Cam Merchant first won over Australia as the nice guy on Married at First Sight season six – a rarity, we know. Now, on The Traitors Australia, his fellow contestants quickly label him “the most virtuous”, thanks to his kind-hearted nature. But behind his warm smile lies a story of unimaginable hardship.
“Everyone says to me: ‘Cam, you played professional cricket, you travelled the world, you got married on TV – life’s great,’” the 42-year-old tells TV WEEK. “And I’m genuinely so grateful: it is great. But you didn’t see the 13 years before that, when I hit rock bottom. I was in the abyss of life.”
Before becoming an international speaker and mentor, Cam’s professional cricket career came to an end, sending him into a dark place he explores in his upcoming book, Clarity.
“I was so physically, mentally and emotionally crippled I couldn’t even put pants on,” the Sydney local recalls. “I was homeless, didn’t have a job to my name, nowhere to go, no prospects, no purpose. There was zero hope to continue.”
But Cam did continue. After rebuilding his life, he took a leap of faith and applied for MAFS, where he met his now-wife, Jules Robinson. The couple now have two sons, Ollie and Carter.
“I still pinch myself,” he says. “Jules and I always say we weren’t what we ordered. But we’d walked similar paths through careers, relationships and life’s highs and lows. We felt safe with each other and both thought: ‘This is something special.’”
Jules was thrilled to see Cam take on The Traitors, where he was equally excited to meet “genuine celebrities” Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson and Cosima De Vito.
“I watched them on Australian Idol – they’re proper celebrities,” he laughs. “The crazy thing was, they knew who I was!”
The Traitors Australia airs Tuesday and Wednesday at 7.30pm on Network Ten and 10Streaming.
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