The Netflix reality show has been a smash hit in New Zealand, but what the hell is Love Is Blind and why is it so good (or bad)? Alex Casey and Tara Ward discuss an instant classic. Alex: Knock, knock, Tara. Are you there? It’s me, just a simple ex-tank mechanic with a baby voice, … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her second batch of power rankings after the first dramatic week of The Bachelorette NZ. Click here for the first instalment. Two Bachelorettes. Two. Bachelorettes. The room is spinning, the floor is lava, my nose is running worse than Brendon’s post red-carpet because I have been crying and laughing hysterically since I … Read more
In this very special episode of The Real Pod, Art Green joins us to yarn about The Bachelorette NZ premiere. Brought to you by our friends at Nandos. Related: Alex Casey’s Bachelorette NZ Power Rankings, episode one: Send in the lads It’s been five years in the making, but we finally got Art Green on … Read more
Think you know your Lings from your Zings and your Fleischls from your Brettschneiders? Take The Real Pod’s reality TV quiz and prove it, with special thanks to Nando’s. Here at The Real Pod, The Spinoff’s own weekly popular culture and reality TV podcast, we live and breathe reality television and real life in New … Read more
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
Alex Casey looks back at 10 years of reality television in New Zealand, a genre which reflected both our viewing habits and the good, bad and ugly sides of our national character. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like watching television in 2019 has become kind of a stressful chore. What used to be … Read more
Alex Casey dissects the most exciting and enticing New Zealand pop culture news of 2019. I know, I know. This story could just be the headline and it would probably win an award. This story could just be a tweet and it would get upwards of 10 likes. But, folks, it’s pure hell out there … Read more
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
Alex Casey reviews the premiere of The Bachelor Australia, where the gowns are glorious and the PhDs are plentiful. Everyone knows that in both nature and reality television, the Honey Badger is a pretty hard act to follow. Honey Badger don’t care – he’ll eat a snake, he’ll dig a hole, he’ll get to the … Read more
Alex Casey breaks down the full line-up for Celebrity Treasure Island 2019, including two weather presenters and a mandatory Lana. Gather round peasants, Celebrity Treasure Island is coming back for the first time since 2007 and you should all be screaming bloody murder. This is the show with the killer coral! The weird txt speak! … Read more
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
Art Green’s company Riot Foods (parent company of CleanPaleo and Poppy & Olive) hit headlines this week for all the wrong reasons when it was revealed it needed $1 million in the next two weeks or risk being sold. Green and co-founder Ryan Kamins sat down exclusively with The Spinoff to reveal exactly what went … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. In a bleary Friday afternoon edition of The Real Pod, we reconvene to talk about a truly mad week in reality television. What was David Seymour doing on The Block NZ? How intense was Cass … 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, we are inundated with hard-hitting real news from around New Zealand. There’s a slide in Dunedin that doesn’t slide, Anika Moa hitting the hot seat on Seven Sharp … Read more
An ex-Bachelorette has opened up about her experience on The Bachelor NZ, claiming that producers monitored her weight and banned her from eating dessert. Ally Thompson of The Bachelor NZ season three and The Bachelor Winter Games has written about the pressures of appearing on the romance reality show and the impact that it had … Read more
Alex Casey reads through the complaints against Naked Attraction, the very rude show that aired on TVNZ last year. Everybody knows that absolutely nobody has genitals. In fact, nobody has ever been naked. Before birth we are prepped with an in-utero uniform of jorts and a high vis vest, gifted to every growing foetus from … Read more
Our local Bachelor exports have finally made it to the international stage in The Bachelor Winter Games, but at what cost to the nation? For the longest time, I was steaming mad that no network in New Zealand had bought The Bachelor Winter Games for us to all to watch through our fingers with 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. It must be getting close to Valentine’s Day, because romance is in the air on The Real Pod. We welcome back one of our favourite reality shows in Married at First Sight Australia, swoon over … Read more
The contrivances of the first generation of reality shows are being overtaken by higher stakes games, writes Duncan Greive. This story was originally published on November 15, 2017. The first season of Married at First Sight NZ is over, and I for one am an absolute wreck. For the past three years I’ve been part of ‘The … Read more
The Real Pod assembles in The Spinoff boardroom of dreams to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture, thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, we are all on a come-down after an amazing pre-record with Queen Matootles, which will be our Christmas gift to you all next week. With Nando’s firmly … Read more
Two more ex-Bachelor NZ contestants are headed to represent New Zealand on the international stage, and Alex Casey is bloody excited. Following the news that Gollum impressionist and second AD Jordan Mauger will be representing New Zealand in The Bachelor Winter Games, The Spinoff has learned that the Kiwi contingent will be bolstered by Lily … Read more
This week Jane, Duncan and Alex bask in the glory of their new sponsors at Nando’s and relive an incredible night at the New Zealand TV awards. Call the police, call the midwife, call your parents: The Real Pod has now got a luxury sponsor in Nando’s. And what a week for them to come … 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
The contrivances of the first generation of reality shows are being overtaken by higher stakes games, writes Duncan Greive. The first season of Married at First Sight NZ is over, and I for one am an absolute wreck. For the past three years I’ve been part of ‘The Real Pod’, a podcast which has chronicled … Read more
Confirmed overnight by the creator of the show, Jordan Mauger is set to represent New Zealand on the international Bachelor stage. Jordan Mauger, conductor of the tremendous trainwreck that was The Bachelor NZ S2, is headed to represent New Zealand in The Bachelor Winter Games, a new spinoff of the dating competition set to air … Read more
The Real Pod team assemble in the boardroom of dreams to talk reality TV and real life in New Zealand, including The Block disaster, Max Key’s new merch and the engagement of the King and Queen of New Zealand television. It’s been a tremendous week for The Real Pod team this week, with New Zealand TV … Read more
The Real Pod team assemble back in the boardroom of dreams to tackle musicals, social media stars and rubbish bin woes. In this week’s #realpod Alex, Jane and Duncan are all collectively put in chokey by the Matilda musical – especially the galaxy of stars who came out to watch it. Alex revealed her technique … Read more
The Real Pod team are back together to discuss the shambles that is Mark Richardson, mermaid costumes, and getting drunk with Hilary Barry. PLEASE NOTE: OUR GRAPHIC DESIGNER IS TOO GOOD FOR US AND THAT IS NOT THE REAL MARK RICHARDSON After many weeks apart, host Jane Yee is joined by Duncan Greive and Alex … Read more
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. In our first Bachelor-free week in a long time, host Jane Yee is joined by Alex Casey and Duncan Greive to still talk about The Bachelor for an extended … Read more