Year after year, dozens of contestants fill the Big Brother house before going on to reap the benefits of their 15 minutes of fame in the outside world. And let’s be honest, after the initial hype dies down, it’s fair to say most of us wouldn’t recognise them in a line up.
But one contestant who appeared on the reality show nearly a decade ago still remains as relevant as the day she made headlines for her turbulent on-screen romance.
Tully Smyth was just 25 when she appeared on the 2013 season of Big Brother where her passionate, and at times tumultuous, fling with housemate Drew Anthony became national news.
Tully has since found love with a mystery man who she met on Hinge.
(Image: Instagram)And the reason their romance was so juicy? Well, Tully entered the Big Brother house already in two-year relationship with a woman named Tahlia Farrant. Then she met Drew.
And the influencer has since confessed that although she was already taken, the attraction to Drew was instant.
“In walks this 6’2, tall, dark, and handsome, bright blue eyes kids, and honestly, hand on my heart, Taylor Swift’s song Trouble had just come out before we went in the house and that sh*t started playing in my head,” she said back in November 2020.
Drew, on the other hand, had a slightly different impression of Tully. Speaking on the same podcast, the model had this to say about what he thought of his former flame: “She was loud and complained and cried”.
And while most other past contestants would have been forced back into obscurity within months of starring on a reality show, the same can’t be said for Tully.
Tully and Drew forged a passionate romance on the show in 2013.
(Image: Ten)Since her controversial stint on the reality show, back when it was in its heyday and still used its original format, Tully has forged a hugely successful career for herself on Instagram, and it’s not shocking given she was a social media strategist before finding fame.
The influencer regularly attends red carpets, movie premieres and fashion events around Melbourne and Sydney, and makes a good living spruiking Aussie labels and brands to her 204,000 followers.
Although Drew and Tully lead separate lives, it just so happens that the pair reunited on the influencer’s podcast, Too Much Tully, in November last year.
During the candid chat about their Big Brother experience, the former reality stars admitted that they “almost talk(ed) code” about Tully’s girlfriend Tahlia while in the house due to the fact that, unlike the other housemates, they were unable to sleep with their microphones off.
Speaking about their relationship outside of the house, Drew claimed their short romance “wasn’t real”. Tully agreed, adding that they were their “true, authentic, rawest versions” of themselves while they were on the show and “that’s how they fell in love”.
“We got caught up in it, and before we knew it, we had fallen apart,” Tully admitted, adding, “I’m forever going to wonder if we would have worked out, I think that will be one of my life regrets.”
Tully had been single for nearly eight years before meeting her current boyfriend earlier this year on the dating app Hinge, although she has remained tight-lipped on the identity of her new beau.
These days, Tully is a successful influencer and boasts more than 200,000 Instagram followers.
(Image: Instagram)The 34-year-old admitted that during her single years, she spent time on celebrity dating app Raya, telling podcast host Jana Hocking that she even connected with some A-listers on it.
“I met many a celebrity on Raya,” she said. “You come across all kinds of people, some huge names.”
“When you see a massive name, for your ego, you want to swipe right just to see if you get a match.
“There’s a lot of people that you just want to see if they think you’re hot but more often than not you never say anything to them … I remember I saw Draco Malfoy (actor Tom Felton) on there.”
In June this year, Tully shut down rumours she was romantically linked to Aussie singer Flume after media reports claimed to have seen the pair on a date in Melbourne’s Chapel Street.
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