Hannah Kremmer has never been afraid to choose the road less travelled. She’s a former dairy farmer turned house-bus living, homeschooling, vegan mum-of-three – and now a contestant on The Traitors NZ.
While her alternative lifestyle may seem worlds away from high-stakes The Traitors NZ reality show, for Hannah, it was just another chance to embrace new experiences.
“I loved getting to slip into this other world, to be a part of something bigger than your everyday life,” shares Hannah, 32.
“You’re really immersed in the game and have no outside contact or news. It’s a very heightened experience.”
The show sees contestants compete in challenges and strategic gameplay to uncover who the Traitors are among them before the Faithfuls are eliminated from the game. Hannah, who lives in a 10-metre-long house bus with her partner Te Wehi Ratana, 32, and their three boys, Kahu, 11, Nikau, eight, and Rongo, six, initially planned on trying to blend in on screen as a “chill stay-at-home mum”.
She laughs, “I thought I could pretend I’m not as intense as I am. That plan quickly died when I realised I cannot be anything but my intense self.”
Regardless, she believes living a less conventional life was an asset.
“I’m pretty good at holding my own and not being swayed by group consensus,” she explains.
“I’m confident in maybe being disliked or not doing what people want me to do and not letting that affect my psyche.”
Living life differently
Hannah says she has always lived life on her own terms. At 20, while she and Te Wehi were working on a dairy farm, Hannah unexpectedly fell pregnant. The plan was to love their baby and keep working their way up the ranks of farming. That was until they watched the documentary Cowspiracy.
Confronted by the environmental and ethical impacts of farming reported on in the film, Hannah recalls, “We basically went vegan overnight and were like, we can’t be dairy farmers any more.”
This eventually led them to sell their home and move into a house bus full-time.
“The whole back of the bus is the boys’ bedroom. They each have their own bunk beds. And our bed drops down from the ceiling over the driver’s seat.”
Life now is devoted to climate and cultural activism, and raising their sons outside the school system.
“I like to use the term self-directed learning,” says Hannah. “I just try and prioritise, and foster their interests and beliefs.”
Standing by their beliefs
In 2023, they faced one of their biggest challenges when Te Wehi was arrested alongside 11 others from the activist group Te Waka Hourua, following a protest at Te Papa Museum where an English Treaty of Waitangi exhibit was spray-painted.
It took a toll on the family, but Hannah never wavered.
“I’m totally supportive of him,” she says, adding their wider whānau also rallied around them.
A jury trial was set for March 30 this year, but on March 10, the Crown withdrew the charges against Te Wehi, citing it was not in the public interest to proceed. Through it all, their children were the couple’s top priority. Currently, the boys are obsessed with football, training up to seven times a week. They also love being outdoors, baking, reading, listening to audiobooks and creating with magnets and Lego.
The realities of off-grid life
“One of the things I love the most is how much time we spend outside,” enthuses Hannah.
“Even in bad weather, they’re outside playing a minimum of seven hours every day.”
But Hannah’s careful not to over-romanticise it.
“People always say, ‘I’d love to live in a van,’ and I’m quick to explain there are still struggles – they’re just different.”
Financially, Hannah is equally transparent. A family member’s Lotto win around 15 years ago helped them buy their first home. When they sold it, they were able to buy the bus outright. Now they have no mortgage payments or power and water bills as they rely on off-grid solar systems.
Making every moment count
“I also cut my own hair, don’t do my nails, don’t buy new clothes and I only own two pairs of shoes – one I had to buy for Traitors.”
Other costs are covered by the student allowance they receive while Te Wehi is studying carving. For Hannah, whether she’s navigating homeschooling in a house bus or the psychological twists of The Traitors, it all comes back to making the most of the time she has.
She explains, “What else are we supposed to do with this one beautiful life? What a story to tell when I’m 80.”
The Traitors NZ screens Sundays and Mondays, 7.30pm on Three and ThreeNow.
