Mel Tracina
Television presenter
35
APPEARANCES
12
PODCASTS
Oct 27, 2026
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I'm excited that Big Brother is back and we do have a few different surprises for everyone this year.
Matty McLeanHOST
So to paint the picture for people who have been living under a rock and have no idea what it is, Mel, essentially there are a bunch of housemates living in a house together and you just watch the drama unfold, right?
Mel TracinaGUEST
And so this season we have 14 housemates living under Big Brother's watchful eye and they're stripped of all of their luxuries, right? They just have a suitcase with everything that's been pre-approved so they can't sneak anything in that Big Brother won't allow.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And they are cut off from the outside world, their friends, their family, their phones.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And, of course, Big Brother within that throws in some more twists and turns just to keep things really interesting.
Matty McLeanHOST
And it's so very easy for us to judge on the outside world going, why would they do that? You go a little loopy, right?
PJ HardingHOST
So to paint the picture for people who have been living under a rock and have no idea what it is, Mel, essentially there are a bunch of housemates living in a house together and you just watch the drama unfold, right?
Mel TracinaGUEST
And so this season we have 14 housemates living under Big Brother's watchful eye and they're stripped of all of their luxuries, right? They just have a suitcase.
Mel TracinaGUEST
with everything that's been pre-approved so they can't sneak anything in that Big Brother won't allow.
PJ HardingHOST
And it's so very easy for us to judge on the outside world going, why would they do that? You go a little loopy, right? Yeah.
Joel CreaseyHOST
So what was, do you have a favourite moment, favourite scene that happened in season one? A favourite argument?
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I think what I took away from season one is that I really, I already know how much fans love Big Brother.
Mel TracinaGUEST
I know this, right? But just to see how loyal and fierce they are is incredible.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I noticed it with myself with obviously the roof saga from season one where I was like constantly being rained on and people being like, get this girl a roof.
Joel CreaseyHOST
sure you want to be as informed as possible you're you're heading it up what time do you arrive then what time do you get to what's the process yeah talk me through like what happens as you get there
Kate RitchieHOST
Like, have you already spied a few people that we should be keeping our eyes on?
Mel TracinaGUEST
But also last season, I never would have picked who did end up dating one another.
FitzyHOST
watched Love Island, for the
Mel TracinaGUEST
But then there's moments where you check yourself and you're like, am I actually watching people sleep right now? And I think that that's a real shared moment that we all have at some point, which I love.
Mel TracinaGUEST
It got to a point where, I mean, people on social media, especially on TikTok, they were doing recaps of the live streams.
Joel CreaseyHOST
Yeah, so what was, do you have a favourite moment, favourite scene that happened in season one? A favourite argument?
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I think what I took away from season one is that I really, I already know how much fans love Big Brother.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I noticed it with myself with obviously the roof saga from season one where I was like constantly being rained on and people being like, get this girl a roof.
Mel TracinaGUEST
Well, there's a lot of drama, but you never know what the housemates are going to give, right? Because even last season when I think back to the housemates and I had tipped who I thought, oh, if there's going to be any hookups, I reckon it's these two.
Mel TracinaGUEST
So this season you just don't know who is going to be combative and have... like maybe say some outrageous stuff.
LuttsyHOST
You
Mel TracinaGUEST
Well, there's a lot of drama, but you never know what the housemates are going to give, right? Because even last season when I think back to the housemates and I had tipped who I thought, oh, if there's going to be any hookups, I reckon it's these two.
Mel TracinaGUEST
So this season you just don't know who is going to be combative and have... like maybe say some outrageous stuff.
LuttsyHOST
You know what I'm saying?
RodHOST
When you look through who you're going to be welcoming into the house tonight, is there the chance there's going to be someone, because there's always someone who annoys us, but is there a chance there's going to be someone who we really fall in love with who's a really authentic personality?
Mel TracinaGUEST
I reckon a few tonight that you will see that you'll fall in love with straight away.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I think there might even be some that you think are questionable, but that's what's so great about the show because first impressions don't always last.
Mel TracinaGUEST
You know, like last year, I'm sure there was like, I, I, for example, would not have picked that Coco was going to win.
Mel TracinaGUEST
But she just really became herself in that house and, and we all fell in love with her.
RodHOST
It can be a journey of self-discovery, Mel.
Mel TracinaGUEST
Oh, wait, I've got a story I want to tell you, but side to that because you were not a bitch.
Mel TracinaGUEST
But I do remember I was once at the desk eating like a schnitzel sandwich and it was like 10 in the morning.
Mel TracinaGUEST
Some big theatre news, because we already know that the movie The Castle is coming to the stage.
Mel TracinaGUEST
Ooh! There we go, so we've got young actor Ed Oxenbold, who will make his stage debut as Dale Kerrigan, and Justin Smith and Christy Whelan-Brown will be playing the blood parents, Daryl and Sal Kerrigan.
Mel TracinaGUEST
It's Mel Tracina, cultural correspondent of The Cheap Seats, out the front of Her Majesty's Theatre, where The Castle, the stage play, will be performed March 2027.
speaker_19UNKNOWN
[laughs]
Mel TracinaGUEST
Um, host Claudia Winkleman ultimately decides who should be a traitor or a faithful.
Mel TracinaGUEST
But the celebs went in with their own ideas, like the You're Beautiful singer James Blunt.
Mel TracinaGUEST
Out of all the contestants, only three are chosen as traitors, and their job is to remain undetected as they kill off the other players, known as faithfuls.
Mel TracinaGUEST
[upbeat music] [food splats] [audience laughs] What's wrong, Carly? Are you all right? I guess you'd call that a shape seat.
speaker_7SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
So, yeah.
Mel TracinaGUEST
What do you mean, some people enjoy it? I've never met anyone who doesn't love a chicken parma.
Mel TracinaGUEST
The show opened with a return performance from none other than Madonna, who last performed at the ceremony 23 years ago.
Mel TracinaGUEST
Well, if you've ever wanted to watch a show that's MasterChef meets SAS Australia, then do I have a show for you.
Mel TracinaGUEST
The debut season of Deadliest Dinners Australia is releasing weekly episodes on Binge and is hosted by extreme outdoor adventurer and award-winning chef Mario Calpo.
6 MINS LATER
speaker_11SOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
the rooms? What does that mean?
Mel TracinaGUEST
But, yeah, it was actually the most nerve-wracking thing because I feel like singing is where I am my most nervous.
Mel TracinaGUEST
So with another season starting, I've been prepping by watching the current season of Big Brother USA.
Mel TracinaGUEST
pageants? Yeah, I feel like my mum, I think, put me in for, you know, when I was a baby.
Mel TracinaGUEST
OK, well, you guys know that I take my role as cultural correspondent very seriously and I don't just cover TV.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I've realized because I obviously, when Dolly passed, I was like, oh, that's a big loss.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And I know her more for Miley Cyrus and the fact that it's her godmother, right? But then once Dolly passed and I started seeing all these tributes flow, my feed on my socials was just delivering all these videos of Dolly Parton.
Dolly PartonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
So everywhere I go, I drag a net.
LuttsyHOST
It's so
Mel TracinaGUEST
I loved it last year because the house was built in the exhibition building at Dreamworld.
LuttsyHOST
You know what I mean?
Mel TracinaGUEST
I would jump onto TikTok, and there would be TikTokers telling me about the Big Brother house, things that I didn't even know, 'cause they were watching 24/7.
LuttsyHOST
Yeah.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And my change room was literally in the same, under the same roof as the Big Brother roof.
Mel TracinaGUEST
So even though it's been 31 days living completely alone in the Arctic Circle of Northern Finland, there's always something exciting happening.
Mel TracinaGUEST
And it has te- short, 10-minute episodes of Architectural Digest, and it's called Open Door.
Tim McDonaldHOST
What, you think you're the only one who can bring a microphone to this fucking thing? No way, Jose.
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