UK Viewers were first introduced to this week’s feature on Channel’s 4’s iconic series Shipwrecked: Battle Of The Islands in 2019. Since then, the MTV US family opened their arms wide for Tula Fazakerley aka Big T on The Challenge. I was lucky enough to connect with the petite firecracker to chat about reality TV, food, fitness and life in general for an all-new #TMITuesday interview. I like to think I suddenly become BFFs with each feature but this quarantine might throw off Big T and I getting cocktails anytime soon huh?
1. How has your life changed since beginning your reality TV career?
Its so crazy, you would think your life would change after doing reality TV, but that hasn’t been the case for me. I guess the only difference is I now have a bigger social media following, which means I have more people interacting with me, and sometimes get asked for photos if I’m recognized . But apart from that I go about daily life exactly the same as I always have.
2. What advice do you have for anyone who is looking to get into reality TV?
My biggest piece of advice for anyone going into reality TV is be yourself. You’re under a microscope when you do these shows and if you hide parts of your character then you’re not going to be someone that viewers can relate to. Nobody is expecting you to be perfect all of the time, just don’t read bad press about you
3. Since today is #TMITuesday can you tell the readers something about you that they may not already know?
Something you guy may not know about me is that my full name is Nokhutula which is a Xhosa name and it means the quiet one!! They definitely gave me the wrong name haha.
4. Do you have any guilty pleasures? (foods, TV shows, etc)
My guilty pleasure is cheeseburgers! I often order two in one sitting. I’ve been to pretty much every single burger restaurant/ fast food place in London. I call it doing a burger tour. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with eating burgers its just the sheer quantity of which I inhale them that makes it my guilty pleasure.
5. Who is your celebrity crush and why?
David Beckham. He’s been my celeb crush since I was 16 haha!. He’s just so gorgeous and I love his fashion now (not late 90’s becks)
6. What is your fitness routine?
My fitness routine is intense. I’m in the gym from 7 am till 9 or I will go at 3 pm until 8 pm. So l’ll do a combination of 2 fitness class’s which will take 1 hour and 30, 1 hour of stretching and cool down, then 45 mins on weight training and the rest of the time is spent on running machine combined with cycling.
7. Do you keep in touch with any of your former castmates of Shipwrecked?
Yes, I’ve just got off FaceTime with Hollie and I have a video from Sean which made me laugh a lot. I’m also in contact with Kush, Kalia and Chris. Beth has moved to Australia but we stay in touch via the phone. We’re family, we’re bonded by this truly incredible experience. After being away for two months with no contact with the outside world you get to know people on a different level and I’m so grateful that I’ve come from that experience with my island family
8. If you could choose one song to be your ‘theme song’ what would it be and why?
My theme song would be Cher life after love because you can dance to it, sing really loudly and its Cher so you can be as extra as you want whilst that tracks playing.
9. This COVID-19 quarantine is stressful, how are you filling up your days?
I’m actually a massive introvert so corona quarantine has not been stressing me out at all. I’m using this time to be really creative! So I wake in the morning and work out, after that, every single day I make a new dish. I love eating out, especially and Asian restaurants, so instead of complaining, I’ve taught myself. I’ve been making sushi, tempura, Thai curry and salads. It takes up a lot of time and I love it. I’ve started a food-instagram called bigtkitchen with all my recipes. I haven’t actually had much time to sit and watch telly to be honest. Once you give your self a goal and have something to work towards, the time passes really fast.
10. What’s next for you?
You can see me on MTV’s The Challenge Total Madness every Wednesday for my second season. I also have another show which I wrote called Boujee Babe which is on www.pulped.com
I’m currently writing a second series for that too. I’m just trying to stay active and on your screens for as long as you guys will have me !!
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