Leigh Sales is no stranger to interviewing Australia’s most high-profile figures – be they celebrities, artists, athletes or politicians.

That’s why she was tapped on the shoulder to mentor a cohort of autistic journalism students tasked with interviewing six big names (more on who later) for ABC iview’s new show The Assembly.

But, as it turns out, it wasn’t just the students who learned how to land the best interview.

Sales shared with Backstory what attracted her to the project and what new tricks she walked away with.

Why did you want to join the series?

“When ABC approached me about doing this show, I saw an episode of the French version with President Emmanuel Macron. I found it compelling,” she said.

The idea behind The Assembly originally came from France and has since been adapted and broadcast in England and Spain.

While each country has added its own flavor, the basic structure is that a group of autistic journalists get the chance to interview high-profile identities. No question is off limits.

“After years of interviewing politicians and people who dodge questions, I thought it was great to see this different take on interviews that made it much harder for guests to spin or obfuscate things,” Sales added.

In addition to showing a potentially different side to those interviewed, Sales also has broader hopes for the show.

“I hope the show might debunk some myths about autism — falsehoods like people with autism don’t feel emotions and don’t have social skills,” she said.

Did you learn anything from the students?

“I learned a ton from all of them … just about being spontaneous,” she told ABC Radio Sydney.

“It’s obvious, but in an interview, the talent will always warm to you if you ask questions from a position of natural curiosity and don’t have any kind of agenda.

“It’s the best way to interview and it was such a great reminder of that.”

Sales said the students’ questions also showed how different approaches can cut through the “spin” some guests may have prepared.

“What was interesting was that the way autistics think means they ask some very creative and original questions, and also some very direct questions,” she said.

“For example, one of my favorite questions in the series is when Dylan asks comedian Hamish Blake, ‘How much money do you have in dollars and cents?’

“And who wouldn’t be interested to see how Hamish responds when put on the spot like that?”

Sales also noted some questions from the students, including one from Silas who asked Blake, “Have you ever told a joke that you regretted?”

Another “amazing question” that took her by surprise was when Savannah asked radio host Amanda Keller, “Do you love your husband?”

“On the surface it seems like unusual phrases, but in fact it triggers huge emotions in Amanda because her wonderful husband, Harley, has Parkinson’s disease and Amanda has reflected a lot about how much she loves Harley and how important he has been to her life,” Sales said.

“I thought all six guests showed a different side of themselves than in regular interviews, simply because the autistic students asked very different questions to neurotypical interviewers!”

What surprised you about doing the show?

“How emotionally invested I became in the participants,” she said.

“I always wanted them to do well and wanted them to be happy and feel more confident in themselves.

“In return, they made me feel like they had a lot of confidence in me and they gave me a lot of warmth and affection.”

That connection meant that during the interviews, instead of a laser focus on whether the interviewee answered the question or not, her attention was elsewhere.

“Instead of being alert to what the guest was saying and thinking to myself where to take things, I was alert to the students and how they were going,” Sales said.

“For example, I would think, ‘Evie looks worried, will she continue with her questions,’ or ‘Dylan is very restless, should I go get a fidget spinner (a device that helps autistic people self-regulate)’ and subtly hand it over to him?’

“Or sometimes one of the students might call me over and whisper that they didn’t want to ask a question on their list, or they wanted some other kind of reassurance.”

How was it to turn the tables?

While The Assembly’s official guest list is six people long – Sam Neill, Hamish Blake, Anthony Albanese, Delta Goodrem, Adam Goodes and Amanda Keller – as it turns out, there was a seventh interview.