Miriama Kamo and Mike van de Elzen are the first to admit they’re a surprising pair. She’s the beautiful, serious news reporter, famed for hard-hitting stories on current-affairs show Sunday, and he’s the lovable, crusading celebrity chef from The Food Truck. She grew up in a “semi-commune” in Christchurch, while he was raised on a chicken farm. But despite their differing backgrounds and talents, TV’s new odd couple are finding they actually have a fair bit in common, as the hosts of new lifestyle show Kiwi Living.
“Before this, we didn’t know each other at all, but we’ve bonded fast,” says Miri (41). “I’ve already got some good cooking tips off him. What was that one you told me?” she asks Mike (42), who’s staring into his coffee, a medium black. (Less water than a long black, but more than a short, in case you were wondering.)
“What? Oh, the pumpkin thing?” he asks.
“That’s the one,” Miri replies. “Pumpkin, tomatoes, feta, olive and honey. Delicious!”
It’s their shared passion and love for all things Kiwi that has led the duo to our television screens, fronting a new lifestyle show that aims to inspire those weekend DIY projects with a combination of food, fitness, design, gardening and travel.
“It’s about embracing all that we have,” says Mike with infectious enthusiasm, arms waving and a big grin on his face – though this could quite possibly be due to the coffee. “We live in the most wonderful country. We’re not afraid to do things, to explore, to go outside – it’s celebrating this wonderful thing we call New Zealand.”
Since meeting during the auditions, the pair have been getting along famously. There was also the mad-dash by Miri to Mike’s Auckland restaurant Boy and Bird so she could say she’d actually been there.
“He caught me out when I tried to go to his restaurant – he was actually there!” laughs Miri. “He knew exactly what I was trying to do.”
“It’s really been amazing so far,” says Mike of working with Miri. “We’ve been having the best time.”
Food king Mike and current-affairs queen Miriama are the perfect mix of fun-loving and straight-talking.
Their biggest common ground, the duo agree, is their kids. Mike is dad to Hazel (4) and Ivy (2), while Miri is mum to Te Rerehua (3) and stepmum to her new husband Mike’s 14-year-old son Sam. Both Kiwi Living stars admit their own lives now tend to be all about the kids, though Miri is quick to point out that she and her husband try to not let the youngsters’ activities take over everyone’s time.
“It’s the most fun thing, being a parent, but I want the kids to see that myself and my husband are still inspired by our own projects, and that our lives don’t revolve around just their interests.”
“The kids are what matters the most,” nods Mike. “My wife and I are buying a place in the country, for ourselves, but mostly for the kids, so they can have that childhood and lifestyle.”
It’s their own upbringings that most influence Mike and Miri. For Mike, his experiences on the farm led him to create Boy and Bird, the aforementioned chicken restaurant.
“It’s my way of getting back at those chickens for all the chicken poop I had to shovel as a kid,” laughs Mike. “Five hundred chickens! Mum wasn’t the best at cooking them. It was the driest, toughest bird you could imagine. But something we never really did as a family when I was a kid was go camping,” he continues, “so maybe we could do something on the show about it.”
“You never went camping?” exclaims Miri.
“My family were huge campers. Dad literally brought a kitchen sink once. No, I’m serious!” she says, as Mike starts to laugh. “He was really embarrassing at the school picnic day too – other parents would bring along a nice little wicker basket, and dad would have, like, 15 bags of stuff. It was mad.”
Growing up in middle-class Christchurch, Miri describes the set-up as a “semi-commune” shared with three other families who lived on the same street.
“Mum and Dad were very community minded,” she recalls. “Very socially conscious. They were prison chaplains and social workers, so everything was for the community. And I loved it. We’re still really close to those other three families, and our own kids are friends. It instilled a very strong sense of community in me, so for me, that’s what Kiwi living is.”
It’s surprising, perhaps, that Miri even put her hand up to host the new show, but the break from serious current affairs has been welcome.
“It’s actually been really great,” she says. “I love my job, I love Sunday and Marae, but I’m really lucky to have this. This is fun, lighter stuff – shamelessly good news. It’s a nice change.”
While Miri will anchor the show in the studio, Mike, along with other experts including Erin Simpson, Matt Gibb and Lee-Anne Wann are out and about, travelling the country to find out just what makes us tick. And Mike says he’s already had some interesting experiences.
“I got crapped on by a buffalo,” he tells matter-of-factly. “That wasn’t great, but the cheese we made from the buffalo milk was out of this world. And I got to go on a cruise ship to see how they get out 7000 meals a day. I’m having the time of my life! Actually, I’m using the show to fulfil my own personal wish list.”
The pair have also taken to other little challenges – Miri is to try and grow mushrooms (a hard ask when neither of your thumbs is remotely green, she points out) while Mike has been tasked with sewing a manbag. Typically, he’s decided to go further and attempt to craft the bag out of leather.
“I’m still in the design phase,” he says, frowning slightly.
It’s a marvel that the duo even have the time to front the show but, as they say, when you want something done, give it to a busy person.
“Doing the show is the easy part of my life!” Mike laughs. “You just fit it in, really.”
“Nothing has been sacrificed,” adds Miri. “It’s adding to my life. I’m learning things.”
Gardening is up the top of Miri’s learning wish list, while Mike dreams of attending an Indian wedding. “The food! The colour! The music!”
It’s a new challenge, but both are hopeful viewers will be able to take away something from the show, big or small.
“I’ve already got season two planned,” laughs Mike. “Bring it on!”
