“We have huge environmental issues, huge social issues here,” Kay said. “I don’t want these influencers coming here and painting this fantasy picture that all is well in Byron Bay. It isn’t.”
The comedian Mandy Nolan, who has lived in Byron for 30 years and is running as the Greens candidate in the federal seat of Richmond, echoed concerns that the show would paper over the housing crisis that the town is now facing.
“Most of our friends, so many people that we know, have nowhere to live right now,” Nolan said. “They don’t really feel like you rolling into town telling a fantasy story that doesn’t exist.”