Former Corowa local Adam Densten and his best friend Symon Lovett recently made an appearance on the border after their latest television appearance on “I’m a Celebrity”.
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The much loved stars formerly of ‘Gogglebox Australia’ joined forces with Canadian Club and national tourism campaign Empty Esky to travel to COVID and fire-affected regional towns in order uncover some of the best people, places, pubs and pies in the country.
The Melbourne based comedic duo kicked off the tour in regional Victoria, travelling to Rutherglen, Wahgunyah, Yarrawonga, Mansfield and Shepparton in the first leg of their Australian tour.
Unfortunately, due to the border closures Adam was unable to show Symon his hometown.
“I didn’t get to show Symon and the Empty Esky girls Sanger Street, so they missed out on ‘Hangin a Sanger’. They also really wanted to see where the Australian Billy Cart Championships are held too,” Adam told The Free Press.
Despite not being able to cross the border to Corowa at the time of their tour, Adam was thrilled to be back in the region.
“It was really awesome to get back home,” Adam said.
“We ticked off a bit of regional Victoria and it was hot! I forgot how hot it can get compared to the city.
“We did a scenic flight around Yarra, went tubing across Lake Mulwala and stayed at the new Sebel Hotel. We cruised around and I was able to show Symon as much of the north east area as possible.
“We feel incredibly lucky to be part of this Empty Esky/Canadian Club trip.”
For Symon, the highlight of the trip was visiting Parker Pies in Rutherglen.
“I have never been to Parker Pies before. It was absolutely life changing,” he said.
“I now refer to my life as PPP which is Pre Parker Pies or APP which is After Parker Pies.”
Symon also said it was great to see the towns where his best mate grew up.
“The trip filled in a lot of blanks for me. He always talks about Corowa, Rutherglen, Yarra and all these places where he spent of a lot of time growing up, so it was cool to watch him take a trip down memory lane,” he said.
“We tried to find an old rope swing at the river in Wahgunyah we used to play on but it looks like the branch has fallen in the water so weren’t able to relive the childhood days as much as we hoped,” Adam added.
Fresh off the 2021 season of I’m a Celebrity, hosted by Julia Morris and Chris Brown, Adam and Symon also reminisced about their time on the hit show.
“The running joke was that it was simultaneously a five star and one-star airbnb,” Symon said.
“We showered under a waterfall, slept under the stars, bathed in the natural estuaries but at the same time there was snakes around and rats were crawling in your pot.”
While Adam and Symon entered the “jungle” late, it didn’t take long for them to bond with the other Australian stars including celebrity chef Colin Fasssnidge and AFL star Travis Varcoe.
“We became closest to Colin and Travis,” Adam said.
“Also Jess Eva, Grant Denyer and Abbie Chatfield. I mean we really tried to spread ourselves around as much as we could,” Symon added.
“It was a super tight knit group.”
Both Adam and Symon found Colin Fassnidge to be the most surprising celebrity.
“Colin comes across as very high energy chef, but he deeply cares about people. His passion for food is incredible,” Symon said.
“He just wanted to teach everyone, he was really gentle with his answers and just wanted to educate us. It was really cool.”
As for being in the “jungle” for a number of weeks, Adam felt he was better prepared than Symon.
“We used to go camping down at Grantham’s Bend a bit growing up. Dad’s always been a big camper,” Adam said.
“The sleeping thing yes, I was prepared for but in terms of the lack of food, not so much. Symon’s closest thing to camping was in a caravan with a tv.”
While Adam and Symon have grown quite comfortable being on the television screen, the both use the term “celebrity” very loosely.
“I’m always Corowa boy at heart,” Adam said.
“Quite a number of icons come from Corowa though,” Symon added.
The boys were excited to learn that up and coming comedian and viral Tik Tok sensation, Blake Pavey was also from Corowa.
“Turns out we have Steve Mowlam, Taylor Duryea, John Howard, Aaron Hennemen and now Blake Pavey,” Adam said.
“I’m definitely going to get Blake and Adam together in the same room – a couple of Corowa icons! Hopefully he’ll give us a shout out,” Symon added.
It turns out, Adam is not the only “reality TV royalty” in his family with his brother Josh and sister-in-law Jenna making appearance on The Block twice in the last 10 years.
Adam and Symon’s Canadian Club and Empty Esky tour continues around the country as they complete their quest to support as many regional towns who have done it tough over the last 12 months.
“We’re pretty damn excited to hit the road with Canadian Club and Empty Esky, and to help Aussies discover the best of regional Australia so that we can all kickstart 2021 with some epic adventures,” Adam said.