Australian Survivor winner Pia Miranda celebrates a triumphant year as we look at the best and worst moments in 2019 for TV
Pia Miranda showed us her survival instincts, but there were many other Aussie stars who made headlines across TV this year for the right and wrong reasons.
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Four days after winning Australian Survivor and pocketing the $500,000 prize money, Pia Miranda was back to her day job – just not as she’d known it.
Filming the final season of ABC kids’ drama, Mustangs FC (streaming from New Year’s Eve), the 46-year-old actor was a changed woman.
“I’d been on this [Survivor] set where no one talks to you, or feeds you. They scream at you, they blindfold you [in challenges] and here I was on the set of Mustangs four days later.”
When someone asked if she’d like a cup of tea, “I was like a prisoner of war, thinking ‘are they going to scream at me if I reach for it?’ I just stood around the biscuit tin most of the time, just eating,” she tells News Corp Australia, laughing.
It’s not the only way Miranda felt the experience shift things for her in a year that proved her best yet.
Known for her debut role 20 years ago in movie Looking For Alibrandi, Survivor gave her the first chance to play herself.
Winning the final tribal council with a combination of savagery and smarts, the contestant dubbed ‘the smiling assassin’ was then forced to defend herself
against misogynist trolls, who attacked her for sending home series favourite, Luke and brutally taking down runner-up Baden.
“I got messages like ‘you’re a bitch’ and ‘you were so snippy’ but I just said ‘screw it … I’m a woman and you wouldn’t say that to a guy.’”
On the home front, she was a hero too – using most of the winnings to pay down the family mortgage, pay off her car and then flew her kids and husband to Disneyland earlier this month.
“For us to book a holiday, then have spending money is incredible and let me tell you, I’m going to buy myself something super fancy from Chanel.”
THE 20 BIGGEST TV HITS IN 2019
AFP RAIDS: the Australian Federal Police went to war with the media, raiding the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst and the headquarters of the ABC in June and sparked the national Right To Know campaign.
AMANDA KELLER: despite the disrespect shown by this year’s Gold Logie winner Tom Gleeson, The Living Room and Dancing With The Stars host Amanda Keller won people’s hearts with her grace and good humour;
BIG LITTLE LIES 2: the Monterey 5 – aka Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz – came back for more, packing even more star power by casting of Meryl Streep;
BLUEY: this beautiful animated series hailing from Brisbane became an international hit with families and set a new standard for TV parents. A Disney+ deal should see it go stratospheric in 2020;
CARDINAL GEORGE PELL VERDICT: one of the most important legal cases in
Australian history brought the head of the Catholic Church here to justice, with the guilty verdict broadcast live;
EMILY MAITLIS: arguable the TV interview of the year, this BBC journalist demolished the feeble excuses offer by Prince Andrew over his association with convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein and claims he abused under-age girls;
FLEABAG: swept the Emmy awards, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge leading a clutch of funny UK women fronting dark comedies;
GAME OF THRONES: the greatest TV show of the last decade said goodbye and fans were left in tears, in more ways than one after a disappointing final season and lame ending;
HOUSE RULES RULING: a landmark court case with awarded compensation to a reality TV contestant who claimed she was bullied by the show’s producers will set a fascinating precedent likely to spark copycat claims. Meanwhile, host Joh Griggs and judge Wendy Moore headed for the exit;
ITA BUTTROSE TO ABC: in one of the ugliest chapters in the national broadcaster’s history, the knifing of managing director Michelle Guthrie lead to the axing of her assassin, chairman Justin Milne; before Ita Buttrose was hired to steady the ship;
KARL STEFANOVIC: there was no escaping Karl in 2019, even after his axing from the flailing Today show. His limp showing as a reporter on 60 Minutes earned him global scorn over his Meghan Markle story; before Nine boss Hugh Marks sent his $2 million man back to work on Today in 2020;
MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT: despite being described as the “absolute cesspit of TV,” the reality show of the year was yet again a ratings blockbuster for Nine;
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MASTERCHEF SHOCK SPLIT: when judging trio Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan refused the terms of 10’s new contract offer, the boys bit the bullet and walked. Cue new Seven boss James Warburton, who swooped and signed the food TV kings for a new series next year;
THE MASKED SINGER: as a premise, it was ludicrous – stars in crazy costumes, masked and anonymous. But the surprise hit of the year won over families – and even managed to break judge Jackie O’s TV jinx;
OLD PEOPLE’S HOME FOR 4 YEAR OLDS: the most heartwarming show of the year paired residents of an aged care home and pre-schoolers; forging bonds and unexpected friendships for life;
PAULINE HANSON: humiliated by Al Jazeera’s NRA sting, the One Nation leader clashed with Sunrise host David Koch in the fallout; then sobbed with Tracy Grimshaw on A Current Affair over the impact of the scandal;
60 MINUTES SLAP: a $3.6 million defamation loss; another reporting team under arrest overseas; and lawsuits from Ben Roberts Smith and Crown casino operators marred the show’s 40th anniversary;
SUNDAY NIGHT AXING: 60 fared better than its rival on Seven, axed. It wasn’t the only show sent to TV heaven, including Pointless, Giggle & Hoot, Today Tonight, and Saturday Night Rove;
VALE: the TV family farewelled Mike Raymond, actor Anne Phelan, Reg Watson, Clive James, Paul Cronin, The Project producer Carla Bellomarino, Danny Frawley, ABC Mick Millett, Ben Unwin, Ningala Lawford-Wolf, Richard Carter, Ian Johnson, Steve Dunleavy, Bill Collins, Pua Magasiva, Geoff Harvey, Mike Willesee, Billy J Smith, John Kennerley, and Carmen Duncan;
WALEED ALY: his leadership in the wake of the Christchurch massacre earned him a hug from New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden and a sit down with Scott Morrison.
