Australian Story (1996)

Season 19: Episode 18

This week's program provides an intriguing glimpse behind the scenes of the reality TV phenomenon that's captured the TV landscape in Australia. Jules Allen left her large family to appear as a 'willing hostage' on the popular MasterChef reality TV show. She admits she lusted after 'fifteen minutes of fame' but she was unprepared for the 'excruciating' highs and lows she encountered on the program and in its aftermath. A single mother, she's fostered twenty-nine children but she says managing a house full of hormonal teenagers pales alongside the psychological demands of MasterChef. It's become clear to Jules Allen that her experience is not unique. Psychologists and industry observers say the same techniques are used in most of the popular reality shows, from Big Brother to My Kitchen Rules. Jules Allen reveals it's left her 'humbler' with a clear sense of what actually matters in life...