The growing conversation about the mental health of reality TV participants in Australia has been underlined this week following the at the age of 33. Andrew’s passing was announced on Sunday in a joint statement from his season one co-stars, who wrote: “It’s with the heaviest hearts we've come together to acknowledge the passing of Andrew Jury. “We had the absolute pleasure of filming and participating in a show which leaves us intricately linked for a lifetime.
Despite his struggles, Andrew was always friendly and the life of the party during our shared experience and he really valued his time on the show.” A TV insider tells that Australian free-to-air networks and streaming services are now re-examining their procedures around mental health to be more like they are in the UK. “The entire TV industry in the UK changed after the death of participant Mike Thalassitis, who sadly lost his battle with mental health in 2019,” the source details.
“Networks started sharing how to protect their contributors and it was a game changer. ITV UK went above and beyond and was very reactive.” Meanwhile, a former reality star tells that regardless of the show’s format, networks must follow an industry standard when putting an individual on TV.
"It doesn't matter what the show is, the mental health of the participants is the responsibility of the network and how audiences can now interact with social media needs to evolve as the access to the people on television continu.