As she makes plans to become a mum, Bree Tomasel doesn’t have to look far for inspiration on baby names. If chart-topper Sia can call her kid Somersault, then the ZM radio star insists she should be able to name her future kids after her favourite CTI contestants!
“Sam Wallace Tomasel has a nice ring to it,” laughs Bree, 37, who’s hoping to start a family with her newfiancé Sophia Gould.
“Or Susan Devoy Tomasel. I’ll be telling her off like, ‘Dame Suzy D, what are you doing?!’”
While squash champ Susan and radio star Sam are among Bree’s favourites, it’s co-host Jayden Daniels she considers family. She’s excited to be working with him again after he missed last season.
“He reminds me of my brother – and I hate my brother,” she jokes.
“No, genuinely, my brother’s one of my favourite people! I instantly felt like I’ve known Jayden a long time. We have a lot of laughs, we can be silly and we both love the show.”
From NZ screens to the world stage
Rising to fame on local drama Head High, then as police officer Curtis Hannah on Shortland Street, Jayden has gone on to star in My Life Is Murder, Madam, award-winning film Whina and most recently, Blue Murder Hotel and bilingual series Tangata Pai, the latter seeing him represent Aotearoa at the “incredible” Hawai’i International Film Festival.
“I hadn’t travelled to a festival before and I wasn’t prepared for the reach it would have,” says Jayden.
“I thought we’d go into the screening and there’d be a few people, but the cinema was packed! They played all eight eps over two nights and everyone came back the second night. Seeing our show on the big screen in a different country was surreal.”
Bringing it all back to CTI
Having missed the last season of CTI to perform in a play and been replaced by Lance Savali, Jayden enjoyed watching that series through a “different lens” and says his recent acting experience has enhanced his hosting skills.
“I’ve had a busy past two years, which isn’t normal for an actor in New Zealand, so I’m super-grateful and coming back in with more confidence in my ability to do this job.”
Building a life together
In that time, Bree released her memoir Unapologetically Me while trying to start a family with Sophia. The couple, who got engaged in the Coromandel in March, are three years into their IVF journey.
“We’ve had a really tough year with it,” confesses Bree.
“We both went through egg collection, which is really difficult. You inject yourself every night for weeks, not knowing if it’s going to work. “It’s expensive and stressful, and I feel like my whole life had been building up to my egg collection, when I found out whether it was going to be possible to be a mum since I’ve struggled with endometriosis and polycystic ovaries my whole life. “It was super-emotional and nerve-wracking. The result wasn’t the absolute best, but it was a result. Now we just stay positive and can hopefully keep moving forward.”
Dreaming of motherhood
Bree says if she could be “anywhere near” how amazing her own mum Dianne is, she’d be thrilled and adds that she hopes to be “the cool mum” in the family.
Jayden certainly thinks she will be, explaining his son Kaewa, eight, and daughter Blanka, six – whom he shares with new wife Gigi Barclay, 39 – adored Bree the last time they filmed CTI together.
He laughs, “My daughter wanted Aunty Bree to hold her the whole time.”
Bree adds, “She’s so sweet. I’m just a big kid myself. I’ve always had a connection with kids. Some of them are little shits, but Jayden’s kids are lovely!”
Growing up around fame
Although they’re unfazed by seeing their dad on screen.
The actor shares, “When I was growing up, if I saw someone from Shortland Street, it blew my mind, but my kids see heaps of their uncles and people they know on TV, so it’s not a big deal.”
However, while his children may not be fussed, Jayden does get approached by enthusiastic fans in his time away from work – something that saw him struggling with his mental health during his early days on Shorty.
The mental toll of early fame
“I wasn’t prepared for the interaction,” he explains.
“I had anxiety about going into public spaces because I was like, ‘Do I have to be on?’ “It just takes time to get used to it and it depends on the people. Some people are lovely and I love meeting them, and some people are f**king rude! Not CTI fans – they’re great humans!”
Celebrity Treasure Island screens Monday-Wednesday at 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
