Matt Klitscher
He’s one of the greatest All Blacks in history, who built a reputation on his rock-solid defence and sheer strength. But at home, Frank Bunce is known more as a big softy, happily admitting his six-year-old daughter Tillie has him wrapped around her little finger.
“Tillie’s going through a period where she won’t get off her tablet and I’m not as good as my wife Jess at saying no to her,” the 64-year-old explains.
“I’m trying to be the cool dad.”
A father of six, with the oldest now almost 40, and a grandfather, Frank never imagined he would still be in the parenting trenches in his sixties. But when he met his now wife Jessica Worchel, 45, he knew he would never stand in the way of her becoming a mother.
He met his American bride in 2015 while he was working in Hawai’i, training rugby coaches. What started as a friendship grew into something more and in 2018, the pair said “I do”. They decided on New Zealand as their home and Tillie arrived not long after.
Learning to bridge two very different worlds
Coming from different worlds – both geographically and generationally – has taken some work to understand each other’s perspective. But Frank says the secret to making their relationship work is simple.
“Communication,” he tells, before adding with a laugh, “Sometimes it’s better to shut the hell up. I’m one of those people who always has a solution and that doesn’t always work.”
It also helps that ever-humble Frank is not too proud to concede that Jess, who recently completed her PhD in education, is the brains of the family.
“She’s smart as anything, so she always has good advice and she knows what she’s talking about,” he enthuses.
“I often say to people, ‘If you want to get into a debate with Jess, you’d better be prepared.’”
Their greatest joy
Tillie is now in her second year of primary school.
“She loves it,” Frank beams.
“She’s taken after her mum – she’s smart and full of confidence. She said the other day, ‘That was the best school day ever!’”
From home life to competitive fire
While he may be a bit of a pushover at home, when it comes to competition, Frank hasn’t lost the drive that saw him hold the record as New Zealand’s most-capped test centre for many years. It will serve him well as he tackles Celebrity Treasure Island for the second time. Frank was a contestant on the first season in 2001, alongside Sally Ridge, Dominic Bowden and the late John “Cocksy” Cocks, who won the title.
While he doesn’t remember much about his time in Fiji, the moments that have stayed with him were connecting with people he may otherwise never have met. He formed a particularly strong friendship with Cocksy that lasted until he sadly passed in 2019 from kidney cancer.
“I met good people that I stayed friends with last time,” says Frank.
“My strongest memories are sitting around the campfire chatting. I don’t even remember any of the challenges.”
Why Mai Lighthouse matters
When it came to choosing the charity he hopes to win $100,000 for, the Pukekohe local knew he wanted to give back to his community. That’s why he settled on Mai Lighthouse.
“They are there to help families through hard times, whatever that may be,” explains Frank.
“It can be finance, health issues, counselling services – any way they can help a family through hard times. They cover a whole lot of bases and that resonates.”
Although he may not be as sprightly as he was 25 years ago, Frank still feels fit enough to be a serious contender. Taking care of his health has been especially important after his father died from a heart attack when he was only 55.
Seeing the impact it had on whānau, Frank has done everything in his power to prevent the same outcome.
Lessons from his father’s passing
“When you’re younger, 55 seems miles away, but now I’m past that,” he says.
“To lose him young was really hard. But it was his lifestyle choices – he was in the navy when he was young and it was a time when they used to drink rum in the morning. He was set up to fail.”
Despite his dedication, Frank does have an Achilles heel… or rather knee.
“It’s obviously a sign of the times,” he says. “If I had new knees, I could do anything!”
Celebrity Treasure Island screens Monday-Wednesday at 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ +.
