When it comes to reality competitions, there’s always someone who has to cop the title of ‘first to be eliminated’. Last night on the inaugural Australian season of The Challenge, it was Billy Dib and Suzan Mutesi who were booted from the show.
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“Obviously my time there was pretty short lived,” Billy tells WHO. “It was an amazing experience and I really look forward to take a break. I’m looking forward to the comeback.”
Sadly, after filming ended, Billy revealed he had been diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer.
“I’m fighting a good fight,” he says. “There’s a lot to live for. I have my beautiful son, my beautiful wife, my mother, my siblings, my friends, my family, my fans. This is an opportunity for me to show some serious resilience and courage in overcoming this disease that you can’t see. I can’t fight this disease with my fists. I have to be mentally ready and willing to go through something that I can’t fight physically. So it’s quite a journey itself.
“I just want it to go. I really just want it go. But I know it’s a process and I know God’s putting me through this for a reason. I’m glad it’s me not one of my siblings or one of my relatives because I know that God’s chosen me for a reason. He knows that I’m strong enough to deal with this and, as I said, I’m going to get through this and then I’m going to get back to my life and hopefully be on the next Challenge.”
Despite his time on the show being limited, Billy managed to form some firm friendships with his fellow contestants, some who have stayed in contact and lent their support throughout his cancer journey.
“I’m on the phone nearly every single day with Marley (Biyendolo),” Billy says. “He’s just an amazing man. Mar and I hit it off from the get-go the minute we got on a plane; it was just like instant friendship. He’s been checking in on me pretty much every single day.
“I wouldn’t even call him a friend, I’d more call him my brother now, because, you know, you can’t choose your brothers, but you can choose your friends. He’s definitely somebody that I would love to have as a brother.”
While only appearing in one episode, Billy didn’t manage to evade the drama that comes with reality TV; though, he confesses, he didn’t expect the show to involve anything other than the name suggests.
“I was a little bit taken aback ’cause I never thought coming into (The Challenge) that it was going to be something like that,” the pro-boxer confesses. “I thought, it’s going to be a challenge show. I didn’t realise that people were going to be hooking up with people.”
The “hooking up” he is referring to is, of course, Ciarran Stott and Audrey Kanongara’s communal shower which saw the pair, who both had partners back home, fool around.
Billy tells us he was “quite surprised” to find out about the scandal.
“Ciarran was talking about how he’s in love with his partner and, and how he had a girlfriend back home and they just bought a house together and all these really amazing things. And then he did what he did. I could definitely see the remorse and the regret that he had and at certain points I felt really sorry for him,” he says.
WATCH: Jessica Brody slams Ciarran Stott on Bachelor In Paradise. (Article continues after video)
Billy continues: “He’s pretty much sort of patched everything up with his partner now back home, which is good.
“I just tried to steer away from it. It was just a little bit uncomfortable because it all happened in our bedroom,” he adds, explaining that he woke up when the pair were in the shower.
“I was like, ‘What is she doing in our shower?’. And it’s like, ‘Oh, her shower isn’t working at the moment’. So I find that a little bit strange, but that’s alright.”
Another stand-out moment from the inaugural episode was Cyrell Paule’s temper. But Billy reveals that the former Married At First Sight star is a completely different person when the cameras are off.
“Cyrell actually doesn’t come across that way until the cameras are there,” he tells WHO.
“When the camera’s there, she puts on this façade but behind the façade, there’s a really nice person there. You know, she opened up about some things that she’s been dealing with personally with regards to her being a mother and people picking on her on social media and she shed a few tears.
“I saw the soft side, but anytime time the camera’s on, Cyrell’s all about the clout; she loves the clout. And I guess that’s what made her famous.”
You can help Billy fight his battle against cancer via his gofundme.
The Challenge Australia airs Monday – Tuesday at 7.30 on 10 and 10 Play on demand
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