Big Brother Australia 2021 is finally coming to an end, with the winner to be decided by public vote in tomorrow’s live finale.
Among those gunning for the $250,000 grand prize is jewellery designer Sarah Jane Adams, who will be facing off against basketballer Marley Biyendolo and flight attendant Christina Podolyan.
WATCH: Behind the scenes with Big Brother’s Sarah Jane
For someone who has grown accustomed to a quiet life, listening to naught but the sounds of birds and rain, making the leap into a chaotic labyrinth filled with excitable housemates was quite the transition for Sarah Jane.
“At the very early stages, when there were a lot of people in the house, the noise levels, I found completely overwhelming,” the jewellery designer tells New Idea.
And yet, the 66-year-old managed to grin and bear it, making it to the pointy end of the competition.
Throughout her experience, SJ’s age has seemingly played a big role in her ambition to be in the house and represent older women. However, the influencer explains that she wished to represent so much more throughout her reality TV stint.
“It’s the people who don’t necessarily have a voice – those are the people I’ve been fighting for and I’m very proud to be there for those people,” SJ tells us.
“I’ve had so many young people who’ve contacted me who feel they don’t have a voice and, unfortunately, I think social media is actually adding to that problem; it’s just a cesspit of horribleness a lot of the time. However, it does give people a voice and hopefully people can learn to use that voice in a positive way.”
While SJ’s goal has been to give a voice to the voiceless, her portrayal on screen with regards to her age has, in many ways, proven one dimensional. The 66-year-old confesses that, although it would have been nice for other things to be shown, she’s not one to complain.
Though, she can’t say the same for the other housemates.
“I’m not going to diss the production because I think they have a very limited amount of time to show a lot of things about a lot of people,” SJ says.
“For me, my game was a psychological game, it was a social game. Of course, it would have been nice to have been able to show more of people’s social games rather than just the challenges.
“But no, I’m never going to criticise Big Brother’s production. Nor am I, unlike a lot of the other housemates, going to criticise the housemates, nor their game, nor say that things were rigged. I think that’s very poor taste. My motto is ‘never complain and never explain’ and I just think that’s not necessary.”
WATCH: Sarah Jane Adams talks about her fashion style on the Today Show (Story continues after video)
The jewellery designer further explains that she thinks it’s simply the “gracious way to play the game”.
“I have wanted to play that game with grace,” she says. “Having said that, when I was doing challenges, Big Brother would say ‘Here’s SJ, 65 years of age’, and I would actually turn around and say to him, ‘Big Brother, can you stop banging on about that? That’s not why I’m here’.
“But they haven’t shown that, and I understand that, because they do want to portray me in a particular light, and I get it, it’s wonderful. I’m very grateful they’ve given me this opportunity.”
At the end of it all, SJ isn’t too confident about taking out the competition, but she’s hoping a silent majority comes through in the voting.
“I know I’m a rank outsider if you look at Sportsbet and Tab, but I do hope that some of those people who don’t feel like they have a voice will use their voice in the voting.”
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