Kee-Hee Lee
Aucklander Kee-Hee Lee only picked up a wooden spoon and whisk for the first time a few years ago, but don’t let a lack of experience in the kitchen fool you – this amateur baker is in The Great Kiwi Bake Off to win it!
Piano teacher Kee-Hee, 30, first decided to dabble in baking in 2017 when she wanted to take up a new hobby other than music. Since then, it’s become a passion, especially as she’s currently apart from her husband John, who is living in Korea as he finishes his studies.
“We’re doing the long-distance thing,” she tells Woman’s Day.
“He was in Los Angeles finishing his PhD for a year, and now he’s in Korea doing field research. We’ll be apart until 2024, but I go and visit every 10 weeks or so.
“I’ll stay in New Zealand though – there are things here I need to do and can’t let go. It’s a different generation to our parents, where you must be with your partner when you get married! I have my own career I want to continue. My husband really supports that and I support him.
In the meantime, Kee-Hee is revelling in her new hobby. Her speciality choux buns are a long way from the chocolate chip cookies she started her baking journey with and she’s finding it has certain parallels to her first love, music.
“It’s the discipline and time management that are the same,” she nods. “But with Bake Off, it’s the time limits and pressures that make it different! But for both of them, it’s a lot of work to polish your skills.”
The Kiwi-Korean, who was born in Korea but came to New Zealand when she was eight months old, has always loved pushing herself, a trait she learnt from her parents, especially her dad Yong Lee, who has conquered Mt Everest twice.
Kee-Hee’s dad meet her mum Soony while mountaineering.
The keen cook with dad Yong, husband John and mum Soony.
“They’re very adventurous,” Kee-Hee tells. “But they never pressured me to do anything. We were always the least pressured Asian kids at school,” she laughs.
“But I knew from a really young age, as soon as I started learning piano, that’s what I wanted to do forever – and they were really supportive with that.”
“They’re really proud of me and they’re excited to see me on the show!”
Nikita Day
Christchurch-based lawyer Nikita Day expected to whizz up plenty of delicious delicacies and create some delicious baking on The Great Kiwi Bake Off – but she certainly didn’t expect to pour her heart out on national TV at the same time, discussing her sexuality on camera.
“I call this my second coming-out,” Nikita, who is asexual, laughs down the phone to Woman’s Day. “I don’t even remember what I said, so I’ll be as surprised as everyone else!
“It’s not something I planned to talk about, but there’s not enough representation as it is, so I didn’t want to deny a young person who is the same as me the opportunity to see themselves represented on TV.”
Nikita, 27, realised she was asexual – someone who experiences little or no sexual attraction – as a teenager, with a little help from her mum Tracey.
“If it wasn’t for my mother, I’d still be confused now!” she tells. “I hadn’t heard of asexuality, but Mum kind of figured it out. She asked me if I was asexual. I told her I didn’t know what that meant – I was 18 at the time – and she explained it to me. For the first time, I didn’t feel confused.
“It’s something I’m still educating myself on because there are a lot of labels out there. They don’t matter in the sense that everyone shouldn’t feel obligated to label themselves, but they can also be important to find your people and find your place. For me, having a label broke the confusion that I’d had for years. But when I meet someone, it’s not an introductory thing I do! But I know myself now and that’s the important thing.”
And a huge part of her life – when she’s not working as a high-powered lawyer – is baking, a hobby she uses to relax and recharge. It was actually her boss who encouraged Nikita to enter the show. “I figured that was permission to take off work!” she laughs. “I’d been wanting to do this for ages, really.
The lawyer with siblings Chris and Jasmine, and mum Tracey.
“I was eight when me and my grandma would bake – well, we’d buy a sponge and put some jelly on it, but it was a starting point! I did get a bit of a reputation in high school for my Pineapple Lump cupcakes too!”
