California’s special election to recall current governor Gavin Newsom is just two months away, but Caitlyn Jenner apparently has no qualms with putting her gubernatorial campaign on pause in order to shoot another season of reality television.
The former Olympian landed in Sydney, Australia, this week, according to local Adelaide tabloid The Advertiser, where she will now have to quarantine for two weeks before filming for the new season of Celebrity Big Brother begins. While the show has yet to confirm Jenner’s casting on the program, according to the outlet she is expected to be paid roughly $372,500 for the appearance.
The aspiring politician was last spotted in Malibu on Tuesday going on a Starbucks run during a “busy day of meetings,” per the Daily Mail, wearing a white “Caitlyn for California” T-shirt and chatting with various constituents. If reports of her casting are true, it’s unclear if Jenner will make it back to the state in time to do a final campaign push or even to vote for herself in person. In addition to quarantining for two weeks in Australia, the Daily Mail reports that the filming of Big Brother has also typically taken two months to complete, which would place her return well past the September 14 election date.
The reality star first announced her bid for office on April 23, revealing that she was running on a Republican platform that includes lowering taxes and loosening regulation to make California more pro-business and addressing the homelessness and affordable housing crises. But even without this impromptu trip Down Under, Jenner wasn’t exactly leading the pack of special-election candidates. In a May poll conducted by the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, Jenner ranked fourth among the GOP hopefuls with just 6% of support. As a political novice, she trailed behind Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor of San Diego; John Cox, a 2018 candidate for governor; and Doug Ose, a former congressman. The poll also revealed that only 36% of those surveyed support recalling Newsom, making Jenner’s campaign a long shot even if she was still in the States.
But even so, she claims the polls are not to be trusted, telling Politico last week, “Honestly, I’m not concerned about the polling. I guarantee you that I am in the lead.”
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