Big Brother’s Tully on life after the Big Brother bubble bursts: ‘It’s f***ing tough’

OVERWHELMED. Broke. Unemployed. Big Brother’s Tully Smyth has revealed the heartbreaking effects of life post-reality television.

OVERWHELMED. Exhausted. Broke. Unemployed.

Former Big Brother housemate Tully Smyth has revealed the heartbreaking effects of life post-reality television, describing the “lack of psychological support” six months after appearing on last year’s hit reality TV show.

In a blog post responding to My Kitchen Rules contestant Kelly’s revelations that she was broke, bullied and hospitalised after her stint on the show this year, Smyth opened up about “just how f***ing tough it is after the bubble bursts” on her blog, Young Blood Social.

Smyth revealed she asked the production company behind Big Brother to cover the costs of a psychologist of her choosing, which, she says, the Nine network were more than happy to provide.

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Tully Smyth has revealed she requested additional psychological help post Big Brother.

She described how she “struggled to slip back” into her old life after the series, which saw Big Brother villain Tim Dormer take out the prize in November last year.

The controversial housemate was eliminated from the reality show after scoring a dismal 17 per cent of votes to save against finalist Tahan (with 34 per cent) and Suger Sister’s Katie and Lucy (49 per cent).

“You have to move back into your parents’, live off your mother’s superannuation or borrow rent off younger siblings,” she wrote.

“We’re human. We’re people. We have feelings and insecurities. We make mistakes — just like you.”

Smyth revealed she had an “initial chat” with a psychologist immediately after she was evicted from the Big Brother house and the service was available “whenever you want”, but she expressed concerns that “you’re not exactly sure how open and honest you feel you can be with someone so closely affiliated with the program”.

She called for networks to provide compulsory check-ups with independent psychologists for contestants for at least six-twelve month’s after a show’s finale.

It was an issue she would be “passing on” to Big Brother producers for the 2014 series, she wrote.

Smyth had a girlfriend in the house, but struck up a relationship with Drew despite this. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

Big Brother‘s Tully Smyth and Anthony Drew sparked outrage on the show last year. Picture: Channel 9

Big Brother evictee Tully returned to the house to kiss housemate Anthony Drew. Picture: Channel 9

But she took responsibility for her outrageous antics on the show, where she was criticised by the Australian public for cheating on girlfriend Tahlia Farrant with castmate Anthony Drew while the cameras were rolling.

Tully’s foray into heterosexuality, along with her constant stream of tears, triggered bitter social media backlash, with viewers calling for “cheating Tully” to be evicted.

Tully was none the wiser once she was evicted that her on-screen fling with Drew had led to her being dumped by Tahlia on Twitter.

Smyth and Drew struck up a relationship after the show but it was short-lived; breaking up in January, according to The Daily Telegraph.

“Despite the print and social media sh*t storm that I was greeted with upon leaving the house, and the continued online bullying and trolling that I am subjected to on a daily basis — I never once blamed the editing of the show or the producers,” she wrote.

“Did they force me to make the decisions I made in that house? No. Did they put words in my mouth? No. Did they put me in alien situations where I would act differently to what I perhaps would on the outside world? Yeah, of course.

“What did I expect? It’s a reality television program designed to entertain. I knew what I was risking, I knew what I was putting myself up for and I signed along the dotted line anyway”.

During Tully’s eviction interview with host Sonia Kruger, she said: “I’m an emotional person. I was always going to be a crier. Everything in the house is 10 times worse and 10 times better (than real life).”

At the time, an “I hate Tully from Big Brother” Facebook page had more than 63,000 likes and included posts such as “Knowing that Tully could possibly leave tonight has made Monday that much better!”

*news.com.au contacted Tully for a comment, but she said, “I’ve said my piece and won’t be commenting further. The purpose of my blog was to show support for Kelly and offer insight for those unaware. Not to publicly damn reality TV.”

Originally published as Big Brother’s Tully on life after the Big Brother bubble bursts: ‘It’s f***ing tough’