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Cover Story The Challenge Australia presenter Brihony Dawson is breaking down barriers as Australia’s first non-binary TV host. As they tell Siobhan Duck, it’s an honour to pave the way at the helm of an exciting new reality format THEY may not have had to tackle the gruelling obstacle courses or play the household mind games but Brihony Dawson faced their own unique test while hosting The Challenge Australia.
The new Channel 10 series pits some of television’s most famous – and infamous – reality stars against one another in a game requiring mental and physical endurance. Think Ninja Warrior meets Big Brother, with a side serve of Love Island.
But for presenter Dawson the greatest challenge of The Challenge was learning all about the celebrity contestants.
“I don’t watch a lot of reality television, to be honest,” Dawson says wryly. “So, I didn’t come in obsessed with [Bachelor stars] Brittany Hockley and Brooke Blurton and that sort of stuff. It was really great to meet them and experience them without having any idea about who they are or what they were like on those shows.
“It was great to come at them from a fresh perspective and seeing their arc – without giving away who lasted – and their growth over the show was one of the most interesting things (besides all the hot gossip from the house, of course).” And gossip there is aplenty. What else would you expect when you put seven alumni of the Bachelor franchise, two former Married at First Sight stars and two Love Islanders together in a luxurious house in Argentina?...