John Safran is WHO? by Di Webster, August 30, 2004 Since his 1997 stint on Race Around the World, John Safran, 32, has made a career of TV ratbaggery. In SBS's eight-part series John Safran Vs God, he dips his troublemaking toe into the world's religions. He spreads the word.. DW: I'm still recovering from seeing you puke in the first episode. Is there anything you won't do when the cameras are rolling? JS: No, but pretty much there's nothing I will do unless the cameras are rolling. I much prefer emotional danger to physical danger. There was an example in this show. Originally we were going to Vanuatu, and I was going to have to tie these palm leaves to my legs and do some bungee jumping or whatever and I was just thinking, "Why would I do that? If I end up being shot by the (Ku Klux) Klan, that's kind of cool, but if I end up a quadriplegic after jumping off this ramp with palm leaves, that's just lame." DW: You had a voodoo curse put on your ex-girlfriend in Race and, in this show, you have a fatwa issued on Rove McManus. Do you think it's time to look at your rejection issues? JS: (Laughs) It just seems like an interesting topic or some-thing. Most people when they get rejected, it's all about hiding it. So it's kind of fun to just be out there and go, "I was rejected and I'm bitter." DW: I'm locking you in a room with your ex, Rove and, just for fun, Ray Martin (with whom Safran infamously clashed in 1998). What are you going to do? JS: Far be it from me to imply that for entertainment value I don't really hold all the grudges that I claim to hold. But the main issue would be with the ex-girlfriends basically. DW: How's your ex going with that curse? JS: She's not even an issue any more. I've kind of moved on from being bitter about her to being bitter about subsequent relationships. Do you have any plans for those people? With this last girl, there were all these complicated issues, like we were in different countries and stuff, so there wasn't an icky ending. But she did really want closure at the end, possibly because she was thinking, "Hang on, John pulls elaborate pranks on all his exes. I'd really better make sure I leave him on a good note or else there's going to be a TV special named after me." DW: There has been a religious theme through a lot of your work. What do you believe? JS: Definitely that being religious is more interesting than being secular. It's just more colourful, especially in the context of Australia, where you're bashing against the prevailing acceptable way, which is just to be secular. DW: Are you worried you're going to get it in the neck in the afterlife? JS: No, I reckon it's probably too complicated. Just say there is a god, it's probably just some weird-arse thing that we can't even get our heads around at this point. So you might as well just try blasphemy. Who knows? DW: But do you have two bob each way - blaspheme and then pray a lot? JS: I don't pray at the moment, but maybe I should after this show. Do you reckon it's going to offend people? DW: Sure. Will you be disappointed if it doesn't? JS: I don't really go out to offend people. I always imagine my audience are like ABC/SBS kind of smug, left-wing, pinko Michael Moore fans and I think, "How can I really freakin' annoy them?"
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