We’re yet to find out if she takes out Celebrity Treasure Island, but Creamerie actress and RNZ journalist Perlina Lau is at
least a winner in love!
Shortly after filming finished on the hit reality series, the star’s boyfriend proposed at a Wellington karaoke bar, singing her favourite song – God Only Knows by the Beach Boys – before presenting her with his great-grandmother’s diamond ring.
“It was hectic!” laughs Perlina. “I was berating him for how flat and terrible he sounded, then he pulled out this family heirloom. But it was quite loud, so I couldn’t hear him properly and thought he’d just found it on the floor or that it was a joke. It really wasn’t an Instagram moment, but I’m very happy.”
Her fiancé rocks her world!
The couple met “just after lockdown on dirty old Tinder”. She tells, “Because we were dating during a pandemic, there was lots of walking and talking around parks. It was like dating in the olden days!”
Perlina, 32, knew he was “the one” when her friend’s grandmother passed away and he cooked a meal to drop off at the family’s home. “Acts of service is totally my love language,” she explains, adding they’ve picked a venue for the late 2023 ceremony, but she won’t properly start planning until the second season of her international hit Creamerie has finished filming.
Asked what advice her bestie and Creamerie co-star JJ Fong, who competed on CTI in 2021, gave her, Perlina says, “She emphasised that it’s a mental challenge. The physical stuff you see on TV is fun, but having nothing to occupy yourself the rest of the time is the hard part. She also told me to eat the beans because they’re protein and you need that!”
“Eat your beans” is her survival advice!
JJ had complained she felt like a “token Asian” on the show, so Perlina was thrilled when she turned up to discover she was one of three Chinese-Kiwi women on the show, including actress Lynette Forday and Boss Babes star Iyia Liu.
“The producers clearly listened to JJ,” smiles Perlina. “I’m looking forward to when it’s not something we even have to mention.
“I remember watching Lynette on Shorty when I was five and my grandmother telling me, ‘Look, she’s Chinese,’ and it put
the idea in my head that acting was a possibility for me. I was actually a bit starstruck when I met her in real life!”
