G'day.
One of your favourite stories from last year
One of your favourite stories featured the intrepid Gina Chick.
Gina spent 67 days in the Tasmanian wilderness
hunting and gathering all her own food
to become the first winner of the TV show Alone Australia.
to become the first winner Well, after that story aired,
Gina and I sat down in front of a live audience
to talk more about her backstory,
from her childhood, where she felt to talk more about her backstory,
from her childhood, where she felt like she never quite fit in,
from her childhood, where she felt to her friendship with Hugh Jackman,
to the huge popularity she found
after revealing her vulnerability on national TV.
GINA CHICK: Tonight is the barefoot Logies moment on the red carpet.
GINA CHICK: Tonight is the barefoot And it's weird but fabulous.
I've always had this sense of, "I'm too big. Too big."
I felt like I've got three people's personalities I've always had this sense of, "I'm too big. Too big."
I felt like I've got three people's personalities
that got squeezed into one body, three people's personalities
that got squeezed into one body,
and I've been having to figure out how to be with that my whole life.
(GASPS) Wow.
This is wild. How does this even happen?
Now I feel like there is absolute space
Now I feel like for me to be as big as I am
and not feel like there's a culture saying, "You must be small."
Or, if there is...
(LAUGHS) I'm not interested!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Welcome to our very first (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Welcome to our very first Australian Story Live.
We are so thrilled that you could all come out tonight.
We are so thrilled that Would you please welcome Gina Chick?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(LAUGHS)
Thanks for having me.
What's this journey been like, where you've gone from Gina in the bush
What's this journey been like, where to Gina on the red carpet
and, kind of, this environment that's about as manufactured
and far away from nature as you could get?
Yeah, it's wild. But, you know, it's...
I think there's a bit of a Cinderella in me as well.
I think there's a bit of You know, there's...
I love dressing up, as you saw with the possum coat.
Part of it was practical
and part of it is 'cause I think I do have a bit of an inner diva,
and part of it is 'cause I think even if it's a bush diva.
Sleeping naked in the possum fur is ridiculously fabulous!
How glamorous is that? (LAUGHS)
Like, there's something about me.
It's probably from the '90s, actually,
from being a bit of a diva on Oxford Street.
So, I found that the whole Alone journey
is actually letting me express
all of these different parts of myself,
and there's a context where it's like, "OK. Red carpet.
"Do the whole thing but do it barefoot."
You know? And I've managed to get away with not wearing shoes
for anything so far, and now it's a brand.
for anything so far, (LAUGHS)
But more seriously, I feel like a wild person.
I feel like a wild creature in a human body.
And for me, it's really important to spend time in the wilderness,
spend time connecting with nature.
But it's also I'm in a body
in this time, in this life, in a modern world,
and so I'm interested in survival skills in all the jungles.
So it's about being able to stitch the worlds together.
You probably want to see what I'm doing, don't you?
You probably want to see Like, you want to see THAT.
MAN: I think the world is probably finally ready for Gina.
She's the icon of being at home in the wild.
She's the icon of My family think I'm bonkers,
but they're not at all surprised that I'm doing something like this.
Alone Australia, it's the most legit survival challenge out there. but they're not at all surprised that I'm doing something like this.
Alone Australia, it's the most legit survival challenge out there.
Alone Australia, it's the most legit It's the one where
the ten people go out into the bush with ten items each
and the last person to come back wins it.
and the last person to come back Oh, this moss feels amazing!
WOMAN: Everyone was like,
"As if that hippie lady who dances on the moss WOMAN: Everyone was like,
"As if that hippie lady who dances on the moss
"and just goes around singing and talking to the animals
"and just goes around singing "is gonna win."
I got a fish! I'm eating fish for breakfast. Oh, my goodness!
MAN: Gina is probably the last person to do a reality TV show...
MAN: Gina is probably the last Thank you, Mr Wallaby.
..but it quickly became clear
that she wasn't just surviving to win the show. ..but it quickly became clear
that she wasn't just surviving to win the show.
She was there. That was her life.
She could have stayed years.
So, how have Australians responded to you
when they see you in real life after having watched Alone?
when they see you in real life It's the most gratifying thing.
I was expecting to get trolled.
Like, that bully kid in me was like,
"Really? Really? Like, that bully kid in me was like,
"Really? Really? Are we gonna do this?"
And then I found the most staggering thing,
which has been that there has been zero trolling.
which has been that Like, none. Like, who gets that?
And so as a result, Like, none. Like, who gets that?
And so as a result, when I walk down the street,
people come up and they are, like, so happy and so grateful
people come up and they are, like, and they want to connect and...
Like, I want to connect. Like, I'm making a stand for connection.
So if someone comes up and they're like,
"Oh, my goodness! My kids love watching you!"
or, you know, "My 90-year-old mother thinks you're great,"
or, "We've just built a fire in the backyard,"
or, "We've just built a fire or, "We're going camping."
Many of the people or, "We're going camping."
Many of the people who come to stop me are women,
Many of the people and especially postmenopausal women.
(CHEERING) Yeah!
(CHEERING) And the story is,
"Thank you for showing that we don't have to be invisible.
"Thank you for showing that we have wisdom in these bodies.
"Thank you for showing that we earn these bloody silver feathers."
"Thank you for showing that we earn And so, yeah, like, the...
So, I have been so humbled and gratified
by the response that I've received from wherever I go in Australia.
I'm just like, "Aw!" I'm just really touched.
I was an odd child. I was a definitely a strangeling.
And humans never made sense to me when I was a kid,
but nature always did.
I'm the eldest of three girls.
There was three of us in three years.
We were lucky enough to grow up in Jervis Bay.
It's a wild place that's teeming with life.
WOMAN: Our house became a menagerie.
Her bedroom at one stage had a massive...
..almost, like, a ten-foot-high bird's nest -
..almost, like, a bunch of, like, sticks -
and some kind of animal that's been rescued
in her bedroom, like, shitting all over the floor.
Um... And it was hilarious. It was brilliant.
She often went to school with some little creature in her pocket
that there was something sad and wrong about,
and she'd have an eyedropper and she'd feed it during the day.
I got known as the Crazy Bird Girl.
I was, you know, chewing up seed
and spitting it into birds' mouths at school.
"Ew! Gina's kissing birds! She's vomiting in their mouths!"
"Ew! Gina's kissing birds! For me, that was just normal.
It felt like you always had a strong sense of yourself,
It felt like you always had even from childhood,
but did you, or is it even from childhood,
but did you, or is it something you've learned?
I can remember being in, I think, fourth grade,
and, uh...the PE teacher got us to walk around in a circle.
You know... You know, it's a hot day, Aussie school,
neh-neh-neh, walk round in a circle.
And I took a step outside the circle
And I took a step and I walked the other way.
(LAUGHTER) At school. On purpose.
Now, I didn't have any friends. Do you know why?
(LAUGHTER)
Um, yeah, I always had a really, really strong sense of myself
and also had a really strong, um... like, this drive not to change.
Like, I just couldn't do the thing where I would contort to be liked.
Which is then why I didn't have any friends.
But that then has ended up making sense,
you know, in my 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s.
But, you know, at school, it was a pretty rough ride.
You said in the program that as a child you didn't understand humans.
Do you feel like you do now?
Yeah. Yeah.
It took me a long time to learn how to be a human,
but I figure I've kind of... I've figured it out.
Back then, there were no diagnoses.
You know, we didn't get hauled along
to find out what letters would be after our name.
And, you know, if I had, it'd be an alphabet.
And I've had to learn how to be a human in a body
where the world didn't make sense.
But I've...like, I've spent so long kind of going,
"Well, what IS that? What's actually going on?"
And...I guess healing the parts of me
that didn't know how to be vulnerable with people
or didn't know how to be... you know, have a conversation.
And...and these days, I... I love the fact that I'm a human,
which, you know, I definitely wouldn't have said when I was a kid.
One of the moments in Alone that I think most resonated with viewers
was when you got to that point where you said,
"Actually, I really...I've tried to tell myself I don't need people,
"Actually, I really...I've tried "but I actually really do,
"and, my God, I'd really like a hug right about now."
What does it actually feel like
to be without any human contact for so long?
to be without any human contact Like, what does it feel like?
Yeah, for me, like, I'm an introvert,
and I use extroversion as a survival mechanism.
I'm a bit like a puffer fish.
You know, a puffer fish, when it gets threatened, it goes poof?
You know, a puffer fish, when Basically, you cannot get near me.
And so I learned very young
to use my energetic size and my personality to keep people away.
Um, but, you know, for me,
the definition of an introversion is someone who is fuelled by solitude,
and the definition of an extrovert is someone
who is fuelled and nourished by connection with people.
So for me, being alone for 67 days, like, I was...I was not lonely.
There were a couple of times when I had,
you know, moments of missing people, but...
..the world that I live in is so connected
to every single living thing.
Like that platypus, Lady Larila, she was my friend.
I would chat with her every day, and she would chat back in platypus.
And when I'd go to harvest a... you know, like, a little sapling,
I'd say, "Hey, you know, do you want to be part of my shelter
"and, you know, do something that none of your mates are doing?"
And... (LAUGHTER)
So, the solitude part, for my personality, was amazing.
So, this was my preparation board.
And I've written all over it, "Get fat."
And I've written all over it, "Get fatter." "Fat is fabulous."
KRISTIN: The two things, really, that take you out of Alone
would be weight loss
and malnutrition - would be weight loss
and malnutrition -
or, you know, the psychological part about being alone.
Well, I knew she had the psychological part
absolutely sorted.
Yeah, I started out at 76 kilos and I ended up at 94.
This has got everything! It's hilarious!
I tell you what did actually hit the cutting room floor
I tell you what did actually hit but it was a really lovely anecdote
was your sister talking about
how you never want to see a sausage roll again,
'cause you had to eat so many sausage rolls in the lead-up to Alone.
'cause you had to eat so many sausage Oh! Yes.
Gina usually eats Oh! Yes.
Gina usually eats extremely healthily,
like, beautiful, fresh, you know, produce,
like, beautiful, fresh, and then going to...
..going and seeing her shove, like, 20 sausage rolls,
gagging, you know, down her throat every day to try and put on weight.
And she's shoving, like, sausage rolls down her throat
with little tears coming out the corners of her eyes
with little tears going, "I can't eat any more!"
Actually, no, it's the licorice bullets.
(LAUGHTER)
I ate 460 grams of licorice bullets
in a day.
The first shart started about three hours later.
The last shart was about three DAYS later.
No more licorice bullets. (LAUGHS)
No more licorice bullets. The day has come.
I am heading out to actually look for food.
KARINA: She doesn't even think about food for three weeks,
and then she's just like, "OK, time to catch a fish."
and then she's just like, Holy shit! Got a fish!
Here we go.
Ha! Gotcha!
It's a boy fish.
And he's got spermy bits.
Mmm!
That is life force.
Your friend said he thought you could have stayed out there forever.
Your friend said he thought you could Yeah.
Stevie, bless. Um...
I mean, I could have stayed out there forever.
There was a point where, um, I lost contact with base camp
There was a point where, um, from...for a satellite issue,
and for a moment, I was like, "Has there been a war?"
Like, "Am I out here forever?"
"Are they... Like, "Am I out here forever?"
"Are they... Can they come and get...
"Does anyone know that I'm here?" (LAUGHTER)
And it was real. Like, for quite a few hours.
I didn't know if I was going to be out there.
And then it got real really fast.
I was like, "Oh, my goodness. I could be out here on my own.
"The crazy lady with the wild hair, like, talking to the platypus,
"The crazy lady with the wild hair, "and, like, chewing on raw eels."
And, uh, that was not a good thought.
I could do it, but the idea of not having a village at that point
would be...ooh, that would be heartbreaking.
So, one of the things that keeps you going is, on some level,
the knowledge that it's not forever, that it will end at some point?
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Um...because we're designed to live in villages.
Um...because we're designed That's how we're designed.
The human animal is designed to live in packs.
The human animal is designed We're designed to live in groups.
And in the...in our DNA, the 350,000 We're designed to live in groups.
And in the...in our DNA, the 350,000 years that we've been Homo sapiens,
for 340,000 of those years - ish - we were hunter-gatherers,
living in small bands, moving through the landscape
living in small bands, to get our needs met from the land.
Like, that is the predominant information in our DNA.
And so I think we all resonate with that.
And so I think we all The last...
..probably week to 10 days has been hard.
I love being here, but I want to hear someone else's stories. ..probably week to 10 days has been hard.
I love being here, but I want to hear someone else's stories.
I love being here, but I want I want to hear someone else's life.
It's more that this place is giving me a...
(GASPS) No fucking way!
What the fuck?! LEE: Yeah.
Holy f... Oh, my...God!
You did it.
Ho...
You're fuck... You're here... Can I give you a hug?
Yes. Yay!
No way! Well fucking done.
WOMAN: You've won, Gina. You've won.
Well fucking done. Oh, my God!
You did it. Oh, my God!
You're such a fucking legend. Oh, my God!
I didn't expect that I would win.
I just knew that I was only gonna come out if they pulled me out.
And I didn't suffer out there. I didn't suffer.
So, this is the nest.
It's beautiful. This is my nest.
Survival is about being at home in wild nature.
Thanks for coming. Yeah.
It had to be you. Yeah.
I want to ask you about Lee, 'cause I think
people also really were so touched by that moment at the end of Alone
when you turned around and Lee was there.
To have that relationship that you have now,
how hard was it to consciously go, "We can decide how this operates.
"We don't have to be defined by other people's expectations
"We don't have to be defined "of how exes are meant to be"?
There was a transition period that was very uncomfortable, "of how exes are meant to be"?
There was a transition period that was very uncomfortable,
but what I found is that when I love, I love.
I can't just turn it off.
Like, if I love someone, I only want them to flower and blossom.
And to me, it's like, I can't say what someone's journey is
And to me, it's like, I can't say or what their soul's purpose is.
That's... That's actually or what their soul's purpose is.
That's... That's actually nothing to do with me.
So, when we made our...our separation,
we pretty quickly found a shape together
where we could still facilitate together,
where we could still where we could still be friends,
where we could still totally piss each other off
where we could still and have SCREAMING arguments.
Lee has the ability to press my buttons like no-one.
Lee has the ability to press He turns me into a banshee.
And, um...and I'm grateful to that,
because, like, you know, that's... it's not a normal state.
because, like, you know, that's... So, I get to explore my rage.
I get to explore the part of me that completely loses my shit.
And it's been a bit of a journey, but it's a good one.
GIRL: Hey, Dad, I can...I can... I can throw...
You and Lee separated so he could make the choice to be a father,
but because of your age and so forth,
you didn't have the choice to be a mother.
To an outsider, that looks like
an almost superhuman level of selflessness
an almost superhuman level to allow him to make that choice
when you weren't going to have that choice yourself.
I tend to try to live my life
in relationship I tend to try to live my life
in relationship with capital R reality,
not the reality I think should be or that I want or I think is fair,
not the reality I think should be because life isn't like that.
And this is just what was actually there.
So, he had a whole bunch of desire to be a dad.
I was done with being a mum. That's... Like, there it is.
Like, you can't argue. Well, I couldn't argue with that.
What's it been like post Alone
to have so many more people What's it been like post Alone
to have so many more people know who Blaise is
to have so many more people and to be invested in her story?
Beautiful.
I think anyone who's lost not just a child
but anyone close to them,
one of the things that happens is people don't know what to say,
and so they say, "I'm sorry for your loss."
How many times do you hear that? "I'm sorry for your loss."
Which just means, "I've got no idea and I've got to say something."
And, like, we live in a culture
that, for me, doesn't have healthy rituals of grief.
that, for me, doesn't have It doesn't have...
You know, when you look at First Nations cultures,
like, there's beautiful ceremonies and rituals.
There's ways of holding us in our grief.
It just means that for anyone walking around after a loss,
It just means that for anyone we're not supported by our culture.
And then what happens is that we don't get to hear their name.
I mean, does anyone relate to that?
Like, you've...you've lost someone and then, where do you get...
..when do you get to hear their name?
And so for me, you know, I lost my daughter ten years ago,
and all of a sudden, she's alive again
in all of these people who are coming up
to tell their stories of loss or grief
or telling me that they loved a photo
or that they... you know, they resonated
with me keening next to a fire and, you know, wailing,
with me keening next to a fire and feeling a resonance for that.
And that, for me, is now we're telling the truth.
And that - that is what I live for, the "telling the truth" part.
I'd rather we all just told the truth
because now we're actually having a conversation.
So, I'm really grateful that she gets to be a part of it.
(GENTLE PIANO MELODY PLAYS)
I've howled and I've wailed
and I've screamed at the sky to give her back,
and I've done whatever it is that grief has demanded of me,
which has meant that I have let her go.
I've let her go. I've let her go over and over and over.
I'm so much more as a human because of her and because of losing her.
I'm not afraid of a single feeling
that might turn up I'm not afraid of a single feeling
that might turn up in me or anyone else.
That's all her gift moving through me in the world.
Let me ask you about one more thing
before I go to the audience to take some questions.
When the Alone finale was about to air,
up on social media, out of the blue, pops a video of Hugh Jackman
going, "Oh, I just want to wish my very, very good friend Gina Chick
"all the best, and I'm rooting for her to win the finale of Alone."
"all the best, and I'm rooting It's like, "What?!
"This extraordinary woman who's got the whole nation transfixed
"also is best friends with Hugh Jackman?!
"How on earth is this possible?" (LAUGHS)
She is incredible, the most creative, the most hardcore "How on earth is this possible?" (LAUGHS)
She is incredible, the most creative, the most hardcore
and the most connected to nature, beautiful person that I know,
and I am so proud of her. beautiful person that I know,
and I am so proud of her.
To my soul sister Gina Chick, and I am so proud of her. you rock.
To my soul sister Gina Chick, you rock.
Oh, my Hubie! Um... (LAUGHTER)
Aw! So, Hugh and I met on day one
around the corner here at the Uni of Technology, doing communications,
and we sort of collided in the very unglamorous cafeteria
with the fluorescent orange chairs and the RSL spew carpet
with the fluorescent orange chairs and the $2 fried rice,
and...and we started talking,
and then we didn't stop pretty much for the whole day.
We missed the whole first day of classes.
And...I don't know, there's people in your...
There's people, I think, in all of our lives
who there's just an instant recognition,
who there's just and that was what it was.
You know, 35 years, and that was what it was.
You know, 35 years, we've been friends.
So, yeah, he's just...he's my buddy. (LAUGHS)
My name is Penny, and I watched your show,
and I have to admit... I watched it with my children,
and the first episode, I thought...we all said,
"Oh, my God, you're nuts."
And by the end of the ten weeks, we all just fell in love with you
and your story and everything about you and your genuineness.
and your story and everything So, I guess my question to you is,
what is your advice for people So, I guess my question to you is,
what is your advice for people who are a little bit different
to make connections quicker when they're not necessarily the normal?
Yeah, that's a really good question, Penny.
The thing that I've found through Alone was
the first time...the first time you saw me dancing in the moss,
it's, like, "Oh, my God. She's loco. She's loopy."
And then the second time, it's like,
"Oh, maybe there's a little bit more there."
And then it actually didn't take long for people to drop in.
So, what I think people connect with is real.
So, what I think It's when we're real.
And to be a bit different, it can feel very unsafe to be real,
because the feedback that we get from the world is...
because the feedback that we get ..is that it isn't safe.
And what I've found through Alone
is that by allowing that authenticity to shine through,
it may not be for everyone,
but for the people who are willing to engage with...with real,
there is...the doors are now open,
and what that looks like, I think is different for everyone.
and what that looks like, I think Hi, Gina. I'm Prue.
I was thinking about your writing.
You write with an amazing capture of language
and such beautiful expression on your socials and in your blog.
What was it like for you when you found out
that Charmian Clift was your grandmother?
Was that an epiphany, and did it connect you to something?
KRISTIN: Charmian Clift was a journalist.
She married an author called George Johnston, KRISTIN: Charmian Clift was a journalist.
She married an author called George Johnston,
and one of their most famous books is My Brother Jack.
WOMAN: And that was her in the early time
when she was starting to write with George Johnston.
She was this sort of, like, wild, bohemian trailblazer.
I mean, the first thing when I found out
that Charmian was this sort of wild, trailblazing woman,
I think I was, like, 20 when I found out about Charm
at the, you know, height of my own wildness.
And my first thing was, "Oh, my God. Thank goodness. I make sense."
Because I hadn't really made sense anywhere,
but now it's like there's this direct line of...of wildness.
So that was...that was incredible.
And finding out that she was a writer also,
because I've been writing and I've been loving writing
because I've been writing since I was a kid,
and I could feel since I was a kid,
and I could feel the river of words, you know,
and I could feel almost coming from her into me.
But here's something really interesting - I don't read her work.
Because I'm so, sort of, ferociously defensive of my own voice,
I don't want to be, um... influenced by her style.
And...and so it's like...
Because I can feel there is so much of her in me.
Because I can feel there is WOMAN: Uh, Jane. Hello.
Um, Gina, do you still feel you're too big for the world,
or do you think it's ready for you now?
Aha! (LAUGHTER)
I don't feel like I'm too big for the world anymore.
I don't feel like I'm too big And I'm so, so super grateful
to have this whole experience happening when I'm in my 50s,
rather than in my 20s or my 30s,
because I think I probably would have,
with all of that bigness and wildness,
probably blown up in destructive ways.
Now I feel like I can dance with my own bigness
and find a way to fit that into the world.
And I feel that increasingly there is room for women to be,
you know, not obedient, not good girls, to have a voice.
You know, we're still bashing away on that ceiling, but I, um...
..I don't feel like there are ligatures and strictures
around my size anymore,
and it's really nice to be able to breathe.
It's like taking your bra off and going, "Ohhh!"
(LAUGHTER) Let the girls free.
(LAUGHS) Thank you.
Gina, let me ask you one question to finish.
Gina, let me ask you On Australian Story, Lee said
that on Alone there's a philosophy that relates to the whole of life.
Do you agree? And what is that philosophy?
I think that we live in a culture that pathologises discomfort.
Anything that makes us feel slightly uncomfortable,
Anything that makes us feel it's like, "Oh, quick," you know?
Reach for a durry, or reach for the TV,
or doom-scroll, or go get laid,
or go smoke a spliff, or, you know, go for a run, whatever.
or go smoke a spliff, or, you know, Anything to not feel discomfort.
Whereas we only grow when we're uncomfortable.
And so being able to have tools to be in that discomfort
and hold ourselves there,
that's when we start to metabolise
the edges of that fear of whatever it's going to be
the edges of that fear and realise it ain't gonna kill us.
And then our world gets bigger and realise it ain't gonna kill us.
And then our world gets bigger and bigger and bigger,
and we can find what the discomfort is teaching us,
and we can find what the discomfort and then we can rely on ourselves,
and that self-reliance becomes the ground that we stand on,
so then every step that we take is in our own rightness.
So, if that's a philosophy,
I have no idea what I just said, but that would probably be it!
I have no idea what I just said, (LAUGHTER)
Please thank Gina. Aww! (LAUGHTER)
Please thank Gina. Aww!
That was wonderful. Thank you so much.
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation