Comedian and radio presenter Nikki Osborne, who hosted the 'shag, marry, date' interview with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has spoken out, saying the moment was “taken out of context”.
Osborne responds in rhyme
Albanese appeared on the Bush Deep podcast hosted by Osborne, where he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories when put on the spot. The prime minister later apologised “unequivocally”, but the incident sparked days of condemnation and debate in federal politics.
Osborne had stayed mostly quiet about the controversy, but in a new YouTube video she responded in rhyme about the interview and the reactions. She said: “Those who took the time to watch, who’ve mastered thinking critical, laughed in spite of their own views; the rest though, got political. They sifted through with blinkers on, a headline for their page. An angle that could feed their clicks, spark recreational outrage. And there it was; a silly game of shag marry date. A moment taken out of context. Some turbo fuel for hate.”
Abuse and questioning of national humour
Osborne claimed she received vile abuse online after the interview, including someone commenting “I hope cancer finds you soon”. She said: “What’s happened to my country where we cannot take a joke?” In a description of the video, she also wrote: “Australia used to be a country who could have a laugh about anything but are those days over?”
