Rhys Nicholson Admits He Was Trying To “Rattle” PM Turnbull On ‘The Project’

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Published

July 20, 2017

Yesterday Sydney-care-of-Newcastle comic Rhys Nicholson managed to take a dig at the PM on ‘The Project‘ over marriage equality, in a segment that was ostensibly supposed to be about the demand for more redhead sperm (true fact).

When ‘The Project‘ crossed to Nicholson, Mal tried to joke about the comic’s perfectly coiffed red hair, and to really pinpoint the meaning of the term “ginger ninja”. But when Nicholson is asked by another panellist whether or not nicknames for redheads are actually offensive, he seizes his opportunity:

“I’m all about the nicknames, I think it’s all about ownership, you know, those are our words, we can take them back. The main thing is you don’t want anyone to be treated differently for something they can’t change about themselves, so just deal with it – I don’t know, something like, for example, marriage rights or something.”

And the punters were pretty impressed with Nicholson’s sass.

pic.twitter.com/v9fB1tfOSR

— Rhys Nicholson (@rhysnicholson) July 19, 2017

Nicholson himself, who had jokingly accused Turnbull of having a bit of a flirt on the program, sent Mal his best:

.@TurnbullMalcolm ??

— Rhys Nicholson (@rhysnicholson) July 19, 2017

But he also said he did not feel cut off by the very quick wrap-up after his comments left the PM dumbstruck.

Juuuust as an FYI, I don’t think Carrie & @theprojecttv “cut me off” last night. It was just the end of the segment.https://t.co/0yoKmZWu1D pic.twitter.com/BHdXmLSuSN

— Rhys Nicholson (@rhysnicholson) July 20, 2017

Talking to Fairfax Media earlier today Nicholson said he was just trying to “rattle” PM Trumble: “I expected him not to answer, but all I hope is he got into his car last night with one of his assistants, you know, like in a Thick Of It kinda way, and just been like ‘What the fuck was that?!‘”

“It was such a flowery segment.

“It feels like the conversation about this stuff with the PM is like a barb in his side, like ‘Oh, I hope I don’t get asked about that…’, which is utter bullshit.

“So I’m glad this [reaction] happened, because it’s the first conversation we’ve had about marriage equality in a little while.”

Nicholson of course is no stranger to the marriage equality debate, having last year married queer comedian Zoe Coombs Marr at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to highlight y’know, how they can marry each other, no questions asked, but not their same-sex partners.

“I just recently bought a house with my partner, and there are so many little things we have to do that a married couple doesn’t have to… Things that would be very easily fixed by allowing gay marriage.”