If you lived in Australia in 2013, there is only a very slight chance that you weren’t absolutely enthralled with season 10 of Big Brother. We will take no arguments, it was THE season of the franchise to watch, and for one very good reason…. or, should we say, two very good reasons.
Of course, it was the relationship between Tully Smyth and Anthony Drew that took the nation by storm. So we’ve taken a look back at what exactly happened between one of reality TV’s most controversial couples, as well as what the pair are up to now.
All we can say is… strap yourself in for a wild ride.
If you were living under a rock back in 2013, here’s a recap of what went down between Tully, 33, and Drew, 32.
Tully Smyth entered the Big Brother house already in a long-term relationship with a woman named Tahlia Farrant when she met Anthony Drew. And the influencer has since confessed that, although she was taken, the attraction was instant.
Speaking on her podcast, Too Much Tully, back in November 2020, the former Big Brother star confessed, much like Taylor Swift, she knew Drew was “trouble” when he walked in.
“In walks this 6’2”, tall, dark, and handsome, bright blue eyes kids, and honestly, hand on my heart, Taylor Swift’s song [I Knew You Were] Trouble had just come out before we went in the house and that sh*t started playing in my head”.
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”.
Despite this not-so-flattering recollection of events, the pair still managed to strike up a hot and heavy romance in the Big Brother house.
Of course, while Tully and Drew were getting on like a house on fire there was the slight issue of the then-social-media-strategist’s girlfriend on the outside, who wasn’t too happy with what was playing out on screen.
After seeing her long-term partner get a bit too close for comfort with a fellow contestant, Tully’s girlfriend Tahlia took to Twitter to speak about what was going on in the house.
“Thanks for your concern, but I am a big girl. I will be just fine. Life goes on,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, voluntarily sequestered Tully remained blissfully unaware that she had just been dumped as she continued her rendezvous with Drew.
However, it didn’t take long for the then-25-year-old to be booted from the show, at which point she had to face the music. While some viewers were hoping to see Tully’s live reaction to the news that her girlfriend had ended their relationship, it was understandably left to the show’s psychologists to break the news to Tully professionally and compassionately.
Many viewers, however, were unable to do the same, hurling criticism after criticism at the Big Brother evictee as she navigated the outside world. Drew, on the other hand, stayed in the house mourning Tully’s absence… that is, until she was brought back into the house for one very memorable challenge.
As we all know, whatever Big Brother says goes. For one challenge back in 2013, the games-master’s omniscient voice would spontaneously bellow through the house demanding that contestants “freeze” – an order which, of course, they would obey.
At one moment (which should go down in the reality TV hall of fame for how much it had us all on the edge of our seats), the task-master ordered his pawns to freeze right when Drew was conveniently standing near one of the house’s doors. The model did as he was told just before the entrance began to open and his former flame Tully walked right back into his wake.
What happened next probably wouldn’t air today.
Striding up to Drew, Tully planted a big smooth on the then-24-year-old’s frozen lips before proceeding to whisper in his ear, albeit through a microphone, “by the way, I’m single”. She then turned on her heel and left the house once more.
Although confessing to Big Brother that he had so many questions running through his head, Drew had a bit longer to wait to get the answers he so desired as he ended up staying right until the end of the competition, placing runner-up overall.
Once they were both out of the house, Tully and Drew finally took their relationship public. But things didn’t last long.
WATCH: Tully Smyth and Drew Anthony reunite in the Big Brother house. Story continues below.
Yep, apparently the Big Brother love haze wore off after three months, at which point Tully told OK! Magazine that the pair had broken up. “It was a lot of pressure living in different states, and the regular couples’ issues seemed to be magnified being out of the house,” Tully said.
And so, where are Australia’s most controversial couple these days?
While Tully is currently an Instagram influencer, blogger and podcast host, Drew is still rocking his man bun as he continues to thrive as a model. Although they 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”. But, after it all, they claimed they got too distracted with the glitz and glamour of the post-reality show fame.
“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”.
As to their relationship now, it seems that Tully and Drew are on slightly different pages at the moment, but that didn’t stop Tully’s shock when she entered the Big Brother House in 2022 to find Drew was already there.
Tully and Drew both returned to the show that catapulted them to fame a decade prior, for Big Brother‘s 21st birthday season.
They both appeared in a mix of old and new housemates, but were unaware they might bump into each other until moments before they did.
“I had absolute confidence [I would say yes]” Tully told entertainment podcast The Spill about her choice to do a reunion season.
“They weren’t able to confirm or deny anything, but I had basically figured out that it was either going to be a whole bunch of ex-housemates and we would just go head to head, or perhaps half-half – half ex-housemates, half new housemates,” she revealed.
However, she was convinced that Drew would not be among them.
“I didn’t doubt that [the producers] would try it, but he’s always said publicly and privately to me that he would never do the show ever again … he’s moved on, he’s kind of embarrassed by the whole thing,” Tully went on to say.
“I actually heard he was there before I saw him … I had a producer standing next to me about to push me into the house, and in the headset I heard: ‘Camera on Drew’.
“My stomach just dropped.”
Tully admitted she was ‘very acutely aware’ of being filmed around Drew while on the show.
“If I cry now, is that going to mean x, y, z? Are they going to paint me in a different light? I felt sometimes like I couldn’t be honest with my emotions or my frustrations in case it was twisted,” she shared.
“We’ll have to wait and see but I really hope that this year my emotions aren’t considered a weakness or something to laugh at, and people can appreciate that I am who I am.”
Meanwhile, fans of the show have been privy to housemate Sam Manovski’s very obvious crush on Drew, which has already culminated in a kiss.
So you can guarantee we’ll all be watching very closely to see what comes next!
You can watch Big Brother on Monday-Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel Seven and 7Plus.
For your own fairytale love story, sign up for eHarmony.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, New Idea.
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