‘You Can’t Ask That’ producer shares the most difficult question he’s ever asked
The co-creator and producer of the ABC’s show, You Can’t Ask That, has answered some tough questions of his own, revealing which were the most confronting questions to ask guests.
Sydneysider Kirk Docker has interviewed “misunderstood, marginalised” Australians for seven seasons of the ABC show, with the latest season seeing him speak to bogans, models and porn stars across the 30-minute episodes.
While reflecting on his time on the show, Mr Docker said the “most confronting question” he’s asked was during the season seven episode on dementia.
The question posed to guests with the incurable condition was: “Do you want to kill yourself before you become a vegetable?”, which Mr Docker described as “insensitive”.
“This person knows that they’re deteriorating and the idea of calling them a vegetable, which is what they are going to become, and that you ultimately want to end your life before you become this thing that no one wants, that’s the most horrible thought,” he told the ABC.
“I was nervous about asking that, because I knew that it’s a delicate subject matter and it was hard, too, because of the coronavirus, I had to do some of those interviews via the internet, which I don’t really like doing because with those sorts of questions they can’t feel my energy in the room.”
The episode tackling postnatal depression, also in season seven, was another difficult one for Mr Docker to get through due to the topic’s sensitive nature.
“In this year’s episode on postnatal depression the question, ‘Did you want to hurt your baby?’ I think was a particularly tough question, but the answer, overwhelmingly, was: ‘I was expecting this one to be in there and here’s the truth’,” he explained.
Despite the harsh nature of the show, which spans asking bogans “what’s with the mullet?” to questioning overweight people about why they’re fat or don’t exercise, the guests - who are open to sharing their experiences and their stories are treated with respect.
Season seven of You Can’t Ask That airs on ABC TV every Wednesday night and is available to watch in its entirety on ABC iView.
Image: ABC TV