some power in some ways?
Tom: I don’t think we’re anybody, we’re just two drunks sitting on a lounge watching TV. I don’t think we have any power.
Wayne: I think a little bit. I think one of the main reasons Tom and I have been doing the show has been around marriage equality and the flood of thanks and support on social media has been completely overwhelming and caught everyone by surprise from season one.
For us, we kind of realised that while we’re on the show and we’re talking about it and people are watching it, it keeps it in the front of the minds of a lot of people.
I got a beautiful tweet from a woman the other day who said, “I’ve never really worried about same- sex marriage, me and my husband have just got on with our own lives. But after watching you guys on TV I think you guys deserve the right to marry”. So even if we’ve changed one person’s opinion, we’ve made a difference.
You have three children. How did they feel about you guys doing the show?
Tom: I think in season one they were a bit nervous that the rest of Australia would get to see what their dad was really like at home, but they’re actually really proud of it now and said that we haven’t embarrassed them. But they said they wanted nothing to do with the show.
Gogglebox
Tonight, 9pm, Ten; Wednesday, 7.30pm, Foxtel’s LifeStyle