TV makers defend show starring former Real Housewife following online backlash

The announcement that a controversial New Zealand reality TV star would be returning to the small screen has been met with outrage on social media. Stewart Sowman-Lund reports. Free-to-air television network Bravo has defended the casting of former Real Housewives star Gilda Kirkpatrick in a new local reality show following a rush of negative comments … Read more

Decade in review: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade (20-1)

Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 20-1. Previously:  The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more

Decade in review: The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade (40-21)

Around 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff counts down the 100 most iconic local television moments of the 2010s. Today, moments 40-21. Previously:  The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #100 – #81 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #80 – #61 The 100 NZ TV moments of the decade, #60 … Read more

What’s a Real Housewife doing hosting a talk show about theatre?

A talk show… about theatre? You mean Shakespeare and shit? Sam Brooks watches the first episode of Louise Wallace’s Opening Night. Theatre is a hard sell. Even for people who enjoy theatre – hell, even for people who make theatre – it’s hard to get people to actually go to a play. If it’s not … Read more

The 2017 TV Awards: winners, losers and all the shade in between

The TV awards return after five years away and reveal an industry boiling with rage and extremely fun to watch. Last night, New Zealand television royalty – and The Real Pod – assembled in Skycity Theatre for the triumphant return of the New Zealand Television Awards after a five year hiatus. There was glitz, there … Read more

The Real Pod: an apology to Polly and Grant and a lament for the Champagne Lady

This week Jane, Duncan and Alex (and fill in recordist Don Rowe) really lean into this whole post-MAFS life. Pray for them.  This week’s #realpod starts, like all should, with an apology. To Polly, and to Grant. We implied that they were no longer surfing the airwaves. We were wrong – they are rockin’ More … Read more

Unbelievably, Real Housewife Julia Sloane is plotting a comeback from her racist infamy

She became an international pariah after uttering the worst racial slur on The Real Housewives of Auckland. Now Julia Sloane is apparently plotting a comeback with a feature-length documentary, reports Duncan Greive. Julia Sloane, the star of Real Housewives of Auckland caught up in a racism scandal, is plotting a return to the screen, The Spinoff … Read more

The Real Pod: The Beanboozled challenge meets The Bachelor overnights

Jane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey gather around the oval table to talk about the latest happenings in New Zealand television and real life in New Zealand. ‘Twas the night before The Champagne Lady’s party and The Real Pod gang are preloading with disgusting flavoured jellybeans and unfounded claims about Avril Lavigne being dead. Before tackling the … Read more

The Real Pod: Anne the Champagne Lady wants YOU to come to her party

Jane Yee, Duncan Greive, Alex Casey and Anne Bloody Batley Burton from The Real Housewives of Auckland gather around the oval table to talk about the latest happenings in New Zealand television and real life in New Zealand. This week we drain some delicious bottles of Champagne Jacquart with New Zealand’s greatest reality television star, Anne … Read more

Summer reissue: Real Housewives and the real racism New Zealand prefers to pretend doesn’t exist

A Black woman living in New Zealand talks about this year’s infamous episode of Real Housewives, and why it’s indicative of a broader racist culture in New Zealand we still refuse to acknowledge. Originally posted September 23, 2016 This week’s episode of Real Housewives has left many people shocked. They cannot believe that there are … Read more

The 10 most memorable New Zealand television moments of 2016

After much heated debate in the Spinoff television department, we present this list of local TV moments that made 2016 the weird and wonderful mess that it was.  Mark Richardson apologises to Brendon McCullum on The Crowd Goes Wild The funniest four minutes of New Zealand television all year. It took fifteen long years but … Read more

The top 10 New Zealand television shows of 2016, as voted by you

It’s been a huge year for local television, from the time Jordan Mauger did that Gollum impression to when Rachel McKenna walked out of Shortland Street forever. But which New Zealand show did you lot vote your favourite for 2016? C’mon, let’s go the results party.  10) Grand Designs NZ Grand Designs is Chris Moller’s … Read more

Urgent: The Champagne Lady has released a Christmas song

Click the image below or head straight here to enjoy a musical Christmas miracle courtesy of Anne Batley-Burton from The Real Housewives of Auckland.  This content, like all television coverage we do at The Spinoff, is brought to you thanks to the excellent folk at Lightbox. Do us and yourself a favour by clicking here … Read more

The #realpod and #tfspod team look back on the year in local television

The triumphant return of Jane Yee, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey to wrap up New Zealand telly in 2016. As 2016 starts to slip away like sand through the hour glass, our in-house television experts* reflect upon 2016 on the small screen in our fair country. What has Jordy Pordy been up to? What does … Read more

The Real Housewives of Auckland Power Rankings: It all goes down in a fiery ball from hell

This is Auckland, where new money meets old. Alex Casey is going to try and laugh at The Real Housewives of Auckland through her weekly power rankings – because if we can’t laugh then all we have is the void. Click here for previous instalments. This episode started so calmly and innocuously, with Gilda having a comical altercation with … Read more

The Real Housewives of Auckland Power Rankings – The Champagne Lady does a twerk

This is Auckland, where new money meets old. Alex Casey is going to try and laugh at The Real Housewives of Auckland through her weekly power rankings – because if we can’t laugh then all we have is the void. Click here for previous instalments. 1) This relatable woman is all of us at an event with free booze … Read more

The Real Podcast of Housewives, Episode Eight: The gang ring the Angela Stone hotline

In this week’s episode of #realpod, Jane, Duncan and Alex discuss life drawing, Rescue Remedy pastilles during childbirth and Angie Stone the marshmallow woman.  The team assembled this week to discuss episode eight of The Real Housewives of Auckland, a week that saw Angela Stone peel back her marshmallow layers to reveal… more marshmallow. Taken by her emotional … Read more

The Real Housewives of Auckland Power Rankings – A little marshmallow named Angie?

This is Auckland, where new money meets old. Alex Casey is going to try and laugh at The Real Housewives of Auckland through her weekly power rankings – because if we can’t laugh then all we have is the void. Click here for previous instalments. 1) Angela Stone Hell has frozen over, the pigs are flying through the air … Read more

On the Rag – September edition on Trump and why we don’t need a Minister for Men

Every month host Alex Casey is joined by comedian/writer Michele A’Court and Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden to discuss what happened in the world of women over the preceding four weeks.  The three raggers reflect on what Trump says about gender politics, how baking soda can solve almost anything and why New Zealand definitely doesn’t need a Minister for … Read more

The Real Podcast of Housewives, Episode Seven: What does chakra oil do anyway?

In this week’s episode of #realpod, Jane, Duncan and Alex discuss the return to normalcy for The Housewives, the Parnell pussies and Norrie. The team assembled this week to discuss the return of Real Housewives in the post-racial slur world to spit out the big questions faster than a clay pigeon flying into Anne’s open arms. … Read more

The Real Housewives of Auckland Power Rankings – A bottle of space whisky and some very bad radio

This is Auckland, where new money meets old. Alex Casey is going to try and laugh at The Real Housewives of Auckland through her weekly power rankings – because if we can’t laugh then all we have is the void. Click here for previous instalments. We return to the power rankings this week after the horrific racist shitshow wherein … Read more

Real Housewives and the real racism New Zealand prefers to pretend doesn’t exist

A Black woman living in New Zealand talks about this week’s episode of Real Housewives, and why it’s indicative of a broader racist culture in New Zealand we still refuse to acknowledge. This week’s episode of Real Housewives has left many people shocked. They cannot believe that there are white people who think it’s okay … Read more

Chart of the week: real housewives and ‘real’ work

Working hard or hardly working? A look at who isn’t participating in the labour force, and why. Inspired by the Real Housewives of Auckland, this week’s charts from Figure.NZ provide an insight into the real lives of New Zealand’s ‘housewives’ and others not in paid work. Want to know more? Check out Figure.NZ.  

‘She doesn’t want to own what came out of her mouth’: Michelle Blanchard on the Real Housewives racism scandal

This morning, an hour after news of a Real Housewives racism scandal broke, Duncan Greive spoke with Michelle Blanchard on the phone from the US about the episode. “This flat champagne, it’s driving me nuts,” says Michelle Blanchard, from an airline lounge in New York. She’s drinking in the afternoon, an hour away from boarding a flight … Read more

The story behind the racist explosion on next week’s Real Housewives of Auckland

The Spinoff was granted an exclusive preview of next week’s racism-scarred episode of The Real Housewives of Auckland on Friday. Here Duncan Greive discusses the shocking moment, and the fallout within and without of the episode. This morning the Herald on Sunday reports that one cast member of Real Housewives of Auckland calls another cast member “n*****” … Read more

Making money the old-fashioned way: What the Real Housewives says about wealth in NZ

New Zealand’s greatest reality show doesn’t only offer a window into the lives of the rich and shameless, says Max Rashbrooke. It’s also a perfect distillation of how the country’s wealth is increasingly being concentrated at the top. In the first episode of Real Housewives of Auckland, Louise Wallace introduces herself with the immortal line, … Read more

The Real Podcast of Housewives, Episode Five – Holy Moses we got a sponsor!

In the fifth episode of our Real Housewives of Auckland podcast, Jane, Duncan and Alex throw on their ponchos and pop some bottles to discuss New Zealand’s greatest reality show. We are back again, as sure as Anne’s casual racism, to dissect another week on The Real Housewives of Auckland. This week the women holidayed … Read more

The Real Housewives of Auckland Power Rankings – The Champagne Lady gets a spray tan and says a bad thing

This is Auckland, where new money meets old. Alex Casey is going to try and laugh at The Real Housewives of Auckland through her weekly power rankings – because if we can’t laugh then all we have is the void. Click here for previous instalments. 1) This tiny sophisticated gent Just when you thought The Real Housewives couldn’t get … Read more

Please, tell me more about how you hate The Real Housewives

Columnist Martin Van Beynen got very angry about The Real Housewives of Auckland last week. Alex Casey tries to figure out why.  Martin Van Beynen, the thought leader behind smash hit opinions like “Kiwi women swear too much” and “Dangerous times for older white males with opinions” has done it again. This time he’s steamed about … Read more