The brazenly honest Beauty and the Geek pair taking on Travel Guides
Replacing the “outback cowgirl twins” Stacks and Mel on Nine’s Travel Guides was never going to be easy. Their brother Josh stepped in last season for new mum Mel, but there was a gaping hole this seventh season, where two brazenly honest, little-travelled Australians should be.
Enter hairdresser Karly Fisher, from Perth, and Bri Auty, a former NRL Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs cheerleader turned health practice manager. Like the twins, Fisher and Auty hadn’t racked up frequent flyers’ points, but they’re no strangers to television. The pair had already met on the set of Nine’s dating show Beauty and the Geek in 2022.
Travel Guides new pair Karly Fisher and Bri Auty had a lot to learn on the facst-paced travel show.
“I remember the moment we laid eyes on each other,” says Auty. “Karly was as loud as me. We thought it was either going to go one of two ways because we’re exactly the same. There’s only one thing that defines us differently. You’ll find that out on this show.”
Having gone back to their day jobs after Beauty and the Geek, the “long distance” besties weren’t looking for another reality show when they were approached by Travel Guides producer Hugh Brodie.
“We had many, many applications,” says Brodie. “It’s one of those shows where it’s not hard to get people to apply. But their fresh energy, and just that excitement for packing your bags and going to a place you know nothing about, invigorated the cast and crew. They’ve been a wonderful addition.”
Thrown into the four-and-a-half-month-long shoot, which began in India and Nepal, and included Florida, the Cook Islands and closer to home, Newcastle – hometown of the Fren family and married couple Matt and Brett – Fisher and Auty looked to their seasoned fellow travellers.
Karly Fisher and Bri Auty fly high in Florida on Travel Guides.
“Our best advice was from [Victorian couple] Kevin and Janetta,” says Auty. “Janetta was great at packing light. That’s where Karly and I struggle. You’ll see us rocking up to the airport with 68 suitcases. We’re those girls, cause we want options.”
Packing wasn’t the only aspect of long-haul travel with which they had difficulty.
“It was challenging, 30 of us, including the crew, at the check-in,” says Fisher. “We’re racing from gate to gate to make that plane. It is a very big operation and every person plays a role. The experience is unreal, but it can also be exhausting and emotional.”
The first leg, a budget tour of northern India, was intended to challenge all the reviewers, some of whom had been on the season-three luxury trip to the subcontinent.
“This year, we decided to do a spiritual trip of India and Nepal, staying in an ashram and learning about Buddhism and Hinduism and yoga,” says Brodie. “Putting our cast out of their comfort zone is important. We don’t want to just send them to five-star hotels every time. But there’s no meanness on this show. It’s not a competition, there’s no prize.”
For Brodie, the gig is worth the logistical constraints and the editing, on the road, of two weeks’ worth of footage into 60 minutes of airtime.
“It’s one of those real pinch-yourself jobs,” he says. “You’re busy, you’re stressed, you’re running out of light, the rain’s about to come, someone hasn’t shown up, but then you stop and you look up, and it’s the Taj Mahal. I feel deeply lucky.”
One of Brodie’s favourite parts of the production process is watching the final result with narrator Denise Scott, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year while filming the ABC’s Mother and Son reboot.
“Denise Scott has been magnificent,” he says. “She is as committed to the show as ever, and she loves to travel. I don’t think we could make it without her. She’s such a unique voice. We feel very lucky to have Denise with us for the entirety of the series.”
Travel Guides returns on Sunday, May 19, at 7pm on Nine, which is the owner of this mathead.
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