Interview: Tim Dormer
February 2, 2014
The last season of Big Brother Australia was entertaining for the whole nation, but it wouldn’t have been the same without the entertaining and fun personality of Tim Dormer! Tim was lucky enough to win Big Brother last year, and I had the absolute honour of interviewing him! Below is my chat with Tim about being in the house, his overseas trip with fellow housemate, Ben, and a few incidents with Twitter and bank accounts.. enjoy!
Ellie: When the nation watched you win Big Brother, you walked around the BB house in what looked like excitement and shock! What were you thinking about when you were walking around the house waiting to leave?
Tim: I was just so relieved that all the hard work had payed off! 101 days of visualising that moment couldn’t have prepared me for what it felt like to actually see it become a reality! When Sonia actually announced my name as the winner of Big Brother, some people actually have said that I reacted very unlike me, subdued and almost reaction-less. If you look really closely I actually have a short little sigh – it was relief. I had dreamt of that moment for so long, and here I was living it. It just felt so good….and then came the tears. Haha, I haven’t watched any of the show back, but I’m told I did a lot of ugly crying and mumbling as I walked around the pool, my backyard, my home for over 3 months…saying goodbye. It was a very bittersweet moment and I still get sad thinking that time of my life is over.
E: I saw on your You Tube channel that you’re taking your fellow housemate, Ben Zabel, on his dream holiday to Graceland! Tell us about this!
T: Yes! It was always so funny to me that Ben said if he won the show he would take his Mum on his dream holiday to Graceland, to visit the home of his idol Elvis. I always believed I would be losing the show to Ben, and I was happy with this possible outcome! After his shock eviction I promised to myself I would win the show and then help Ben fulfill his dream to visit Graceland…but not with his Mum, with his new friend – me! As much as we annoy each other, we really do love each other! I would love to take a film crew along too so all our fans could come on holiday with us! We haven’t booked tickets yet, but it will happen before the end of the year.
E: Other than the lovely Ben, do you still keep in contact with any of the other housemates?
T: We bump into each other sometimes at events, or if we pass through each other’s home cities we might call each other up for dinner. I see a bunch of my mates, Drew (when Tully’s not around), Jade and Tahan. I have a suspicion some of the other housemates aren’t too happy with my win, and have finally realised they should’ve jumped on board the ‘Tim Train’ since the beginning, haha! I don’t think Ed and I will be hanging out anytime soon.
E: What have you been up to since leaving the Big Brother house?
T: Life post Big Brother is crazy. Actually my life before Big Brother was crazy too. Ha ha ha! I don’t think doing Big Brother changed who I am, but it certainly has changed how other people react to me. I will never get used to total strangers calling out my name from across the street like I am their best mate – it’s so cool. I always say now I have a lot more friends than before the show! It’s been great to try and just get back to my everyday life, hanging out with family, swimming at the beach, or shopping down the road. My dream is to continue working on TV, and I’ve been lucky with a few really exciting opportunities on the way! People have a certain expectation that reality TV stars only have 15 minutes of fame. I’m not a reality TV star, I was always a star and Big Brother just introduced me to a lot of people. I’m not going anywhere, you’re stuck with me for at least another 15 minutes.
E: If you weren’t on the show and you were watching as a fan last year, which housemate would you have wanted to win?
T: Great question! I would have definitely been rooting for Tahan or Mikkayla. Even though they were each other’s arch enemies, they were both really close friends of mine in the house. I think they are both amazing women who are strong and confident and speak the truth, even if that rubs people up the wrong way! I guess that’s why they fought like cats in the house.
E: You recently put your bank account details on Twitter without knowing you had done it – is your bank account still okay after that? Ha ha!
T: I’ll fill you in on a little secret… that whole bank account incident was no accident. I knew it would cause a stir. Who would ever have the balls to put their account details online…especially when they have $250k in there? I’m definitely not as dumb as some people would think…I know how to get people talking. I live for the thrill and don’t take life too seriously. Before I went on Big Brother I had $26 to my name, and I was happy. Me putting my account details online was a way of saying ‘I can’t believe this!’ to all my fans who voted for me to win, I was taking them along with me on the honest and entertaining journey the same way as I did in the house, just like I always will continue to do so. My account was fine, I moved the money before anyone tried to get their grubby hands on it.
A massive thank you to Tim for answering all my questions! It was very entertaining going through and putting this all together!
