Some people think it's a dream job; others think it's all scripted anyway. But Blake shares what it's really like to be a reality TV producer

Ever since Blake Nadilo was a kid, he knew he wanted to work in television.

At university, he studied international journalism and went on to get a job as a producer on breakfast TV.

Nadilo says that even though he loved the job, six years in, he decided to take a massive risk.

"At some point, I realised that there are so many other ways to tell stories," he tells nine.com.au.

"I thought, 'You know what, and I love reality TV, who doesn't?' And I thought that's just a more engaging, interesting way to tell a story."

So Nadilo decided to leave his full-time, well-paid career to take a junior role on a freelance contract.

The job was as an associate producer for six weeks on Farmer Wants a Wife, and at the end of the contract, Nadilo had made up his mind: This was exactly where he was meant to be.

"It was one of those moments where I got there, and I was like, 'Oh, this is what I should have been doing the whole time'," he recalls.

Blake Nadilo left his stable, well-paid job to take a risk and try to become a reality TV producer.

It wasn't an easy switch to make, though. Nadilo recalls feeling like he needed to prove himself every time he started a new contract and began working with a new team.

"It's exhausting. It's not for the faint of heart," he says.

"It was hard, and you don't have job security, so you have to hustle a bit to get noticed. But if you're good at it, people will notice."

Now he's got a full-time gig as a reality TV producer, joking that he's become "part of the furniture" at his workplace.

But as much as he realises this is what he was always meant to do, Nadilo credits his six years in breakfast TV to the skills that were "imperative" to his success in this industry.

He says that the experience he gained as a journalist was

"What I realised pretty quickly when I moved into reality TV is that it actually is a form of journalism," he explains.

"It's the same thing. You're looking at something unfold in front of you and figuring out what is the most interesting part of this story, what are the most important parts of this, and then crafting that into a story."

Over the years, he's worked on some major reality hits, including Australian Idol, The Amazing Race, My Reno Rules and, of course, Married at First Sight. But no matter the show, he says no two days on set are the same.

"On a shoot day, usually they start pretty early ... you check in on the contestants, make sure everyone's okay, make sure everyone had a good night, make sure no major story has happened overnight that we've missed," he explains.

"And if it has, then we need to figure out how to tell that story too ... then you just film in blocks all through the day for 12 hours a day."

He's worked on major shows including both Married at First Sight, and the brand new, MAFS: After The Dinner Party.

He says that usually by 10 AM, the schedule for the day has "gone out the window".

"You start a day with no idea how it's going to end. And that to some people is terrifying, but to others is very exciting," Nadilo says.

"It's not work everyone can do. If you're someone who needs structure and routine and not a go with the flow kind of person, then it's not for you."

While he recalls moments he's felt like he wanted "the ground to swallow you whole", having to watch something like a couple's awkward fight or break-up, he says the difficulty of the role could never compare to what he did as a journalist.

"There were moments where you're with someone sorting through the rubble of their house that had just burned down, asking them to be on TV the next morning. Those are hard, awkward, tough conversations to have with people," he recalls.

"So when I was thrown into reality TV ... it was tough, but nothing is tougher than what I had just done."

While reality TV presents it's own set of challenges, nothing can compare to some of the tasks he was assigned as a journalist.

While it might not be difficult in the same sense, Nadilo says there are some annoyances that come with working in reality TV – mainly, the naysayers who claim the whole thing is fake.

"Our job would be so much easier if we had a script," he laughs.

"We wouldn't finish a dinner party at 3:00 AM if we had a script. Everyone would be home by 5:00 PM.

"There are so many sceptics who say [it's scripted], and it's just not true. It really isn't. There are things that happen that you couldn't write in your dreams. No one could come up with that.

"As a reality TV producer, our job is to draw the truth out of someone; we're not inventing it."

He says that it's hard to pin down exactly what the role of a reality TV producer is, because, essentially, his job is to wear several hats at once.

As a reality TV producer, it all comes down to being able to build a rapport with contestants.

"It's managing people, it's being a psychiatrist, it's being a friend, it's being someone who's holding them accountable when they're behaving badly," he says.

But really, what it all comes down to is building trust with the contestants.

"I think reality TV producing 101 is building a rapport with someone. If someone doesn't trust you, if you don't share any part of yourself with them, they're not going to open up to you," Nadilo explains.

"We need to draw the truth out of someone, not invent it. So the only way to do that is if someone trusts you. And in order for them to trust you, you have to share part of yourself with them, too.

"I can't expect someone to sit down in an interview and cry about their life and open up to me without them knowing anything about me either."

While many contestants get a bad wrap, Nadilo acknowledges that it

While people who choose to go on reality TV often get a bad wrap on social media and in the press, Nadilo acknowledges that it "takes guts" to put yourself on the national (sometimes international) stage.

"It takes guts to be vulnerable and be open with someone and share your story with the world. That is scary," he says.

And at the end of the day, his job is not to script what contestants say or manage budgets and schedules; it's to make sure he's telling the story of what's unfolding in front of him.

"We're storytellers. That's what we do for a job. We watch something unfold and figure out what is the most interesting part of that story," he says.

Essentially, his job is to tell the story of the events he watches unfold.

"People come on the show, and they say, 'that's not who I am' or 'they made me do this', or whatever, all of that is not true because reality TV doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are.

"And our job is to make sure we tell that story of who you are. That's it."

Produced in partnership with CareerOne.