Matt Okine Could've Been Gretel Killeen's Son In Another Life

17 July 2015 | 4:34 pm | Neil Griffiths

"I was really intrigued by the pairing with Matt, I don't know how they even thought of it," Killeen chuckles.

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Most Australian TV enthusiasts will be familiar with Gretel Killeen and Matt Okine — she's a stand-up comedian, former host of Big Brother, and writer, and he is an popular local stand-up comic, as well as one half of the triple j breakfast radio team, Matt & Alex.

But the idea of the two coming together for brand new ABC comedy-entertainment program How Not To Behave is quite a peculiar pairing and Killeen and Okine know it. "It seemed strange when the idea of us two was pitched to me," Okine admits, before Killeen interjects: "And then we just met and didn't shut up."

"I'm pretty sure Matt was my son in another life."

So strange was the pairing that both presenters, who are 22 years apart in age, had never met prior to the show, let alone worked together before. "I was blown away by how funny [Killeen] was," Okine says. "I'd always seen you in a funny light, I didn't realise how funny you were," he smiles, before asking his co-host, "Are you offended by that?" who burst into laughter in response.

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"I was really intrigued by the pairing with Matt, I don't know how they even thought of it," Killeen chuckles.

Within minutes of sitting down with Killeen and Okine, it's obvious they have real chemistry and somehow the two teaming up makes complete sense. "I'm pretty sure Matt was my son in another life," Killeen jokes.

The 15-part series, based on the Swedish version, covers all things social: general manners, behaviors and the hard-hitting topics like how to queue in a cinema, how much personal space you should have on a bus and how much you should really spend on wedding gifts.

"We didn't know each other and are getting to know each other in front of the whole country on this television show because what one's opinions of behaviour and manners is quite an insight into character," Killen says.

"I didn't realise how funny you were. Are you offended by that?"

She explains that her and Okine click because they are both curious - about people and behaviours. Killeen recalls an incident in which she had texted a friend and told them that she had had a hard day: "And this friend wrote back, 'I can imagine,' and I wrote 'How the hell can you imagine?'"

"Wouldn't you ask someone 'Why was it?' and I wrote back 'You're so uncurious.'"

Okine believes that while the topics discussed can be quite comedic and trivial there is a lesson for all of us to learn from them. "When you actually break it down, it's like, what is the problem with being nude in a changing room and why is it that however many percent of the population are scared to go to the gym because of the way their body looks in tights?"

Killeen agrees. "It's interesting to realise how situations are portrayed in the media and what Australia really is now. Because the tendency would be, for example, to discuss manners in a family. Well, what is a typical Australian family now? So that's something to really dissect."

Will Killeen and Okine work together in the future? Apparently on a home renovation-cross-cooking show. "The food's shit, it always tastes like asbestos," laughs Okine.