‘Big Brother Australia’ Ex-Housemate Ben Zabel Reveals He Found Out About Being Sacked From Nine Network After Reading it in a Newspaper
“Big Brother Australia” ex-housemate Ben Zabel had a promising career with the Nine Network following his eviction from the reality series in 2013. It ended one day when he read a newspaper saying he was fired.
The 32-year-old former flight attendant was a fan favourite during his time on “Big Brother” in 2013. After he was evicted, he joined the network’s “Mornings” as a regular movie contributor. That stint ended up midway through 2014, and he only found out about it after he read it in the paper.
“I was doing it once a week and then I read in the newspaper that I wasn’t,” Ben told AAP.
Ben revisited the famous Gold Coast house for an Ambi Pur-hosted event on Wednesday night. He met with the 2014 finalists in the event, namely Priya Malik, Travis Lunardi, Aisha McKinnon, Skye Wheatley and Lawson Reeves. Other than the network’s contacting him to re-enter the house, Ben said his relationship with Nine has been “fairly distant.”
He doesn’t harbour ill feelings towards the network, though. He said he has always had a good relationship with Big Brother producer Endemol.
Earlier in November, Ben was sent to the hospital for drug overdose. The drugs were his prescription medication for depression, and he wanted to clear that he didn’t mean to overdose.
“The awful thing when you are having an exaggerated panic attack and you take medication ... you are waiting for it to kick in,” he explained.
He also described the incident as “tough” to the Daily Mail Australia, saying, “The only saving grace is I’ve always been open about depression and anxiety so that has made things easier, in so far as it wasn’t shocking so far as in the events.”
It’s not the end of TV life for Ben. He is in talks with Channel Ten about appearing in the morning show “Studio 10” alongside Ita Buttrose, Jessica Rowe and Sarah Harris. Also, he will be filming a new project with Tim Dormer, the winner of the 2013 series.
Tim previously promised to bring Ben to Elvis Presley’s house in Graceland in the U.S., but the catch is that they would be filming their journey.
“We have a mutual respect and admiration for each other,” Ben described Tim, who appears to be his polar opposite. “We bring out the frustration in each other and that equals comedy.”
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