A Brady Bunch icon tips his jungle winner and names the A-list stars he was hoping to hang out with.
He was the only American in this year’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, but Barry Williams had no idea which Australians he would be sharing camp with.
And, understandably, even less idea who most of them were.
“I was hoping Naomi Watts might show up or Margot Robbie. A Wiggle would have been great… Anthony, because I know he’s very active and he’s kind of the glue for The Wiggles,” he said.
“Guy Pearce would have been good, Russell Crowe if he wasn’t busy.
“Except for Margo and Naomi, that was the grouping at Hey Hey it’s Saturday when I did it. That’s how I met The Wiggles and Russell. And Kylie Minogue was there.
“I didn’t know really what to expect, and I did not know anybody.
“Something had been in my brain since I was a pre-teenager, about Africa, living in the jungle, going on safari, kind of that whole world. So this just seemed like the best possible way to create that experience, living in the jungle. There’s actually a large degree of safety around it, because the camp has (crew). It was a great adventure.”
Williams, who shot to fame as Greg Brady on the iconic Brady Bunch sitcom, had seen Maureen McCormick’s 2015 episodes, but he is yet to speak with her about their newest shared experience.
To immerse with Australians in Africa was an offer too good to refuse.
“It sounds like I’m patronising, but I’ve been to Australia three times, and I love the vibe. I love the people. I’ve always had really good experiences there. I did a concert tour there. I’ve climbed over the over the Bridge twice, been at Taronga Zoo, you know, so the whole thing just appealed to me. I knew it’d be tough, but the real seller for me, was being off grid.”
But the jungle is full of character-building challenges, squeamish eating trials and live nature surrounding camp.
“If you stare at the ground long enough, it comes alive. There’s stuff going on there. I mean, they tell you, and I listened: do not walk to the loo without your boots on,” he continues.
“And you know, they can’t keep everything out. I had a monkey come in and almost crawl right over me.
“I’m so grateful that I was very open to that experience, because when you’re off grid, there’s nothing really to do. We were responsible for the camp, but that doesn’t take all day, every day. There was a lot of time to bond, a lot of time to get to know people. I spent some really good quality time with Dyson, Nate, Concetta, especially Gary. Gary Sweet and I really have a friendship that I’m quite sure will extend beyond the show. I’ve already invited him to come to the States with his family, and it looks like that’s going to happen.
“It’s like a dive into people’s psyche, who they are, what their motivations are. You get to know people quickly and not just superficially, because nobody comes in with a lot of attitude. Maybe one or two, but by and large, there’s just no attitude. We just cut through. We all have the same toothpaste and razors and clothes, so it’s a very level playing field.”
Williams mentions Gary Sweet, Concetta Caristo and Mia Fevola as potential series winners but his money is on former NRL player Luke Bateman to be named ‘King of the Jungle.’
“It’s in his bones somehow. He’s a farm boy, and he’s right on the fire, he can cook, he’ll take on anything. Dyson’s the same way but Dyson, of course, is a little bit more refined, and Luke just looks like he’s ready to put on a bear skin and take on the jungle.”
I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here may be the toughest but it isn’t the only reality show on his CV. It now sits alongside Dancing with the Stars, The Masked Singer and even Celebrity Wife Swap. A ‘Brady’ for life, it’s an association he’s happily embraced and kept him working, particularly in musicals in the USA.
“Once we finished doing the show, except for the multiple reunions, that Brady experience is really mostly brought to me by the viewers. They see me in this particular way. So that’s not where my mindset was, or trying to get away from it,” he explains.
“I went into theatre immediately, and I did 86 cities on a Pippin tour and I’m name above title, and generally am in productions that I do.
“Radio, afternoon talk shows, morning talk shows, evening talk shows, magazines, all that stuff… what’s the first question I get asked about? It’s always Brady because that’s relatable to them and their audience.
“So I’ve been talking about it always, and some very fond experiences that I have of the people. We maintain our friendships to this day. I’ve been doing for two and a half years, The Real Brady Bros with Christopher Knight (‘Peter Brady’), which is a podcast, an episodic recap, where we’ve watched all the shows and dissect them together.
“So I’ve been very fond of it, and frankly, it may have shaped my career, but I don’t really feel that has gotten in the way of allowing me to have a very full career.”
Fond memories even include The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, a nine episode singing, dancing, and synchronised swimming series produced by Sid & Marty Krofft in 1976.
“Loved it!” he declares, “My favourite one, I think, I can’t tell you how much fun that was. I mean we had Tina Turner come on. Milton Berle comes in, Rich Little, Paul Williams is there. Farrah Fawcett shows up. I mean, it was so cool. Now, the show was 70s camp, and they treated it like a puppet show. And, we were! So on that level, it was silly,” he continues.
“But on a production level, and working on it, I loved it. Sid lives in California, and I was there about three weeks ago and visited him …he’s got some recovering to do from a surgery. But anyway, I had a really pleasant chat with him. So I loved doing the variety show.”
Next for Williams is a return to the Brady universe.
“The Brady Bunch house is about to become a national historical landmark. So I’ll be leading some tours out there that people can come and tour around,” he reveals.
On I’m a Celebrity he adds, “But I’m going to be glued to watching the show to find out what happened. Because I don’t have any idea what happened. When you go, you go, and you’re now in the code of silence. I don’t hear anything. So I’m really excited to see how it all plays it out.”
I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here screens Sunday – Wednesday on 10.