Anna Moran
When you've grown up in Britain, there's a few things that take a bit of getting used to. When you move to Australia.
Jordana Grace
In England, it's like blue milk is for fat, green, and semi-skimmed. Red is light, but over here there's like a black, a gold, a purple, pink
Anna Moran
Her TikTok videos about life down under have gone viral
Jordana Grace
I'm Jordana Grace and I'm a Brit Australian. No, no, I'm not.
Anna Moran
Jordana Grace, who lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, has even made national news headlines over here.
Jordana Grace
And I'm a Britstralian.
Sounds like I'm a bit strange. Can't use that. I'm the Jordana Grace and I'm a Brit Australian lovely,
Anna Moran
And a true Brit Australian she is, having spent time in both countries growing up.
Jordana Grace
I am half-Australian. My dad's Australian, but my parents got divorced when I was about two.
So my mum, me and my sister all lived in the UK ever since I can remember.
Anna Moran
So whereabouts in the UK do you come from Jordi?
Jordana Grace
I'm from Wiltshire. I like to call the Shire like uh, the Hobbits, which is just in the south of England and I love it.
Anna Moran
And when did you come to Australia and what brought you out here?
Jordana Grace
What made me trade sheep for snakes? Good question. It was all a happy accident.
I was actually working in London at the time and got burnt out and then came here on a holiday. Just before Covid lockdown, and then I just lived here ever since.
Anna Moran
What is it that you do for work?
Jordana Grace
I've got a part-time job as an admin person and then doing some social media planning, but I've also just got a job as a radio host as well.
Anna Moran
Wow.
Jordana Grace
They interviewed me for one of my Tiktoks and then they offered me a job.
Anna Moran
Congratulations.
Jordana Grace
Thank you very much. I was meant to talk.
Anna Moran
I've always thought it would be so nice to hear a British accent on the radio out here.
Jordana Grace
I hope so, because, um, I know the Aussies love to mock whatever I say, so I think it'll make them so much happier to be like, what?
Can't she say it in her accent? Can't you say it?
Anna Moran
So your dad's an Aussie, were you born in Australia?
Jordana Grace
I was actually, and I was born in, and this is one of the words, I can't say well, um, Cairns. So I don't remember living here at all. But then I would come back and forth to Australia to stay with my dad for like six months at a time and like go to school here and done the first half of year seven, twice, never the second half.
Anna Moran
Really? And what was that like for you growing up in two different countries?
Jordana Grace
Looking back now, it's. It is kind of crazy. I remember me and my sister would go on flights. I was five and she was seven by ourselves. That's when you could do it. Back in the day, the air stewardess would look after us. It was very sweet.
You wouldn't do that nowadays, but we used to fly on our own. At that age it was. Crazy thinking about it. It was so much fun when you were little cuz the seats are so much bigger.
Aw.
Jordana Grace
And then coming to Queensland and being renegaded back to primary school because then Yes, everyone was in primary school in Queensland.
Anna Moran
Oh was it?
Jordana Grace
Like you just go with it as kids, but even like sports was like twice week. I'd love my Australian schools cause there were so many sports and it's very out there, but the classes are like massive. They were like 60 kids, but they were lovely. But then in the UK, I could actually walk to school cause everything is so much closer.
And so I remember coming over being like, why doesn't anyone wear shoes? And I would be that kid that would pick up the caterpillar and the other kids would be like, oh, I wouldn't do that. I'm like, oh, I love little caterpillars. And then I'd be the kid with the rash. You know, with the, with the bites cause everything is poisonous and I didn't know.
So it's two very different experiences looking back. They're so different, but we just managed to adapt. As long as I wasn't being bitten by something.
Anna Moran
Yeah. Yes.
What an incredible experience And childhood. What was it like for you growing up so far away from your dad when you were in the UK or you know, being away from your mum for six months? How did you find that?
Jordana Grace
It definitely has its difficulties growing up with parents on the other side of the world, and I think it's a feeling of they'll never be in the same room. There was no Zoom, there was no FaceTime. Now yes, it is so much easier. I FaceTime my family in the UK all the time, my best friend and her kids, so we have so much great technology at our fingertips.
I mean, when I think about my parents, it must have been so hard for them and I really feel for them. And whilst it was never easy, the biggest takeaway, my sister and I always talk about is that whilst it was hard. The one thing we always had is that we knew we were loved. No matter where we were in the world, we were loved.
So me and my sister, we were so blessed to be on airplanes and to be in different countries. As a kid, you don't really notice. It's, it's all about the love.
Anna Moran
So your parents, the typical mum's, British wants to go back to England where she's from, and dad's an Aussie and doesn't wanna leave Australia.
Jordana Grace
Actually, complete opposite. My dad would love to be English because he loves antiques, he loves British cars. My mum wants a tan. She's planning to move to Australia. If my dad could with my stepmom, he'd moved to England. But yeah, he is like, yeah, Aussie born and bred and mum is, yeah, English rose, but they would swap, swap sides in a heartbeat if they could.
Anna Moran
Did you, do you consider yourself to be British or Australian?
Jordana Grace
I like to think both. I'm very proud of being both. I mean, when, when it's like the rugby happens and it's England versus Australia, people are like, who do you vote for? I'm like, it's 30 men in shorts. I win either way. But, I think, I like to think my cheeky side is Australian and my proper side is British.
But like when I'm in Australia, I'm very English when I'm in England. I'm very Australian.
Anna Moran
Yes, I can totally understand that and relate to that because my dad's Irish, my mum's side of the family are from Serbia, so I had all these different cultures, but in Australia I was like, yeah, I'm typical British with my cups of tea.
Jordana Grace
Yes, I miss tea. Tea is not the same over here.
Anna Moran
No, it's not. Definitely not. Doesn't taste the same. I think it's the water.
Jordana Grace
I think it's the water because I get people to import tea bags. From England, but it's not the same. But I get what you're saying that cuz I felt sometimes an outsider, but you come here, you're like, oh, just like the culturalism.
You're like, I didn't realize how British I was being here.
Anna Moran
Yes, definitely. So you have found some fame in Australia through your videos on TikTok and on Instagram. How did this all come about?
Jordana Grace
Okay, well now, as we all know, social media is for the very young, beautiful people, the very hot people. And all they have to do is just shimmy from left to right and make it look effortless and then go viral, you know?
And while I do fall in that category, you know, it's, it's never been my scene. So I've never thought that I would be in the influencer arena. But then it was in lockdown and I was bored and my 12-year-old cousin showed me how to set up TikTok and I was just watching for a few months and it was when I realized, even though I am half Australian, I felt like I just knew nothing about Australia.
So I started making videos, things they should tell you. Before coming to Australia, and my first video was in landscape. So if you can visualize that, my first video was lopsided, right? And they started getting really popular. And then I did one about the dangers of Kmart. Like they tell you about the spiders and the snakes, but they don't prepare you for Kmart.
Like you go in for a hair band, you leave with a whole kitchen set. It's ridiculous. And that went so viral. That my mum called me. She goes, you're, you're above Trump in the news on Apple. I was like, oh my gosh. Like, it's ridiculous. And, people in Australia that weren't born here were like, oh my gosh, I get it.
And Aussies were like, that's hilarious. I never saw it from that point of view. So it's been amazing and so humbling.
Anna Moran
Oh, that's good. Just for anybody listening who is in the UK and has never been to Australia, Kmart is a, a shop, how would you describe Kmart?
Jordana Grace
It's heaven. It's like Primark but think better quality.
Anna Moran
I think that's questionable about the quality.
Jordana Grace
Okay, so it is like Primark as cheap, questionable quality, but, we love it. We love it. Because you can feel bougie in Kmart on a budget.
Anna Moran
Definitely. Oh, absolutely. Would you clash yourself as a TikToker? What do you call yourself?
Jordana Grace
I would say TikToker, yes, cause that's where I started.
That's where my original love is.
Anna Moran
So your popular videos are about being a Brit in Australia, as you said, in particular things that as Brits just haven't got a clue about, about life down under and things we learn as we go. But you actually have so many Aussies that comment on your TikTok and posts. Why do you think that is?
Jordana Grace
I've always been wondering this, part of me thinks it's because I'm based in Australia and TikTok is always gonna localize you. My sense of humor can be quite Aussie, so they get that and they relate to it. But also because I'll say things like, milk is complicated, and Aussies are like, nah. And then they watch it and they're just like, Hmm, the Brit may have a point.
And so I think they see something. It's like, Michael McIntyre, who's a brilliant British comedian will just say the most basic observational comedy. And you're like, oh my gosh. It's so true. So I think Aussie's are like, I didn't realize that.
Anna Moran
And I loved your post about things they should tell you before coming to Australia.
And you said, Christmas isn't real. You just capture exactly. You just capture exactly what most of us Brits are feeling in like 20 seconds. You know? No roast potatoes, 35 degrees on Christmas day.
Jordana Grace
Nice. So I made so many Aussies angry. I felt so bad. I didn't mean to, they're like, of course, we have roast potatoes.
I'm just like, prove it.
Anna Moran
Yeah. It's seafood, isn't it? It's popular here on Christmas Day.
Jordana Grace
They don't understand that we just, seafood isn't even on the menu. We Brits, we eat, we hibernate, and that's it. But no one would ever be like drunk prawns or like champagne. It's more of a luncheon here.
Anna Moran
Yes. Yeah. And it's salads and cold meats, isn't it?
As opposed to a hot, hearty dinner that's gonna keep you warm.
Jordana Grace
Thank you. Because people have been like, no, we don't. I'm just like. I'm, I'm, I'm saying what I see people, so thank you for the validation I needed that.
Anna Moran
Actually, I have seen in some of the comments, people can be quite mean sometimes, and they'll say things like, go home if you don't like it here.
But the irony is you were born in Australia, you're half Australian, you are an Aussie.
Jordana Grace
It's because. Some people are like, just go back to where you came from. And I'm like, what Up north? Up on a plane a couple hours back to North Queensland.
Anna Moran
But I think on the whole though, you do get a real positive response to your videos, don't you?
Jordana Grace
So when I got really badly trolled a few months ago, 13,000 people commented. Just kindness. I think cause Aussie's kind of protect me like a pet from this is what the Aussies have told me. Cause obviously the term whinging pom comes up a lot. But because I'm just loving Australia, they're like, we love you, you are now ours and we'll protect you because my goal is just to make people laugh and brighten people's days.
Anna Moran
You definitely do a good job of that. What's it like having 13,000 comments on a video that you've created and posted?
Jordana Grace
Mind boggling? I remember being so excited to get 44 followers, right, like 44, and I was like, wow. It just boggles my mind to have, I think, to be on that scale and I'm, I'm not even anywhere near as big as some creators, but.
When I saw those comments, like the sheer number I was crying with just, just feeling so overwhelmed. And it was so nice as well because my family saw me get trolled and then when they went to go view the video, they looked at the comments and they would just, they felt so good that I was protected and that I was being cared for.
So it really reassured my family that there are like thousands of people that would jump to your defense. And not only that, these people don't really know. But they know me enough to know my character is good, and so it's so humbling. I'm very blessed.
Anna Moran
That's lovely. Really nice. Just on that, Jordi, I know this sounds weird, but from watching your TikTok and following you on Instagram, I do actually feel like I know you.
I'd imagine that's how most people feel. If I randomly saw you in the street, I would 100% go up to you and be like, hi, I've watched your TikTok. Do you ever get recognized?
Jordana Grace
Actually several times a week, nearly every time I go out, I'll get recognized now. It is, I was, the other day I was on the way to Kmart and I was just walking and I think I was eating something and this girl just puts her hand up in front of me to stop me.
And she goes, you. And I was like, I was like TikTok. And she goes, oh my gosh, yes. And we had the funnest conversation. Her boyfriend was like, who on earth are you? What is happening, but it was, I get stopped quite a lot and it's actually the nicest thing because sometimes I'll have like, you know, when just having a down moment, then someone comes and go, you are just, I love your videos.
I'm like, thank you so much. I think it's a bizarre thing that people are normal people that on social media is influencers. So I think it's a very bizarre thing to see people in real life. But yes, I'm stopped a lot and it's, it's so fun. I love it. It's more like the side with glances that I'll get people like side look at me and I know they've recognised me.
And then I'll get a message later, be like, I served you at McDonald's. Was that you? And I'm like, yeah. It was me and we're like, oh hi. So we'll have like a delayed conversation of a few hours. I think the best one ever was last year, Christmas Eve. I was out with my stepmom, my dad, and my step granddad, and the waitress comes over.
She was so sweet, and she goes, are you the girl from TikTok? And before I could say anything, my dad was like, I helped made her. And I was like, dad. And my stepmom goes, I helped raise her. And then I was like, Pam. And then my step granddad goes, what's a Tiktok? And so I was just there like, I hadn't said a word.
And eventually, I was like. Yeah. Yeah, that's me after my dad and stepmom are like hugging me, like proud as punch. And my, my step Grandad, is just like, my Gramps is just like, what is happening? So I had the nice conversation, but it was very bizarre now.
Anna Moran
I love that. That's brilliant. I love that your step Grandad has absolutely no idea of the level of like fame that you have on Tic-Tac, as he calls it.
Jordana Grace
So my mom calls it now, she goes, how is the tic-tac going?
Anna Moran
How did you find out that your first viral TikTok went viral. And how did it feel? Do you remember?
Jordana Grace
I remember because, when I was staying in Brisbane, I was with my family and we had this lovely routine of going to bed at nine, getting up at six.
So I was actually at church, so I got back about nine. I showered. And it wasn't until I checked my messages for my cousin when she's like, you're on the news. I was like, what? What are you chatting about? And she sent me pictures. And so when I opened Apple News, my face was there. My face was on Apple News and I couldn't tell anyone because everyone was in bed.
It was past nine o'clock, so I had to wait till the morning to squeal and delight.
Anna Moran
Oh, I bet you didn't sleep.
Jordana Grace
And then from then it went huge. And it's because it was, it was shared. This is what happens. If you wanna get viral, share it to a mum's group.
Anna Moran
A mum's group. What.
Jordana Grace
Right. It was this Kmart video was shared to this mom's Kmart group, and as women rule the world, that's how it's done with viral videos, and that's how it was shared, and it was hilarious.
But the worst one was when I did a video on how on the Sunshine Coast there aren't cafe toilets. Like several cafes will share the one toilet. And you'll have this giant wooden dirty toilet spoon. So everyone knows why you're going that you're going to the bathroom and you're holding the giant dirty spoon.
So on Apple News, I just looked and there was my face by the headline embarrassing toilet issue, my face. So I put that on my dating profile because I was like, well, Why not?
Anna Moran
Oh, that is hilarious. So what's your plan, Jordi, are you, do you think you'll stay in Australia?
Jordana Grace
I really love my daily lifestyle here.
I love that it's pretty much good weather all year round. I know there's been a lot of rain in the last year, but I just love being in my T-shirt and shorts all year round. I love the life and I've made life for myself, so, so I've made the decision to stay and I'm hoping that I can build a career where I can travel back and forth a lot and hopefully make it a yearly visit, but I can totally understand now where Australians are like travel Europe because it's so, everything's so far away. I think I didn't appreciate in UK, like when I went back to the UK I was like, I'm gonna go to Scotland for the day because I can, and it's a 40 minute flight whereas over here, 40 minutes doesn't even get me to like the donut shop. You know? It's nothing.
Anna Moran
Yeah. And are you missing the UK? Do you miss England?
Jordana Grace
I miss, there's lots of little things I do miss. Like I love Christmas when it's cold and all the fairy lights and good cups of tea. I mainly miss the people when I went back. Even just going to places like Asda. But it's also really comforting to know that I can go back at any time.
I'm not stuck here forever. Like we haven't. Yeah, we can travel and things like that and I wanna travel Australia more. Yeah, there are things I miss, but I feel at peace in Australia.
Anna Moran
So do you have any advice for people looking to move over here?
Jordana Grace
My biggest tips for people coming over to Australia is know that Australia is multiple states and each states are different.
Like they have different sports, different lingo. It is generally the same, but keep that in mind when you're traveling. Wear sunscreen. Right. Even when it's cloudy, you will burn in cloudy weather. I think you feel like as a Brit, I'm so pressured to be outdoors every day when it's sunny, but now I've been here, I'm just like, it is okay to be inside because you are just burn in the midday. Better to be inside and go out early or in the evening.
Anna Moran
And, I don't sunbathe anymore. I used to sunbathe and when I come back to England, my friends are like, oh, you're not brown. I'm like, yeah, cause I avoid the sun.
Jordana Grace
Yeah. I think my friends are like, we are more tan than you. I'm like, I know because I went to the UK.
And you know, normally you put on the Olive oil to tan, like I put on Factor 50 Plus.
Anna Moran
If you haven't seen Jordana's TikTok videos, you can find the link on the Brit Australian website, www.britstralian.com. And you'll also find the links in the description wherever you are listening to this podcast.
We asked our Britstralian Facebook community for something they'd do in Australia that they'd never do in the UK. And guess what was popular? Seafood at Christmas. Others said, going barefoot at the supermarket. And someone else said, buying booze from a drive-through is something they'd never have done in the uk.
If you've enjoyed this podcast, please share it with your friends. Your support allows us to attract sponsors, which means we can afford to keep this going.