For Barry Williams, connection has always been at the heart of everything; from playing television’s most famous and slightly mischievous eldest Brady son to forming lightning-fast bonds in the South African jungle on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!
And if there’s one thing about his time on I’m A Celebrity reinforced, it’s how quickly strangers can become family and how important family connections can be.
Barry came into this season of without knowing anybody and being the sole American. Something he described as “daunting” as we chat over a video call – him with a luxurious red velvet curtain background and in a Hawaiian shirt. But his campmates not only welcomed him with open arms, they were infinitely curious about The Brady Bunch alum in their midst.
The Brady Bunch was a global phenomenon, and decades later it still resonates.
“This was a show asking, if there was a functioning family, what would it look like? And so there’s kind of that idealistic role model for people to see, okay, that’s a functioning family. That’s a dad is helpful and mom listens to the kids and the kids, they have arguments that try to get along.”
“In fact, the whole show is about how do you get along? Coming from different places, the girls meeting the boys and the parents getting married, how do you make that work? And so we were “all for one and one for all”. We had very good morals. I think in timeless kinds of morality, you know, where, you know, honesty, truthfulness, you know, good naturedness, good intention, you know, wins out.”
This season of I’m A Celebrity features more drama than previous season, but Barry brought his calm mindset honed from his years of showbusiness and particularly from The Brady Bunch to the South African jungle.
“Even as campmates, there was that sense of coming together,” Barry shared.”Breaking through that line or barrier was important and really important to be able to do that. And there’s a sense of belonging and that’s very comforting and being a part of the community. On I’m A Celebrity, the campmates are your community.”
And the campmates felt it in kind.
“I was really grateful when Dyson got up and made me an honorary Aussie and of course I had to pass the questions with the right answer. Thank goodness for Gary,” he said, referencing Gary Sweet mouthing the answers to him!
“He made me part of the Aussie Rat Pack and I got to be Big Bad Bazza!”
Being an American in a group of Australians did come with some communication challenges, from accents to turns of phrases. But, Barry delighted in some of his campmate’s sayings.
“I’ll tell you, listen to Dyson, how he speaks. He is so good with similes and different analogies and words. He said something about Rebekah’s struggling a bit, she’s not having a bar of that. No part of it at all, not even a bar.”
His closest friend in the camp was none other than Silver Logie Winner, Gary Sweet.
“Gary Sweet and I had a very nice connection, just a similar kind of life experience and outlooks,” Barry says. The two shared a special moment reflecting on becoming more emotional as they matured on the show.
“We’re only a few years apart and it was just something that I have discovered from the talkie talk. And I was, you know, thinking about my childhood and I’m kind of crying…like out of the heck?”
He turned to Gary in the show and asked him if he was feeling things more intensely as he aged, and it’s something he’s been ruminating over since.
“There’s more gratitude to be had,” he surmises. “I think we probably feel things a little bit more intensely. Things are more precious, if you will. It’s more than just thinking about it, you kind of absorb things with a little more maturity. I was asking Gary if he had that same experience and he said yes he did. He’s also a very emotional guy.”
Their friendship has endured outside the jungle.
“I’ve reached out to him and invited him and his family to come to the States, and I’m hopeful that that will work out.”
However, he comes back to Australia, another campmate has already made him promise to visit.
“If I come to Sydney, Matt Zukowski wants me to go clubbing with him,” he shared.
“He actually wants me to be his wingman. He thinks I can be helpful to him with bringing some of my 80s game with me. So I promised him I would. I’d give him all the support. He needs to be boosted up every now and then.”
When I ask Barry about who he would like to see win, it sounds like he would be happy with any of his fellow celebrities being crowned king or queen.
“I think Mia would be terrific because of her father and it’s kind of like a mirror of Robert Irwin on Dancing with the Stars and his sister Bindi.”
Referencing Robert’s recent stint on the American version of Dancing With The Stars which he won a few years after his sister Bindi.
Barry also appeared in a season of Dancing with the Stars and his partner was an Australian. I asked him if he and Robert had an opportunity to bond over their dancing careers.
“It was a nice connection to have with him because this guy is good, he’s on fire. This thing took him and threw him into the international stratosphere. So I’m very happy with him and who he is and how he’s handling it. He’s a very worthy custodian.”
Not only is he proud of how Robert is handling the fame, he also confesses that he’s ducking calls from his contemporaries who would like to get to know Robert…more intimately.
“He’s easier on the eyes, too. I know this because I’m getting calls from men and women that are more mature in their age than you are and they’re happy to be cougars.”
Back to who he’d like to see win…
“Gary, you know, I have a great affinity for [him winning],” Barry continued. “I would just love to see Dyson. He looks like he’s the star of the show all the time and he can’t help himself.”
“Concetta, I think it would be a lot of fun. She’s just so dear and sweet. And I mean, she would just melt if she were made the queen. I mean, she would be so grateful. She’s so sweet and she’s plenty tough too. You know, all that softness but, she gets plenty competitive.”
“But, you know, a king in the jungle… Luke. I mean, this guy is ready to put on a bearskin and go, and he will do anything. He’ll chop down a forest. Well, literally, he does that. I mean, he’s a farm guy, and he chops down trees, and he can start fires, and he can cook well, and he’ll do anything that you can strum up.”
Although it was the luck of the draw that pushed him out of the jungle, he’s left an indelible mark on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Australia! history. From taking one for the team in the eating challenges to sharing dating stories from The Brady Bunch set and fronting the I’m a CElebrity gym camera, we’re sad to see Barry go.
As he said in his exit interview with Robert and Julia:
“Safe to say it was an unforgettable [experience] and I embraced every single part of it.”
“It’s everything I could have hoped for.”
Catch up on epsiodes of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here Australia on 10play or watch on Channel Ten 7pm Sunday and 7.30pm Monday to Wednesday.
