Despite her 25 years on the reality show scene, beginning with Popstars and spanning The Celebrity Apprentice Australia and The Bachelorette, Sophie Monk still hates being vulnerable on camera.
She’s much happier playing someone else, with her acting career including the movies Date Night and Click, and the upcoming Zombie Plane, with Chuck Norris and Vanilla Ice. Even hosting reality series, such as Beauty and the Geek, and now seven seasons of Love Island Australia, she feels self-conscious.
Sophie Monk returns to host another season of Love Island Australia.
“I just feel for everyone,” she says. “If someone starts crying, I start crying, and you’ll notice I put my head away because I’ll look like a serial killer if I’m crying. I get as emotional as they do because I can feel what they feel in there. It feels so enormous. I feel very protective of them.”
She even refuses to watch herself on television.
“I hate it so much, I don’t know why,” she says. “It’s funny, I can talk about myself if I’m joking a bit, but for me, being vulnerable, I feel like I’m so naked. I’d probably rather be naked. I’m not saying that, but I’m a lot more shy and guarded than people think I am.”
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Of this season’s bathing beauties on Love Island Australia, shot on the Spanish island of Mallorca, where the original British series is also filmed, Monk is most excited about the female cast.
“The girls are really strong and impressive,” she says. “There are a couple of them that I was like, ‘God, I wish you were my friend and you could stand up for me’. It’s really inspiring. Even at my age, I’m learning.”
Among the women searching for love by the infinity pool are Yana, a plumber, and Lacey, a pageant queen, both from Sydney; and Bailey, a model from Toronto, Canada. The men include Connor, a nurse; and Zac, an Olympic swimmer, both from the Gold Coast.
