The final in this season of Frame documentaries introduces 11-year-old Inez. Her story is one that will resonate with a lot of families, writes mum Sonia Gray. Inez is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff. This film is about my daughter Inez. She’s 11 years old and is … Read more
New Zealand is rightly proud of the multi-ethnic and -cultural society it’s growing into. But while Māori and Pacific representation has improved since the ’80s, our exploding Asian population remains near-invisible. Sonia Gray tries to find out why. Originally published May 17, 2016 Lately, I’ve been looking at the people around me and looking at … Read more
New Zealand is rightly proud of the multi-cultural society it’s growing into. But why are there still minimal Māori, Pacific and Asian populations in prime time? And why does cultural representation in the film industry remain light years ahead of television? In the second part of a two-part series, Sonia Gray tries to find out. … Read more
New Zealand is rightly proud of the multi-ethnic and -cultural society it’s growing into. But while Māori and Pacific representation has improved since the ’80s, our exploding Asian population remains near-invisible. In part one of a two-part series, Sonia Gray tries to find out why. Lately, I’ve been looking at the people around me and … Read more
The Black Caps are historically great, so why does it feel wrong to believe in them? Sonia Gray writes on the hurt haunting the team’s winning run. New Zealand cricket is on an unbelievable, once-in-a-generation, too-good-to-be-true, pinch-me-if-I’m-dreaming kind of high. Yet still, as Black Cap supporters, we struggle to truly believe, deep in our war-weary … Read more
Lotto presenter Sonia Gray first found fame as the conniving Aleesha Cook on Shortland Street. She reflects on life as a soap villain ahead of the iconic show’s return to our screens this week. As New Zealand prepares itself for the fallout from Ferndale’s first brush with homegrown terrorism, I find myself reflecting on the time it … Read more
Actress, presenter and cricket tragic Sonia Gray on the stealthy way the Blackcaps have adopted reverse sledging and “respect-shaming” as tactics. Today the cricketing world will look to the Adelaide Oval, waiting to see how the pink kookaburra holds up in the world’s first day/night test match – a task that it appears to have failed … Read more
Actress, presenter and cricket tragic Sonia Gray on the stealthy way the Blackcaps have adopted reverse sledging and “respect-shaming” as tactics. Today the cricketing world will look to the Adelaide Oval, waiting to see how the pink kookaburra holds up in the world’s first day/night test match – a task that it appears to have failed … Read more
TV presenter Sonia Gray hosted Miss Universe New Zealand over the weekend. Here she recounts for us her experience walking back in time to this magical and deeply strange world. Photography by Max Alawwad. It’s almost impossible to imagine now but, like smoking on airplanes and cheering for Chris Cairns, Miss Universe New Zealand used to be a real … Read more