I’m sure this is your area of expertise, so please help! My friend is a singer and makes her own music. She uploads her songs to her TikTok and Youtube, and even has one on Spotify. She is so talented but just can’t seem to get noticed. How can she get her songs played on the radio? I would love to be able to help her achieve her dream.
Thank you, Charlotte
Hi Charlotte,
You’re such a good friend doing this! I’ve been in radio for about 33 years now, so I know how this goes and, unfortunately, it’s not easy. In the old days, radio programmers would listen to almost every song that landed on their desks and choose ones that fit their format to add to the playlist, but it doesn’t work like that any more.
Commercial radio stations have strict formats, choosing their music based on research and reputation. It’s extremely hard to get a new artist heard. Each week, a representative from each record company visits the content director and plays them the songs they’re trying to push. The radio station then decides which songs will make the cut. If it’s a proven artist like Pink or Ed Sheeran, there is almost no question – their music will always do well. If the artist is unheard of, the content director considers if the song fits the format of the radio station and if the listeners will love the song.
So your friend needs to have a record company promoting her to radio. Record companies are always looking for the next hot talent, but they are very picky when it comes to signing someone new. There are literally millions of musicians touting their songs online in hope of getting noticed but very few stand out. So your friend must stand out!
She can sing? Yes. She can make her own music? Yes. But what is unique and different about her? And how much of a following does she organically have? A record company will ask her to grow a following and then come see them again. They don’t take many risks with new artists because there are so many. If your friend gains popularity and grows her fanbase, the record company will not be able to ignore her!
So my advice is to get her to keep working on her music and play as many gigs as possible (the local café on a Sunday etc) to start building her fanbase and followers online. It will be her fans who make the record companies notice her and, once she’s signed, she’s on her way to being played on the radio. I wish her the best of luck. All big artists started somewhere, so tell her not to give up!
Love, Jay-Jay
A problem shared is a problem halved! Send your sticky issues to Jay-Jay – email [email protected].
It was while executing a hasty exit from a surf boat to breastfeed her baby that Amy Spiekerman came up with the idea for her business, Ocean Mumma.
Contorting her togs to feed her young daughter, the active young mother thought, “There’s got to be an easier way.”
“I’ve lived in swimwear my whole life, going from competitive swimming to surf lifesaving,” says Amy, 32, who decided to take matters into her own hands and design pregnancy and breastfeeding-friendly swimwear. “I found it frustrating not having swimwear that met my needs.”
It’s a venture she fits around her working life as a paramedic. And while it’s taken many late nights and moments snatched with napping babes to make her business dream a reality, Amy knows it’s all worth it.
Launched in January last year, Ocean Mumma was ready just in time for Amy to test it herself after giving birth to her second daughter Layla, now nine months.
“Life is absolute chaos at the moment, but I like to be busy and I want my daughters to know they can do anything they put their minds too,” she explains.
Amy and husband Dwight with Layla (left) and Lexie.
From their coastal Paekākāriki home, Amy tells how she loves that her business incorporates things close to her heart – motherhood and the ocean.
“I’m a lover of all forms of water, but especially the ocean, since forever,” says Amy, who is also mum to four-year-old Lexie with husband Dwight, 42.
“Having been a surf lifeguard for the past 18 years – and spending my life at the beach or in the ocean – it was really important to me that my swimwear does not come at the cost of the environment.”
And so she set out to find an eco-friendly fabric solution to divert waste from ending up in the sea. Amy also donates a percentage of each sale to conservation organisation Live Ocean.
There’s a synchronicity, Amy tells, that discarded fishing nets are among the waste that’s been regenerated into her creations.
“Our swimwear is created from upcycled, regenerated nylon yarn made from waste such as plastic bottles, fabric scraps, carpet fluff, industrial plastics and fishing nets, saving them from ending up in landfills and in our oceans.
“This waste is melted down and made into plastic chips before being made into fabric fibres.”
Going swimmingly! As well as being comfy, Amy’s designs are made with eco-friendly fabric.
Each metre of fabric used is made up of 78 percent recycled nylon from waste and 22 percent is elastane.
Making sure she found a supplier that aligned with her values has been a challenge, but worth it to be working with a Bali-based solar-powered factory supplier, who also donates to grassroots organisations and supports women’s education.
“I want women to feel comfortable and confident in their swimwear and make memories with their little ones,” enthuses Amy.
“With my second pregnancy, I’ve really struggled to accept my post-partum body. Being someone who has never really struggled with this before, it gave me a new insight into how many women – too many – feel daily and reminded me why Ocean Mumma was started.”
Amy hopes this commitment to self-acceptance and love will have a positive effect on her girls as they grow up.
“They’re so amazing, I don’t want them to be so caught up in their body image,” tells Amy. “I’m trying to role model that, ‘Yes, my body has changed because I had two babies and that’s just life.’
The active mum lives in swimsuits, so needed a way to breastfeed.
“Because I come from a paramedic background, with Lexie we’ve been really open. I don’t want to hide anything about how the body works.”
With this in mind, Amy has plans to be more inclusive of post-partum bodies and women in different seasons of life by expanding the brand’s sizes to 8-20.
Continually in awe of the women in her own world, Amy has named each style of swimsuit after women who have been by her side, inspiring and supporting her as she tackles motherhood.
“The Cathy swimsuit, for example, is named after my mum, who is always supporting me and giving me advice on how to grow a business while being the ultimate role model.
“The Helen swimsuit is named after my amazing grandma, who is a mother of eight children, including my mum. The Elly bikini top is named after my Oma.”
Many friends and, of course, her cherished daughters Lexie and Layla – have also gained naming rights as Amy builds a legacy to be proud of.
“It’s a little scary and out of my comfort zone, but that also feels like a good thing.”
On the day her twin sons were born, The Real Housewives Of Melbourne star Jackie Gillies recalls her husband, Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies, had an epiphany.
She remembers, “I was lying there after my C-section and Ben said, ‘I need to write a book. I don’t want my boys googling me when they’re older and piecing together stories from the internet – I want them to hear it from me. I want to be raw and honest, and I want my boys to be proud.'”
Jackie, who’s also a psychic medium, says Ben’s recent autobiography Love & Pain, which he co-wrote with bandmate Chris Joannou, was a “healing experience” for them.
“This was about Ben being transparent and opening up about his mental health struggles,” explains Jackie, 43, who’s now competing with her hubby on The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition. “He’d never spoken about his alcohol addiction, but he also wanted to celebrate the success of Silverchair because he always says, ‘If it wasn’t for the fans, we couldn’t do what we do.'”
For Ben, 44, putting pen to paper was a cathartic experience. “Writing that book, retracing memories and shared moments, was a mix of emotions,” he says. “Chris and I wanted to be brutally honest and vulnerable. Some parts were like therapy, while others took a bit to dig deep into.”
Ben, Daniel Johns (centre) and Chris found fame as Silverchair.
Digging deep was something Ben and Jackie had to do on the Amazing Race. “It was like being in a pressure cooker,” Jackie tells. “Ben is calm and I have my fiery Croatian side. His collectedness got us through a lot of the challenges.”
While Ben jokes he and Jackie are as different as “night and day”, he believes their differences became their strengths during the race. “When one of us was down, the other would step up,” he says. “We balance each other out.”
Explaining why he was excited by the opportunity to do the Amazing Race, Ben adds, “It’s one of those life experiences you chase – the thrill of the unknown and the sheer excitement of what each day brings.”
While Jackie also loved their adventure, being away from their two-year-old twins Rocco and Bonham proved trying.
“I got really emotional a few times,” she says. “I missed my chipolatas so much!”
Making twins Rocco and Bonham proud.
Ben continues, “It’s the longest we’ve been apart since the boys came into our lives. I missed them too, but they gave us strength – hopefully, they can watch us back one day and be proud of their mum and dad.”
Jackie and Ben went through seven rounds of IVF and suffered a devastating miscarriage on their journey to becoming parents. Jackie recalls, “When I heard the heartbeat, everything was fine. The next time we went and the heartbeat wasn’t there, it really affected me.”
She was 38 when she started fertility treatment and was confident getting pregnant would be easy. She urges women who are delaying having children to freeze their eggs so they don’t endure the same trauma.
Years before she became a mum, Jackie was on TV when she predicted she’d have twins. But even before that, Jackie’s psychic abilities were clear. As a teen, she had a Silverchair poster on her wall and told her mum she was going to marry Ben one day. When she was 29 and still single, she told her father, “I’m going to be married by the time I’m 30.”
“Dad told me I was crazy,” Jackie laughs. “But after running into Ben at a party and then a year of platonic friendship, we kissed. Two days later, he proposed with the exact ring I had on my manifestation board. I was married the day before my 30th birthday.”
Jackie also “manifested” her role on The Real Housewives after falling in love with the Beverly Hills series. She reveals, “Without even knowing an Aussie version was in the works, I’d been put forward by a producer friend. When I went to a casting, one of the directors was testing me. I said her grandfather’s name was Josef. She said I was wrong and that his name was David.
“But after calling her mum, she learnt that while he went by David, his name was originally Josef and he was a Holocaust survivor. She asked, ‘How did you know that?’ I said, ‘Because I’m psychic and I’m going to be on this show!'”
Jackie was the first to be cast for the series, which ran for five seasons from 2014 and is now rumoured to be cancelled, but after The Amazing Race, she hopes to return to TV. “I’d love to do some kind of psychic show where I go to someone’s home and transform their lives.”
The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition screens 8pm Monday to Thursday on TVNZ 2.
After marrying her partner of 10 years, Clarke Gayford, in Hawke’s Bay vineyard Craggy Range Winery, beautiful bride Dame Jacinda Ardern posted a picture of the newlyweds, writing, “Worth the wait.”
A source close to the couple says, “It was a beautiful and relaxed occasion – full of love and laughter. Even an ineffective group of protesters and a helicopter hired by overseas media to try to take shots from the air didn’t spoil the vibe. The guests happily waited it out until the chopper gave up.”
The former prime minister, 43, looked radiant in a halter-neck gown by Kiwi designer and wedding guest Juliette Hogan, while Clarke, 47, wore a custom Zambesi suit. Walking down the aisle with her dad was their daughter Neve, five, in a frock made of fabric from her grandmother Laurell’s wedding dress.
The longtime couple’s day was a “beautiful and relaxed occasion – full of love and laughter”.
Former deputy PM Grant Robertson officiated the wedding, with guests including Labour leader Chris Hipkins and his partner Toni Grace, Clarke’s ex Hollie Smith and celebrity chef Peter Gordon.
As soon as the couple said “I do“, there were oysters and bubbles, followed by dinner and dancing, with Kiwi musician Marlon Williams doing an “amazing” cover of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game. “All the women – and a few dudes – swooned!”
The following day, friends and family gathered at Lawn Road Retreat for a recovery barbecue and a dip in the pool to beat the 34-degree heat. Later, a smaller group, including Clarke, MC Tali and
DJ Aroha Harawira, spent an afternoon at Hastings bar Common Room, where DJ Bobby Brazuka and Fat Freddy’s Drop saxophonist Scott Towers were playing. We’re told, “The locals weren’t in the least bit fazed by the groom’s presence.”
It’s thought the newlyweds left Hawke’s Bay last Monday to return to Boston, where they’re based.
Fourteen years ago, when Beau Ryan walked onto the set of Sky Sport’s The Footy Show and did his first piece to camera, he thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. With hindsight, he realises he was anything but.
“I was awful,” admits the former NRL star, 38. “But I thought it was the greatest thing ever. As soon as the red light came on, it awakened something inside of me that I wanted to take to the next level. That’s happened every time I’ve been on camera since.”
Beau is now a regular face on our screens as the host of The Amazing Race Australia and he’ll soon host the rebooted series of Gladiators.
“I saw my old business studies teacher the other day and we spoke about how I always liked to be the centre of attention,” laughs Beau. “I always wanted to entertain people, but I was too focused on being an NRL player.”
Travelling through Asia to host The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition took Beau away from his wife Kara and their children, Remi, 10, and Jesse, six, for more than a month.
With wife Kara, son Jesse and daughter Remi.
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without my phone,” he tells. “I need to call them daily. For the kids, it’s a chore – they don’t want to talk to Dad – but I selfishly need to.”
As Beau approaches 40, he reveals his one regret.
“I wish I got to play rugby league for longer,” he says of his 126 games for the Tigers and Sharks between 2007 and 2014. “My son wasn’t born then and I would’ve loved him to see me be a part of that. I had my daughter quite young and she was a big part of my career. Watching her look back at the photos and tell stories to a friend feels pretty special.”
Perhaps referring to his highly public affair with Hi-5 singer Lauren Brant, Beau says his life has had “lots of ups and downs”, but he insists, “Everything has pointed me to this moment, so I’m really happy.”
Wearing his favourite red t-shirt that says “96 and counting”, Russell Parrish appears from his bedroom ready for our Weekly photoshoot and jokes he is like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.
Funny, fit and humble, the spry nonagenarian then ushers us on to his apartment balcony in the Logan Campbell Retirement Village, pointing out the nearby obelisk on the summit of One Tree Hill.
The landmark now serves as a reminder to Russell of his recent remarkable feat – walking up to the top of the mountain every day for a month, in rain, hail or shine, motivated to honour his late wife Mary.
After nearly 70 years of marriage, Mary died in the village’s dementia unit last year, aged 91.
Russell says the lifetime of memories the couple shared together in Cornwall Park were with him every day of his pilgrimage, which also raised $2000 for the Move for Dementia charity.
“I initially only signed up to please the recreational staff here,” he chuckles. “Rashly, I said, ‘Okay, I’ll try and walk to the top of One Tree Hill every day in September.’
“Prior to that, I had been walking up to the summit once every few weeks and thinking ‘Will this be my last time?’ because I knew I was pushing my limit.
“Then that first day in September, I went up and I thought, ‘What have I done saying I’ll do this every day?’ But my pig-headedness kept me going. If I decide I’m going to do something, I don’t like to give up.”
Russell married love-of-his-life Mary in 1952.
Finding that his eyesight was rapidly deteriorating, however, Russell enlisted help being escorted up Maungakiekie by his son Murray, daughter Carol and son-in-law John, who he nicknamed “Sherpa one, two and three”.
It’s an achievement he’s “moderately proud” of.
“I’m a slow learner – I took three attempts to get school certificate at Mount Albert Grammar – and have never been used to any notoriety. So I hope at 96, talking about my walking isn’t too brash.
“I’m well past the age of wishing to appear as a sort of stud!”
He reckons Mary would have joined him on the challenge if she had been here today and able to.
The pair trekked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in their eighties and completed numerous Round the Bays fun runs together.
“Oh, she was lovely,” he says, showing us a photo of her in her nurse’s uniform. “We met at a New Lynn Scottish Society dance.
Carol and John were with Russell every step of the way.
“My mates and I used to go to these dances and one night, two very attractive redheads turned up that we hadn’t seen before. They were student nurses who had come up from the country to do their training at Greenlane Hospital. We danced with them and when I walked Mary to her bus, I asked, ‘May I see you again?'”
She replied yes, but only on a friendship basis, before explaining that after she finished her training, she planned to head back to Thames to marry her boyfriend Don.
“I agreed that was fine,” says Russell. “With no romantic baggage in the background, it was much more relaxed and we had a great time developing a friendship for 12 months.”
But it eventually turned into a deep affection.
“Being Scottish, Mary was very outgoing, forthright and unseemly, I suppose. One night while we were out, she’d said something which had made others glare at her and she told me, ‘Poor Don, all his life he’s going to be embarrassed by my behaviour.’ I said, ‘No, he’s a lucky man. I’d change places with him!’
“When I met her the next week, she said she’d written to her fiancé and told him their engagement was off because she wanted to marry me instead. I was so lucky. If I hadn’t said that flippant remark, I don’t know where I’d be.”
A high tea with his queen Mary.
For 73 years, Cornwall Park became central to the Epsom couple’s life through courtship, maternity hospital ordeals, raising five children and retirement.
They often walked hand in hand through the urban oasis “as a way to get away from five teenagers” and when the jogging craze began in 1973, they started running together.
In recent years, when it became evident that Mary was facing cognitive issues, Russell was able to care for her until advancing Alzheimer’s necessitated her transfer to secure care.
“She was mainly the one who made our marriage a success because she was so reasonable and tolerant,” he reflects with a smile.
“I loved everything about her. To me, our marriage hasn’t finished just because she’s no longer present. I still sign cards ‘From Russell and Mary’ because love continues forever.”
One summer’s day in January 1940, a schoolteacher in her late twenties by the name of Mary Arlidge was driving her Baby Austin 7 motorcar to Lake Waikaremoana when her tyre burst. She was in a remote part of the North Island, which was not an ideal spot for a flat tyre. Or so she thought.
A bloke in his mid-thirties – evidently, quite a charming chap – by the name of Lionel Jones happened to be driving past. Also a teacher, Lionel did the chivalrous, decent thing and pulled over to help her change the tyre. And without giving every detail in the life and times of Tim Roxborogh and all his prequels, Mary must’ve appreciated Lionel’s skills with a jack so much that they were married the Christmas of 1940, before starting a family in the spring of 1941. Their third child was Jenny Jones, who would one day become Jenny Roxborogh and have four children of her own. The youngest of those was me.
So, in short, no flat tyre on my late granny’s Baby Austin 7 in the early years of World War II, then no baby Austin Dean Roxborogh, born 22 August 2023! Though that said, one of my favourite memories from my wedding day in 2017 was my wife Aimee’s 96-year-old grandmother, June Cosgrove, surveying the reception and declaring in her regal way, ‘None of these people would be here if not for me!’
I guess the lessons are that humans need each other. And coincidences, twists of fate and perhaps even a bit of divine intervention are present in all family mythologies.
The story begins with Mary and her Baby Austin 7… plus chivalrous husband Lionel.
The first time I heard about Granny and the Baby Austin 7 was the day our own baby Austin was born, as relayed by my parents. With Aimee of the age where it’s considered an unnecessary risk to allow a pregnancy to go past the due date, we arrived at Waitākere Hospital early on the morning of 22 August to be induced.
It was during a brief run of perfect blue-sky late-winter’s weather, meaning we could sit outside by a stormwater pond in between sessions of Aimee swallowing small vials of special liquid.
By mid-afternoon, we thought we were going to be in it for the long haul. No sign of any contractions and a growing sense that the serenity of a stormwater pond can only stretch so far, our minds were drifting to tales of women waiting up to three days before labour arrives.
Back in the hospital for another vial, it was at 4.05pm that Aimee felt the first twinge. I know this because I saved the Notes folder on my phone labelled ‘Contractions’. The next one came 22 minutes later at 4.27pm. So far, so normal, except not, because the third contraction was at 4.28pm. One minute later!
It was a speedy delivery for Aimee and Tim.
Then with contractions every one to three minutes, frantic calls were made, a painful trudge to the birthing suite conquered and while standing up, Aimee went through what was clearly the most intense contraction yet. But definitely just a contraction…
It was 5.55pm, less than two hours from that first twinge. And then we heard it. A cry. Given Aimee was still upright, let’s just say our midwife Annie pulled off one of the catches of the century, ably assisted by my sister-in-law Tiria. Austin Dean Roxborogh had entered the world! And just like she was when his sister Riley was born four years earlier, Aimee’s mum Kathy was on hand to cut the cord.
No one believes me, but entirely by chance, he arrived to a Bee Gees song too. My lifelong Gibb obsession is widely documented, but I swear I’d made two playlists of birthing songs tailored to Aimee’s tastes and not mine. There were the relaxing tunes for the labour and then the inspiring, uptempo ones for the big push! Only problem was, Austin appeared so quickly, we never got to the big-push playlist. As luck would have it, out of more than 100 Aimee-centric relaxing songs, Spotify just happened upon one of the deep Bee Gees cuts I’d snuck in there. God bless the algorithm. Or perhaps it was meant to be?
Big sister Riley’s smitten with her little brother.
Several months on, life is hectic and relentless. Tiredness feels a permanent affliction and I’m craving exercise. And sugar. And carbs. But through the chaos, there’s joy and gratitude. Aimee’s an incredible wife and mother, and her dedication to being the best parent she can be is inspiring.
As for Austin’s big sister Riley, she couldn’t be more proud of her baby brother. She adores him and judging by his extremely cute, one-dimpled smile, the feeling is mutual.
My parents thought we’d named Austin after the car from the story 80-something years ago, but I insisted on no memory of ever having heard that family yarn before. Which makes it even better. And even though we chose ‘Austin’ for a whole variety of reasons, including its traditional associations with leadership and with being a good, dignified person, who isn’t a sucker for a great twist of fate?”
Ralph Brown, Nick Taylor, Sam Hartnett, Babiche Martens, Hōhua Kurene
On the morning of their wedding in 2017, Lissy and Rudi Robinson-Cole stood on the verandah of their gorgeous Ōtāhuhu villa in Auckland, pledging their life together would be filled with love and creativity.
They had crafted lanterns and table decorations for their nuptials, planned menus and cooked food for whānau, arranged flowers, and stencilled the word LOVE in giant letters across a huge wooden fence.
“We were totally in the zone getting ready for the wedding, when Lissy comes up and says, ‘Come on, come on, we have to go and pray, and put out to the universe that we are going to be using our creativity to work together full-time,'” Rudi recalls. “We knew that we worked really well together and it was how we wanted to be living, so we went out on our deck and we put it out there into the universe! It was a very pivotal moment for us.”
Nearly seven years on, the couple has fulfilled that promise in a way that they might not have imagined in even their wildest dreams.
Guided by the spirits of their tūpuna (ancestors), and encouraged by their whānau and friends, they have created one of the most unique and talked-about projects in New Zealand art – a full-sized crocheted and vibrantly coloured Māori meeting house, Wharenui Harikoa, which translates to House of Joy.
The couple’s Wharenui Harikoa project was a labour of love.
Lissy (of Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Kahu descent) and Rudi (Ngaruahine, Te Arawa, Ngāti Paoa and Waikato-Tainui) describe it as a “refracting prism of tūpuna-inspired light that shines across the sky like a rainbow”. It combines their shared love of creating – Lissy is a fashion designer and crochet artist, while Rudi is a carver and welder/fabricator – and has seen them work fully in sync with one another.
“It’s a love story,” says Lissy. “It’s a love story between Rudi and I. It’s a love story for our tūpuna. It’s a love story for our whānau. It’s a love story for our culture. Rudi and I have such definitive roles in what we do. He is a nuts-and-bolts kind of guy, detail-oriented, but don’t give me details! Don’t ask me nuts-and-bolts questions! My role is to dream, to manifest, to hustle and to jump on opportunities.”
Rudi carved the structures of Wharenui Harikoa from polystyrene, which have been covered in neon-hued woollen crocheted creations. While most of the designs are the couple’s own, they have also collaborated with artists from New Zealand and around the world.
The project has linked Lissy and Rudi back to their ancestors, built new bonds with their own whānau and celebrated te ao Māori. Lissy adds that their guiding purpose is to explore the pain and loss we all experience in life, but to take audiences on a healing journey that breaks down barriers, brings people together and spreads joy.
Vibrant colours are a big part of that, chosen because they make Lissy’s heart sing. “I thought to myself, ‘What is it about neon that we love so much?’ It’s because it just brings joy! They’re so bright. They’re unapologetic colours. They’re loud, they’re proud and they’re in your face.” Her love of colour may owe something to her late father, fashion designer Colin Cole. From the 1950s to his untimely death in the ’80s, Lissy recalls their Mt Eden home, where she was raised with her seven sisters, and his Parnell studio being filled with colour, gorgeous fabric and “all the beautiful things in life”.
But Lissy, whose daughter Jazmin now works alongside her and Rudi, also knows darkness. Colin passed away when Lissy was in her teens and then her mother died when she was 24. Ten years later, in 2004, her youngest sister, Annabel, died in a car accident. Lissy remembers being grief-stricken for months after Annabel’s death, then starting to hear her sister’s voice telling her that life is fleeting and if you’re unhappy, you should take steps to make things better.
Rudi grew up in the Kaingaroa Forest, near Rotorua, where his father and brothers were forestry workers. He likes to say he was brought up with a chainsaw in his hands. He tells, “When my grandmother and her friends got together to do things like crochet and macramé, me and the rest of the men would head to the tool shed!”
Rudi and Lissy have a global vision for their designs.
Like Lissy, he left school early and began working in hospitality, before switching careers and becoming a welder/fabricator. Rudi later tutored welding and fabrication at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, where he learnt whakairo (carving) from fellow tutors.
He and Lissy met through mutual friends in 2014 after their first marriages ended. While Lissy followed in Annabel’s footsteps and studied public relations, she felt as if something was missing from her life. With Rudi’s encouragement, she took a big leap into fashion design and started her own clothing label but struggled to make it work in a highly competitive industry.
Life changed when Lissy watched a YouTube clip about crocheting and decided to try to make a blanket. But she found it hard to stick with rigid patterns to create neat-looking and evenly-shaped squares. Then she discovered the work of yarn street artists – yarn bombers – who use colourful wool creations rather than spray paint to brighten up urban environments.
“I had been immediately obsessed with crochet, but I was getting really frustrated because I was watching YouTube and thinking, ‘I cannot do this perfectly and everybody on YouTube does this perfectly,’ and that’s when I discovered London Kaye, whose style was so free and just so cool.”
When a friend challenged Lissy and Rudi to put out a yarn bomb in their own neighbourhood in 2018, they created a poppy for a motorway overbridge to commemorate Anzac Day. The response was over-whelming, with people commenting on how much they loved it. Soon their fence was festooned with colourful crochet creations.
“People were loving what we were doing at home and saying, ‘We love coming by and seeing what new thing you’ve put up in the neighbourhood.’ Then I was like, ‘Hey, let’s crochet the car – let’s take this joy on wheels!’ It was an amazing experience to drive around in the car because people were blown away by it, just freaking out about what is really such a simple thing.”
Exhibitions of their work followed, then came the idea for Wharenui Harikoa, which has garnered support from all sectors of the art world. South Island-based Outlaw Yarn created a new collection of super-chunky yarn in the dazzling colours found throughout the whare and immersive media company iSparx devised a downloadable app so Wharenui Harikoa can be explored from afar.
“Rudi and I are open to seeing where this journey takes us, but we do have a global vision for it,” says Lissy. “Working on this has taught us that anything is possible when it’s done in love. Anything is possible when you really connect deeply with your tūpuna and you just allow your life to unfold, rather than trying to fight things or make things happen.”
Wharenui Harikoa will be on public display at Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato until 17 March.
Get your whisks and spoons at the ready – The Great Kiwi Bake Off is back for a flan-tastic new season! This year, 10 keen bakers from across New Zealand are preparing to dish up some un-dough-tedly brilliant plates from the bake barn on Auckland’s stunning West Coast, in the hope of measuring up to judges Peter Gordon and Jordan Rondel’s standards.
Under the watchful eye of hosts Hayley Sproull and Pax Assadi, our amateur bakers will do their best to butter everyone up and win the ultimate baking battle. Who will fall flat and who will rise to the top? Let’s meet the bakers to find out more. Batter up!
Who won The Great Kiwi Bake Off season 4?
Baker Brooke Walker took out the top prize in 2022’s season.
He ate all the pies – then lost 80kg and discovered a sweet tooth! An avid runner, health-conscious Josh says baking helps him relax, and it’s his way of showing his love and appreciation to his family and friends. We’re told to expect some gorgeous presentation from Josh – but apparently time management isn’t his strong point…
ANNA WAINWRIGHT, 28, teacher
Aucklander Anna, who lives with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), wants to inspire the kids she teaches to follow their dreams. A keen baker since she was little, Anna is fascinated with the concept of playing with recipes to see what happens. A fan of creating cooking videos for TikTok, Anna’s signature bake is her cinnamon buns.
DEVONEY SCARFE, 47, commercial artist
Auckland-based Devoney and her husband own a creative agency, but she’s got a guilty secret – she’ll do anything she can to dodge work, to go home and bake! She’s even got an Instagram account dedicated to her pie-making. A lover of music, art and animals, Devoney reckons nothing would be sweeter than taking home the crown of New Zealand’s best baker.
AIDAN WOODWARD, 42, electrician/registered nurse
Nelson resident Aidan is no stranger to Bake Off challenges – he was just one hurdle away from making it onto the British version in 2012. Aidan’s strengths include attention to detail and creativity, and he’s happy baking anything from a scone to a croquembouche.
CHANTELLE REIHANA, 23, model/hospitality
She’s taken to the stage as a model for the World of Wearable Arts in 2022, but this time, Chantelle wants to blow everyone away with her baking skills. A self-confessed perfectionist, she describes herself as Jade Thirwall from The Great British Bake Off meets Martha Stewart! Chantelle says showcasing her baking skills on the show fulfils a childhood dream.
LILLIAN WRIGGLESWORTH, 56, homemaker
After losing her leg in an accident in 2022, Lillian says it’s about time the Bake Off kitchen has someone with a disability. With a vast baking repertoire, Lillian isn’t afraid to try anything – once, at least! When the Amberley homemaker isn’t baking, she loves sewing, gardening, crafts and socialising.
JOSEPHINE TJANDRA, 36, food analyst
With a degree in food science, Josephine is skilled at creating her own recipes – which means, for better or worse, they’re always unique! The Palmerston North-based baker makes some interesting creations, including caramel soy sauce seaweed. But her personal favourite is caramel popcorn, which she reckons has a balanced sweetness and is super-crispy too.
PAUL DICKSON, 45, founder of Oke Charity
Baking is a stress-reliever for Paul, whose charity, Oke, provides Kiwi kids with the opportunity to learn life and social skills through gardening at school. Paul bakes with his son and is planning to bring a bit of “Brummie flavour” from his UK birthplace to the show. He’s also planning on squeezing out a smile or two from the judges – good luck with that one!
SALLY EAGLE, 37, wedding dress designer
A baker since childhood, Wellingtonian Sally’s creations certainly take the cake! She adores decorating the results and believes that unlike a painting, which is designed to last, her creations are made to be eaten, so she’ll decorate as if there’s no tomorrow – which for many of her bakes, there isn’t! Her favourite task is to hand-paint a cake.
DANIELLE WINDFUHR, 39, executive assistant
As a coeliac, you’d be forgiven for wondering why Danielle has chosen baking, but the Aucklander says she’s happy to make things without tasting them. Danielle is also a big Dungeons and Dragons fan, so expect some wild creations here! Doughnuts are her signature bake.
The Great Kiwi Bake Off screens Thursday, January 25 at 7.30pm on TVNZ 1 .
Work it, girls! Work those angles! Give it to them!” actor and Celebrity Treasure Island contestant Eds Eramiha yells as his two gorgeous daughters, Manawa and Tuihana, pose at our Woman’s Day photoshoot at top Auckland eatery Metita.
He’s delighted when our makeup artist says he’s had an easy job because these young women are so genetically blessed. “They’re beautiful, né?” a proud Eds, 36, agrees as he hugs each one under a muscly arm. “I could hear that every day.”
As they perform for the photographer, it’s clear the girls have also inherited some of their dad’s prowess in front of a camera. Laughing, the Dead Lands and Vegas actor jokes, “I’m their momager!”
However, it hasn’t been an easy road for Eds, who is of Ngāpuhi descent, to get into the spotlight where he now finds himself. Raised by his grandmother, it wasn’t until he was 10 that he met his parents and then he left home at 14.
Although Eds currently resides in Auckland, while his girls live with different whānau members in Northland, he tries to spend as much time he can with them.
“I didn’t want Manawa and Tuihana to also come from a fatherless generation,” he explains quietly. “I’m very much still in their lives.”
The proud dad with daughters Manawa (left) and Tuihana.
The girls recently travelled down to the big smoke to see their dad speak at the M9 hui, where he appeared alongside Shortland Street stars Ngahuia Piripi, Ben Mitchell, Kura Forrester and Miriama Smith, and talked about turning childhood pain into art.
His daughters are clearly as enamoured of Eds as he is of them and they love seeing his work.
Tuihana, 18, especially enjoys seeing him do kapa haka, boasting, “He performed with Ngā Tūmanako, who are the best in New Zealand. It’s really hard to make it into that team, so we’re really proud.”
Meanwhile, Manawa, 15, loves his TV work, particularly Vegas and precolonial drama Kairākau, but it was his M9 speech that blew her away. She says, “It was very emotional and funny. It was cool hearing about his journey.”
They only see their dad every few months, but they try to make the most of what time they do have together.
“It’s pretty hard,” admits Manawa. “We miss him, but we do lots of fun stuff when we do see him. Dad takes us to the movies, escape rooms, Rainbow’s End, scootering… He’s very happy all the time and really encouraging, like, ‘You can do it!’ I love that side of him.”
When asked what they’re most proud of about their dad, the two whisper in te reo to each other. Eventually, Manawa declares, “I’m just proud – he’s my dad!” Nodding, the quieter Tuihana adds, “He’s a really hard worker.”
An emotional Eds later tells us, “As a parent, you never hear that your kids are proud of you. It’s really special. I didn’t get all this stuff as a kid, but I’ve been determined not just to show my girls how to turn opportunities into success, but also how to deal with the struggles with hard work, determination and focus.
“Now, though, I have to let them go because that’s another part of life – understanding your own path in this world. They’re not my little girls any more.”
Flexing his muscles on CTI
Eds split from his daughters’ mother when their youngest was born, but he insists the separation was “nice and mature”. He explains, “I get on with their mum, her partner and their whole family. We have to make that bond for the girls. With co-parenting, it’s so important to have that respect and love for each other.”
Single for four years, Eds says he is open to the idea of romance. “If it happens, it happens. I’m not a chaser!” As for having more kids, he jokes, “These are the only girls I can afford right now!”
Eds has a busy 2024 ahead, with roles in top-secret TVNZ and Netflix shows, but his production of Hatupatu/Kurungaituku: A Forbidden Love is particularly close to his heart. Based on the legend of the Te Arawa warrior and the birdwoman, it’s an immersive aerial dance and theatre show that’ll see the star flex his kapa haka muscles once again.
Eds has even had a hand in advising on the choreography, but when asked, he shrugs humbly and says, “I’m just here to give!” Indeed, as our shoot draws to a close, he helps tidy up and even carries a few of our photographer’s bags. Then as he heads off with his giggling girls in tow, he turns around with one last cheeky grin, calling out, “Take it easy – and if it’s easy, take it!”
Hagen Hopkins
Felicity Jean Photography
Carmen Bird
Hannah Webb Photography
Ralph Brown, Nick Taylor, Sam Hartnett, Babiche Martens, Hōhua Kurene
Michelle Hyslop
