Q & A: Hayley Warner

This week Nickelodeon presents Cool School, a movie-length documentary following three young Australians, Hayley Warner (Australian Idol), indigenous AFL player Malcolm Lynch and indigenous Australian track star Narelle Long, as they embark on an adventure of a lifetime to participate in the world’s first environmental school in Antarctica: E-base.

This Cool School led by polar explorer and environmentalist Robert Swan OBE takes 40 international young people from 15 countries into the harsh elements of the Antarctic to learn the real lessons of global warming and the importance of conservation.

Former Idol singer Hayley Warner answers some questions from TV Tonight on the adventure of a lifetime.

What was your reaction when you were asked to travel all the way to Antarctica?
“What the heck, this is going to be epic!”

Describe your feelings when you arrived. Was it what you expected?
“I don’t think anyone can prepare you for Antarctica, it’s a place that you have to see for your own eyes to understand the beauty of it, way beyond my expectations!”

How did you cope with the temperature?
“It was freezing when we went out on the zodiacs, mainly because i forgot to put on another layer haha….my hands were the coolest!”

What was the highlight?
“The highlight for me by far was when we went out in the zodiacs to check out some humpbacks and we got closer than I ever dreamt of. Absolutely crazy, about 8 whales started attacking a leopard seal, we must have been 2 metres away from it! My life was hanging in the balance.”

Tell me about the killer whales?
They are awesome!!! Extremely smart animals, 2 of them turned on us and headed straight under our 3 metre zodiac, putting on a show for us, showing us there tummy’s. That was crazy!”

Did it change your view on the way we treat the environment?
“It definitely makes you think about what we can do to help out! Saying that I didn’t come back hugging trees.”

Any funny moments?
“Plenty of funny moments, one that stands out is when we were camping out on the ice, we had this tent which was used for the toilet, a young girl went in to the toilet and me and 8 others decided to snow bomb her!”

What has life been like post-Idol? Is it hard to forge your own path?
“Life’s been awesome since Idol, just recently released my brand new EP Hands Of which is out on iTunes and exclusively to Sanity, touring in November and getting back into the studio real soon.

What’s coming up?
“Touring in November, getting back in the studio, writing with some amazing producers -exciting things are in the pipe line.”

Cool School airs Saturday September 25 at 7pm on Nickelodeon.