I like to think I’m fairly cool around famous people. I spent 35 years in radio interviewing celebrities, musicians, actors and people far more important than me, so I can generally keep it together.
Apparently, Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel are my breaking point. My partner Minou and I love cooking. We’re both extremely enthusiastic and average, which is probably why we love watching My Kitchen Rules.
When Minou first came to New Zealand, I introduced him to some of my favourite TV shows, including MKR, and he became obsessed with Colin and Manu. Now, almost every time we eat out, Minou rates the food on the Colin and Manu scale.
“This chicken, Colin would give eight”, or, “Manu would not like this sauce!”
A podcast pit stop
People often call Minou “Manu” because Colin and Manu are such familiar names here. I don’t think he minds. So when Colin and Manu came to NZ recently for
the Wellington Food Show, I very selfishly arranged for Dom to interview them on the Dom Harvey Podcast.
We had to fly to Wellington and hire a studio. Obviously, as Dom’s business partner, I needed to go along. For professional reasons. And obviously Minou needed to come too. For… professional reasons. We were both ridiculously excited.
By the time Colin and Manu arrived, they’d spent two full days at the event being approached, photographed and talked at by hundreds of people, so they were understandably exhausted. They probably thought, “Great. Finally, a quiet podcast studio.”
The ultimate fan moment
Then they met us. Photos! Hellos! Fangirling! Minou even brought along a giant poster of a Woman’s Day cover featuring the two of us. Up in the corner was a little photo of Colin and Manu, so he got them to autograph it. Then he flipped the poster around to proudly show them that we were actually the people on the cover.
They were amused. Manu gave me the French kiss-on-each-cheek greeting and Colin was hilarious. He’d even commented on my Instagram beforehand, telling Dom to “bring your A game”.
We walked away even bigger fans than before. Minou got his autograph. I got my photo. Dom got his interview. Everybody won. Except perhaps Colin and Manu, who thought they were coming in for a quiet podcast.
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