The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: The final decision is made

Summer reissue: Alex Casey delivers her last power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where Lily and Lesina make their final decisions. Click here for previous instalments.  Well me homies, we have reached the end of our journey together. At times it was slow, like a food tech teacher dragging his brogues through the black sands … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: The final decision is made

Alex Casey delivers her last power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where Lily and Lesina make their final decisions. Click here for previous instalments.  Well me homies, we have reached the end of our journey together. At times it was slow, like a food tech teacher dragging his brogues through the black sands of Piha … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: Shock exits and grape horrors

Alex Casey delivers her eleventh power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where two more lads veto themselves from this get-up. Click here for previous instalments.  The Bachelorette NZ is no longer a televised search for love, but a bizarre time capsule from a pre-pandemic era that feels so long ago that the sepia finally makes … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ power rankings: Another veto from this get-up

Alex Casey delivers her tenth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the lads escape the concrete jungle for the rolling countryside. Click here for previous instalments.  It’s time for us to lie down in a circle in an abundant field full of prickles and say what we are grateful for on The Bachelorette NZ. … Read more

The Real Pod: The Bachelorette NZ moves to Big Dad’s farm

The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the fifth week of The Bachelorette NZ, with special thanks to Nando’s. The boys have escaped jail for the Argentinian countryside this week, complete with rabbit hunting and a whole lot of prickles. Steve tries to serenade his way to a kiss, Liam goes on a jean short journey … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: From jail to the funny farm

Alex Casey delivers her ninth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the lads escape the concrete jungle for the rolling countryside. Click here for previous instalments.  Something I’ve been thinking about at 3am every night is this: what if The Bachelorette NZ isn’t reality TV show at all but a Lost-style high concept drama? … Read more

The Real Pod: The Bachelorette gets naked, teary and herniated in Argentina

The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the nude and rude third week of The Bachelorette NZ with special thanks to Nando’s. Two wonderful women and a mixed bag of lads jetted off to Argentina this week, one which saw a serious culling of the meek set of the herd. Conor, Flynn and Mr Wedge all … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: In which the lads bare all

Alex Casey delivers her sixth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the gloves – and all the other clothes – have truly come off. Click here for previous instalments.  Three weeks in and the stark difference between Lesina and Lily has become clear:  Speaking of stark, how much bloody nudity was there on the … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: A dart to the heart

Alex Casey delivers her fifth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the lads hit Argentina and things gets smoking hot. Click here for previous instalments.  You can’t spell Argentina without “gent” – and boy did our gents tie?one?on? this week. Ar-gen-tina! Ar-gen-tina! Ar-gen-tina! Did I mention that the lads have gone to Argentina this … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: Who let the alpha dogs out? 

Alex Casey delivers her fourth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the red flags are raised and lads are crazed. Click here for previous instalments.  In the words of Tavita, I simply did not expect everyone to open up so hectically this week. We had men weeping, we had twists and turns, we had … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: Welcome to the carnage

Alex Casey delivers her third power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where it’s double trouble and Glenn turns to rubble. Click here for previous instalments.  Even though I called it months ago, I still can’t breathe properly when I think about how good it is to have Lily McManus joining Doctor Lesina on this television … Read more

The Real Pod: In which The Bachelorette NZ blows us all away

The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the first week of The Bachelorette NZ with special thanks to Nando’s. Blow your air horns and distress your jeans, the very first week of The Bachelorette NZ is over and we are absolutely amping. Join us as we recap the Tough Mudder group date, the romantic single dates … Read more

The Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings: Send in the lads

Alex Casey delivers her first-impression power rankings after episode one of The Bachelorette NZ. Isn’t it incredible what a difference five years makes? Since the first season of The Bachelor NZ, Art Green has found the love of his life, written a book, married the love of his life, launched a business, bought a house, … Read more

The Real Pod EXTRA: A chat with the winners of My Restaurant Rules NZ

In this special episode of The Real Pod, brought to you by Nando’s, we chat to the champions of My Restaurant Rules NZ 2019. In the afterglow of Rustic Kitchen’s historic win on My Restaurant Rules NZ, Duncan and Alex got on the blower with Tyson and Denise. Then we forgot about the interview completely. … Read more

Compelling: I think Lily McManus will be on The Bachelorette NZ

Could beloved reality star Lily McManus be joining The Bachelorette NZ? Alex Casey assesses the evidence.  UPDATE 30/1/2020: After last night’s tease that a mysterious second woman will be joining The Bachelorette NZ, an eagle-eyed viewer sent in this compelling side-by-side knee tattoo comparison.  It’s a hard time to be a lover of reality romance … Read more

10 incredible things about the first episode of New Zealand’s Next Top Model

To celebrate 10 years since the start of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, our reality TV podcast The Real Pod is going to recap it week by week. Here are 10 of the most incredible revelations from the very first episode.  1) Colin Mathura-Jeffree was an emo kid This was the moment we met New … Read more

Please entertain my theory about the MAFSNZ universe

Alex Casey wraps on a tinfoil hat and falls down the rabbit hole of the Married at First Sight NZ universe. Shared universes and character crossovers are having a massive moment right now. The last Avengers movie was basically just the Met Gala of superheroes. M. Night Shyamalan pulled a classic “him” on us all … Read more

Celebrity Treasure Island Power Rankings: And the winner is…

Alex Casey power ranks the final week of Celebrity Treasure Island and, folks, we have a winner.  What an absolute doozy of a finale. With $100,000 on the line for their charities, the final three men went hundies to find the buried treasure chest that brought them all there. Yo ho ho and a bottle … Read more

Celebrity Treasure Island Power Rankings: To the victor go the toasties

It is the second week of Celebrity Treasure Island and the gloves are officially off. Alex Casey power ranks the celebrity contestants vying for that sweet charity cash.  Two weeks in and I am here to firmly agree with my Real Pod co-host in saying that Celebrity Treasure Island is bloody mindless brilliance. If you … Read more

Married at First Sight NZ asked professional photographer to work for free

A local photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ requesting they work “unpaid” on Married At First Sight NZ.  Update 17 July: Warner Brothers have responded with a comment attached to the bottom of this story. A wedding photographer has posted emails from Warner Brothers NZ on Reddit after the production company requested that … Read more

Stu and Amy are back on the Block NZ and everyone is shook

In a surprise twist that left contestants stunned, Stu and Amy returned to The Block NZ this week. But are they here to stay, and if not, who should replace them? Tara Ward has some ideas. The ground shifted, panelling fell off the walls, and mustard throws everywhere self-combusted in shock when 2018 champions Stu and … Read more

The Real Pod: Dancing With the Stars NZ is sweeping us off our feet

The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week Duncan is cavorting around Melbourne so Jane and Alex meet at the dining room table to talk about another hot week on this dance floor we call life. Need all the celebrity goss from the … Read more

The Real Pod: In which the dancing stars are actually good

The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. In the hangover of Married at First Sight Australia, we are overjoyed to shimmy onto the shiny lino of Dancing With the Stars NZ. Well, two of us are. Duncan only watched Laura’s dance on Instagram. Which … Read more

The Real Pod: How many people on MAFS AU are cancelled now?

The Real Pod assembles to dissect the fifth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. It’s another chaotic week on the pod, complete with phone calls to Nasser from the last season of MAFS, Duncan getting cancelled live on air and many, many Haribo lollies. Why is Jessika trying to sleep … Read more

The Real Pod: Welcome to the GC, bitch

The Real Pod assembles to dissect the fourth week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. Your favourite Married at First Sight Australia experts are back to look at a week on MAFS that may or may not have gone too far. Innes and Sam have gone full steam ahead in the sauna (allegedly), … Read more

Our shortlist of names for Art and Matilda’s royal reality baby

The Bachelor NZ royal couple Art and Matilda are having a baby. Here is Alex Casey’s unsolicited gift to them.  I thought my days of crying at the dairy were over, but alas. As the man behind the counter grabbed his scissors, cut off the plastic twine and tore back the wrapping on his stack … Read more

The Great Kiwi Bake Off Power Rankings: Pavlova puts national pride on the line

Polish off your whisk and separate your egg whites because it’s Dessert Week on The Great Kiwi Bake Off.  Let’s pray to the gingerbread gods that Harry and Meghan managed to catch this week’s episode, because they’d learn more about Aotearoa in one hour of GKBO than three thousand years of Orc visits and Government House … Read more