Of his brush with homelessness

experiment blind, not watching either of its two previous seasons.

And he was embarrassed to admit he didn’t know much about homelessness – and that, along with a desire to experience different things and be challenged, saw him say yes to the opportunity.

And while the emergency doctor knew it would be hard being disconnected from his family, mixed in with the uncertainty of not knowing where his next meal and shelter would come from, he didn’t realise how emotionally draining it would be to hear the stories.

“I think what was the toughest for me was when somebody who has very little is open and honest and vulnerable with you and you take the time to listen to them, I just felt an overwhelming sadness that these people were in this situation and that was the stuff I didn’t expect,” Rochford says.

He pauses when we ask if he could truly say he enjoyed the experience, before answering “yes’’.

“In the middle of it, you’re going ‘this is horrible and I’m not enjoying this’, but understanding I was feeling like that meant I was experiencing it the way I was meant to be. If it felt too easy, then it felt like I wasn’t doing it justice.”

After 15 years on our screens, it’s a surprise he wasn’t recognised.

“I deliberately tried to minimise the chance of that happening – I had a beanie on and wore my glasses,” Rochford says.

“But what did happen, not so much being recognised as someone understanding I wasn’t necessarily in the same situation.

“I was in Wollongong with a man and we were sitting and chatting and he said ‘one of the others we were with said you couldn’t be homeless because your teeth are too clean’.”

FILTHY RICH AND HOMELESS, TONIGHT, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, 8.30PM, SBS AND ON DEMAND