One out of the box

The Aussies on Gogglebox Australia are now must-see TV themselves, writes Siobhan Duck

THE dawn of streaming services and the popularity of smartphones has meant TV viewing has become an increasingly solitary pursuit for most Australians. Few understand this as acutely as Gogglebox

Australia star Anastasia Katselas. “My family don’t even watch

Gogglebox together,” she says with a laugh. “I am the only one who watches it! We now have a TV in every room except the bathroom. So, my daughter is in her bedroom [watching], my son is in his and my partner is in another bedroom, and I get the lounge. And we are all watching something different.”

Without Faye Kontos – her close friend and viewing partner since the Australian version of the UK series premiered in 2015 – Katselas would be siloed completely. “The only time I am watching shows with someone else is with Faye,” she admits.

Life may have changed significantly for fellow season one stand-outs the Delpechitra family in the 10 years since the show’s debut, but Patrick, Tracey and their three adult children – Wendel, Vestal and Ethan – insist their nightly ritual of watching

Home And Away together remains intact. “I’ve been very lucky in the home that I grew up in that we would always be in the living room altogether, always watching the same thing, which I love,” explains Vestal, who was 16 and at school when Gogglebox

Australia launched. “Literally, our bedrooms are never used for anything except sleeping. We’re always all together in the lounge, so we’re always watching TV or talking. That hasn’t changed.”

While acknowledging that streaming now allows viewers to watch whatever they want, whenever they want, Vestal, now a teacher, says a lot of people yearn for the good old days of communal viewing.

“I was at the shops recently and I got recognised by a woman who was probably in her 60s,” she recalls. “And she said,

‘I live by myself, but when

I watch Gogglebox, I feel like I’m watching with other people.’ It’s a good show for people who might be a little bit lonely. They feel like they’re watching with other people and having a shared experience.”

Older brother Patrick jokes that not every joint session in front of a television is an enjoyable one.

“In the first few seasons, there was unbelievable embarrassment, especially when sex scenes came on and we had to watch it through Gogglebox,” he says, with a laugh of mock horror. “Oh my gosh, I would just turn away and be like, ‘Why am I watching this with my mum and dad?’”

GOGGLEBOX AUSTRALIA 8.30PM, TONIGHT, NETWORK 10; 6.30PM, WEDNESDAY, FOXTEL