“While I was at TVNZ, it became apparent I was good at maintaining a level of charm and bringing out the best in people I interviewed. Look, sometimes that would mean embarrassing myself, but it really did work.
I think that skill is part of what scored me a job as a reporter on a brand-new show called Seven Sharp. I was super-excited to work on it, but you know who wasn’t excited? The entire population of Aotearoa.
I’ve never experienced anything like the hatred directed towards Seven Sharp in its first year. People were incensed. They couldn’t believe the more biting current affairs had been replaced with ‘fluff’.
‘Outrageous. Bring back the real news.’
‘Do any one of these idiots even know what they’re talking about?!’
‘That blonde girl drives me up the wall! Have to put the TV on mute when she’s on.’
‘She’s got a manly voice and is too much.’
People were brutal and it wasn’t just the comments section. Even on other TV shows, radio and in news articles, people were openly bagging us. We were trying to make a show that combined current affairs with light entertainment. People saw that as destroying the news media. What made it particularly hard was that it was my first-ever on-screen reporting role and I was all on my own in Christchurch, acting as the sole South Island representative. I didn’t really have anyone on hand to lean on when it got tough.
Despite how difficult it was, it was also an incredible opportunity. I had the whole of Te Waipounamu to report on and I got to go to so many amazing places.
Part of the kaupapa was to find ways to take our stories to the next level – we never wanted to tell a story without any character. Luckily, the interactions I had were usually anything but ordinary.
It was through one of these stories that I encountered Richie McCaw once again. The first time, when I was lifeguarding in Gisborne, me and my mate Kendall heard he was at the beach. We swiftly got on our quad bike and arrived to see him, gorgeous and shirtless, passing a rugby ball with a friend. Naturally, we had to slow the motorbike down to have a good look. We clearly weren’t controlling it properly though, because the quad broke down.
We did get some photos and you can see Richie actually helping to fix the bike in one. Obviously we were super-professional lifeguards keeping the beaches safe!
This time, I was filming a story where I was competing with one of Seven Sharp’s Auckland reporters to raise money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopters. Michael Holland had teamed up with the legendary Sir John Kirwan, while I was in the South with All Black captain and national hero Richie.
We had to shoot the story in a day, setting challenges that would be similar to some of the amazing mahi our rescue helicopters do. Richie and I were headed up Canterbury’s Mt Benmore in one of the choppers and the pilot knew Richie could also fly. As we were getting our gear ready, the pilot asked, ‘Richie, mate, why don’t you fly it?’
Out the gate! Richie McCaw was going to fly me to the top of a mountain in a chopper!
Richie could be described as quite a serious man, so I made it my personal goal to crack him. He was the shining example of the tough, stoic Kiwi male. I really wanted to get a laugh out of him.
The first of our fundraising challenges was to share a cuppa on the mountain. ‘Shall we make a cup of tea, Richie?’ I asked. He replied, ‘Uh, sure.’ I’m sure he was thinking, ‘This girl is painful.’ If it wasn’t for a good cause and he wasn’t a good sport, he probably would have pulled the plug immediately.
We then practised a few different ways to stay alive in the wilderness, my favourite being an exercise where Richie would treat me for hypothermia. The best way, a paramedic told us, was to quickly provide warmth to someone with your body heat. I didn’t need any encouragement. I jumped into a sleeping bag and looked up at Richie with a big smile: ‘Are you big or little spoon?’
He put his head in his hands. I reckon he would’ve paid good money to have disappeared off that mountain. But everyone erupted in laughter and – thank goodness – so did he.
Waiting an awkwardly long moment for his response, I said, ‘Probably big spoon, eh?’ As he jumped in, he replied, ‘Yeah, OK.’ And that is how Richie McCaw ended up in a sleeping bag with me on the top of a mountain. All for a good cause!”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
