Farmhand puts mind to the test
WHAT started out as a joke in a Cairns hotel room, ended with an Innisfail farmhand answering questions about ’90s grunge music on national TV.
Luke McAvoy appeared on season two, episode 18 of Mastermind last week – an SBS quiz show where four contestants go head to head, answering questions on their chosen topics and then general knowledge.
He was off to a flying start, answering his first eight questions while in the famous black chair without mistake and only one pass, on his way to 11 correct answers from 14 grunge music questions.
In the second, general knowledge round, he scored another six points, finishing with a total of 17. Luke says he enjoyed the experience of being in the spotlight on national TV, after making his “unexpected” appearance.
“To be honest, I thought ‘gee the chances of me getting on this are one in 100’,” he said. “But I got a call pretty quickly, within two days of applying.”
The application was filled out in October last year, when the Cassowary Coast Cyclones A Grade cricketer and his fiancee, who also plays cricket for Innisfail Thunder Ladies, were bunkered in their hotel room between the pair’s pre-season matches, flicking through TV shows.
“We were just watching it (Mastermind) and you think you’re a genius because you get three or so questions right,” Luke said.
But what was initially a “joke” application, turned out to be a high-pressure situation before Luke was even asked a single question, while filming in Sydney, early in February.
“In the green room beforehand, they run through the small talk that the host is actually going to have with you. And they actually veto your answers to your small talk.
“So I actually thought I gave some pretty in-depth answers to the small talk and they edited it all out.
“So … you have to remember the answers that are acceptable to your small talk before you even go out there let alone, your actual questions.”
Luke was quizzed third, in the first round and says the tension didn’t ease, until he actually sat in the chair.
“I thought I was nervous but the two people before me – one bloke had an out-of-body experience, and the lady before me had a breakdown and stopped filming for a period. It was pretty cutthroat.”
Luke says he was asked to submit four areas of interest when applying for the show; his four were history of cricket in Australia, battles of WWII, Australiana and ’90s grunge music.