Alex Casey walks back down the aisle for a second season of Married at First Sight NZ. Dust off your matchmaker iPads, rouse the digital birds and get that Sodastream making effervescent farts: Married at First Sight NZ is back for another romantic rollercoaster of a season. Look, I tried to predict what season two … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Jane returns to save Alex and Duncan’s souls in this very special episode of The Real Pod, convened to celebrate and commentate the return of Married at First Sight NZ to our screens. The team … Read more
Alex Casey crunches the numbers on the new Married at First Sight NZ contestants and returns with some shocking predictions. Ahhh, time. She’s a fickle mistress. She’s a relationship-ruining text sent from your Nokia 3315 to the person that the text was about. She’s a pig that’s nicked your toothpaste, slipping through your fingers as you … Read more
The Real Pod assembles with a very special guest to dissect the madness that was Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, are blessed to be in the presence of reality superstar Tracey Jewel – author, rapper, Lord of the Rings enthusiast and Married at First Sight Australia legend. Here … Read more
In his special guest appearance on The Real Pod, with special thanks to Nando’s, Haydn Daniels from Married at First Sight NZ covered everything from the secret tapes to what happened to his wedding ring. In his debut appearance on The Real Pod, Haydn Daniels from Married at First Sight NZ discussed the hidden camera … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, the team try to put together the pieces after an explosive end to Married at First Sight Australia. Why is Sean suddenly dipped in gold? What were Tracey’s sexy … Read more
Alex Casey watches the final week of Married at First Sight Australia, and comes away with some important lessons for the new season of the New Zealand franchise. It’s been a difficult relationship with Married at First Sight Australia. Late nights have meant I haven’t always been there and, when I made the effort, sometimes the … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, Jane returns to the hosting chair and Duncan and Alex couldn’t be more relieved. We look at an exciting and delicious incident involving a shark and a pie, take … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, Jane, Alex and Duncan froth over an explosive few days on Married at First Sight NZ – possibly the greatest episodes in reality TV history. How are Dean and Davina … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, the team begin warming up for an all-new Dancing With the Stars NZ following the announcement Gilda the Queen and David the Seymour will be joining the cast. We … Read more
The Real Pod assembles for the first time in 2018 to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive are back for another year with a new and improved Real Pod, featuring more new segments than you can shake a … Read more
Alex Casey and Calum Henderson relive the top 10 most electric, shambolic and memorable New Zealand television moments of 2017. 10) When Wolf met Cheryl He was just a boy in a leather jacket, standing in front of a girl, asking her to let him steal a fistful of cigarettes. Episode four of Westside season … Read more
Alex Casey and Calum Henderson count down the top 10 local TV shows of the year, as voted by esteemed readers of The Spinoff. 10) Find Me a Māori Bride There is no better antidote to our extremely contrived, extremely white romance reality TV offerings than Find Me a Māori Bride. A faux-documentary which rips … Read more
At the end of every year, our columnist Aaron Yap wraps up his likes, dislikes and learnings from TV’s shifting media hellscape. Jeez, what a stinking hot mess. As 2017 thankfully draws to a close, reflecting on the year that’s been for TV has become quite the exercise in existential soul-searching – to couch it in the … Read more
Alex Casey watches The Seven Year Switch on TVNZ2, a familiar-sounding social experiment that matches up married people with complete strangers. There are perhaps no sweeter three words to the gnarled ear of a television writer than the phrase “controversial social experiment.” The latest series to return to this increasingly-full arena is the second season … Read more
Free from the shackles of Married at First Sight NZ, The Real Pod gang talk mostly about Married at First Sight NZ, with a touch of Bachelor news and the triumphant return of Max Key Corner. We’ve packed up our things and moved back to Lincoln on The Real Pod this week, which means the … Read more
Jane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey drink the last of the Waiheke wines and toast the final episodes of Married at First Sight NZ for 2017. We gather at the MAFSNZ altar for the very last time to reflect upon our journey over the past six weeks. As the participants suffer through their final … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the final week of Married at First Sight NZ, including eyebrow lady advice and the much-anticipated vow renewal ceremonies. Allow me to tentatively approach the rotunda of romance one more time, for I need to solemnly deliver my final vows to Married at First Sight NZ in this, its last week … Read more
How is Married at First Sight NZ getting better and worse at the same time? Jane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey hit the therapist’s couch to find out. The reality TV “experts” at The Real Pod’s eyes were bulging like the biceps on a genetic pitbull at the explosive MAFSNZ dinner party this week. … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the sixth week of Married at First Sight NZ, including an explosive dinner party, wank confessions and an exciting makeover. The reunion was supposed to be a chance for growth, the experts told us while barely stifling their own laughter, a time for the couples to come back together to share … Read more
Despite having relatively dry skin and therefore dry lives, The Real Pod team still assemble to talk about a scandalous week four on Married at First Sight NZ. This week on The Real Pod, there’s more chat flying around than Haydn’s DMs on a Sunday morning. On Married at First Sight NZ, the couples have … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the fourth week of Married at First Sight NZ, including new living quarters, a tonne of counselling and one very overdue breakup. This week, the cocktail party continued well past that tipping point in an evening where any reasonable person would have already left to get a McChicken and sob to … Read more
The Real Pod team assemble to talk about the haphazard honeymoons of Married at First Sight NZ. Just like the Married at First Sight contestants, The Real Pod team are finally back together in the same room to gossip themselves to an early grave. The honeymoons are over, the glamping tents have been packed up, … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the third week of Married at First Sight NZ, full of cocktails, baths and deep regret. I think I was more excited for this cocktail party than any Bachelor cocktail party, real-life cocktail party, or shrimp cocktail. After being kept in The Shining-style isolation in their respective lodges, estates and glamping … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the second week of Married at First Sight NZ, where the glow has worn off and the rot has set in. Rip up your veil, feed the bride’s bouquet to the nearest giraffe and cast the cursed wedding rings deep into the nearest creek: true love is dead. Week one led … Read more
The Real Pod team assemble in the boardroom of dreams to talk reality TV and real life in New Zealand, and this week it’s all about one show and one show only. After scrabbling around like a litter of house pigs this week, Jane, Duncan and Alex finally find some time to dissect the glorious … Read more
Alex Casey power ranks the first week of Married at First Sight NZ, including reindeer jumpers, house pigs and too many kisses. As I expressed in my sappy review of the premiere yesterday, I have fallen hard and fast for Married at First Sight NZ already. I have walked down the altar, said “I do” … Read more
With Married at First NZ beginning on Three tonight, Alex Casey recounts being in the room for the holy union of two complete strangers. The weirdest thing about being a guest a Married at First Sight wedding, aside from the obvious, is that there’s no music during the ceremony to tell you what to do. … Read more
The cast of the first season of Married At First Sight NZ has left us with snow blindness, writes Leonie Hayden. Diversity in media is important. It’s so important. The Emmys gave out their first ever gongs for comedy writing and directing to black artists this year. A fair reflection of who we are as a … Read more