“I think podcasts are such an integral part of, I know my life, but I think everyone’s lives these days,” Erin mused.
“I’ve really found that podcasts have become something that I’ve listened to hours and hours a day, so when Tia Maria came to me last year … I was like ‘hell yeah’, it sounded amazing.”
Erin is currently on her second season hosting the podcast, which has gone from One of a Kind to Tia Maria Two of a Kind, as her and the team behind it find more and more interesting people to share their stories with Erin.
Season two currently has two live episodes; a chat with the Neighbours actor Sharon Johal, and another with Jono Castano, a personal trainer best known for his work with Rebel Wilson.
“As a presenter … I love people, I love being able to talk to people and getting the best out of a person,” Erin admitted.
“Especially when it comes to talking about them and their story and sharing that with the world is such a privilege.
“It’s so nice to know the first series went so well and we now got the chance to chat to another five guests,” she said.
Although the podcast and her work in Brisbane has been keeping her busy, Erin has also spent the last few months processing a big moment for herself in 2021: her appearance on SAS Australia’s second season, which just finished airing this week.
“It was genuinely every bit as life-changing as it looks to be, and what we’re all saying,” she confirmed.
“It was truly just the most surreal experience … the most authentic experience. When you’re in there, you don’t see cameras, there’s no stops, there’s no producers, there’s no down time, it’s literally 24 hours a day, you’re living your life on this course,” she said of the gruelling show.
Erin was one of the first contestants to voluntarily withdraw from the course, given her inability to complete a task where she was expected to carry fellow contestant Dan Ewing on her shoulders.
“Even though my time was cut shorter than I would have liked, having to carry 91 kilo Dan on my shoulders, I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
“If they asked me to do it next season, I’d say yes, 100 per cent. I’d just start training now,” she laughed.
WATCH BELOW: Erin Holland discusses the break-in on SAS Australia. Story continues below.
However, like many of the contestants on the show, the journey was more than just physically challenging for Erin – it took a toll emotionally as well.
“There was a lot of stuff that came to the surface for me which maybe I hadn’t dealt with before, particularly the break-in and things I shared as part of my time in there,” she divulged, referring to an interrogation on the show where she revealed she had been the victim of a break-in last year.
“I thought I was really independent and really confident but the way that I responded to that moment really shocked me,” she said on the show.
“To know that I made myself extra vulnerable being knocked out asleep upstairs by myself,” she admitted.
Erin learned through the show to embrace her vulnerability as something that adds to her strength.
“I suppose seeing yourself in that light and accepting the vulnerability and showcasing that part of my personality has been a lot, so something that I’m really proud of and glad that I could do,” she admitted.
“It’s been such a lovely and positive response, I’m really grateful with how it’s come to air, and what people have sort of said in the wake of it, and the number of people that reached out and said, ‘I know how you feel, I was broken into, this has happened to me’.
“That was he whole point … it was something I wanted to share for me but might resonate with some other people as well.”
