Comedian Steph Tisdell has shared her thoughts on Dan and Ant Middleton being booted from The Amazing Race Australia.
Earlier in the season, the brothers were disqualified because of an altercation Dan had with Luke and Scott O’Halloran.
Speaking exclusively with New Idea after she was eliminated alongside her brother, Ben, Steph said she grew close to the social media stars on the show.
When asked about her thoughts on the situation, she praised production for how they handled the situation.
“What I will say is that I think that Luke and Scott are so beautifully kind-hearted and generous people, like beautiful people,” she began.
“I think they handled all handled it all so gracefully and so beautifully, and it’s just a testament to who they are.”
The comedian said she did not interact with Dan and Ant much, because they “were gone quite quickly”.
“It was very fair and I think production did exactly the right thing,” she explained. “And the way they handled that was absolutely superb.
“And everybody got conversations, and all of the stuff off-camera, where they really checked in with us to make sure that everything was okay.”
Before the season aired, executive producer Sophia Mogford told Mediaweek that the “breach of the code’s production… was dealt with promptly”.
“The Amazing Race is about what’s happening on camera. It’s about the cultural experiences that people are having and the race that they’re running. And it’s a very experienced team who look after it. And so any breach of conduct is taken very seriously,” she explained.
What have Luke and Scott said about the incident on The Amazing Race Australia?
After their disqualification was confirmed by Beau during the second episode, the brothers shed more light on the incident.
Speaking with Confidential, they explained that it happened when they chose to stay at the hotel, and other contestants decided to go and explore.
“When the rest of the contestants returned later, Dan Middleton approached us six times, making remarks and gestures that we found homophobic, offensive, intimidatory, and disturbing,” they said.
“Each time he (Dan) came over to us, the encounters felt increasingly more aggressive. At one point, he was right up in our faces, surrounded by some of the other cast members, who seemed to us to be as uncomfortable as we were.
“At this point, Brendan Fevola physically stepped in, putting himself between us and Dan and trying to de-escalate the situation. Brendan did this more than once.”
Ant was not involved.
Have Ant and Dan Middleton said anything about being disqualified from The Amazing Race Australia?
After the episode aired, the former SAS Australia instructor explained how he found out about it.
“It’s such a bizarre situation, as I haven’t been privy to any information, as I wasn’t present when a situation unfolded with my brother, and due to confidentiality, the only thing the production could tell me is that our team couldn’t continue due to a situation that unfolded with my brother,” he told Yahoo! Lifestyle.
“I respect the production’s choice to keep the edit minimal with our participation to protect their brand. Strange situation, but one that’s completely out of my control and had nothing to do with [me]!”
On September 10, Beau Ryan told Triple M Breakfast that he was “anxious” to record the voiceover for the episode, and for it to go to air.
“I voiced it, obviously, earlier in the year. A lot of it’s blown up online and social media, but the health and safety of everyone involved is our priority,” he explained.
