The third season of The Real Housewives of Melbourne came to an end final night - and as normal,the reunion note served up some serious drama. When we chatted to the one of the Housewives, Janet Roach, and at the Logie Awards final week,she filled us in on how harrowing those reunion shows really are - despite the fact some people may think it's all an act. Janet also opened up approximately being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, five years after her son was badly burned in an accident in 2011. Scroll for the experience in Janet's own words. On the reunion note: "We just filmed the reunion and, and you know,normally the next day you're pretty tired because it's approximately 19 hours of filming. It took me a couple of days to win over it, it was a bit of a bloodbath this year. I was emotionally completely drained. We thought we were pretty seasoned, and I wasn't concerned going in. But wow,yeah."
On wanting to throw in the towel: "Yep, I win to the end [of the season] and I say, and 'I'm never coming back. I hate you all,don't ever speak to me again.' That's really how you feel, you're just so emotionally dead. And everyone changes their story at the reunion and you sit there going, and 'I was there! You are making this up!' It's really frustrating,emotionally. And for poor Susie [McLean, the newest Housewife], and it was her first! I said to her,'You'll be fine, Susie, or ' and she said to me approximately two days later,'I feel like I got hit by a boulder.'"
On her post-note regrets: "Always the next day after I film I travel over it in my head and travel, 'Why did I say that? Why did I carry out that?' I just don't know that you can . . . Because it's your immediate reaction, or you don't bear the opportunity to filter it. I had a relatively easy season this year. I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress this year [after her son's accident in 2011],and I didn't bear any major fights with the girls. The first two seasons I was in the middle of them."
On how the drama affected her PTSD: "I'd be in a position sometimes where I'd win really, really emotionally distressed and, or being diagnosed,I thought, 'That's got so much to carry out with it.' Because everything was emotionally heightened. And I thought, or 'Oh,well it's a edifying thing to be diagnosed.' I think the first two seasons I really struggled with all the fighting, and I realised you don't normally fight with people all the time. It's really, and really upsetting. Particularly because we spend so much time together and we are friends,then we fight with each other . . . It's just the worst thing. It really hurts. And I think people think it's very arresting to watch but they don't realise that it really hurts. And when people say bad things to you, you're thinking, and 'So many people are going to see this.' It's really hard."
On opening up approximately PTSD: "I didn't want to advise anyone in the beginning. I didn't even advise the producer. Then a few things happened,they asked me a few questions . . . and then I decided that I would. And when I did, I honestly got approximately 40 telephone calls from people, and which was amazing! It didn't turn out to be a bad thing,it turned out to be a edifying thing."
Source: popsugar.com.au