After week six on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including Ceri’s tragic expressions and eerie similarities with Twilight. Anny Ma on rejected cheese What kind of world do we live in where I have to watch two people walk away from a guaranteed love … Read more
After week five on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including Gabs’ nastiness, Naz’ nastiness, and Jordan’s nasty striped singlets. Madeleine Chapman on the casual racism Naz, Naz, Naz. She’s all over the internets with her hit list and her narking. Everyone wants to … Read more
Alex Casey assembles her contestant power rankings for week five, including ponytail nightmares, cow pyramid schemes and a tonne of spaghetti. It’s our last week in Hawaii and things are continuing to unravel. Jordan’s nearly worn out the bum of his floral boardies and is constantly dicing with death via these dramatic runs on the beach … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. Much to Alex and Duncan’s … Read more
Alex Casey assembles her contestant power rankings for week four, including Naz the poet laureate, bad tattoos and too many soft toys. Aloha minions, welcome to another week on the greatest show in the world, now bearing the once-in-a-lifetime offer in which you get to pay top dollar to sit somewhere near Jordan Mauger and The … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. Have a listen below, or download here on iTunes, or here on Stitcher. The Bachelor NZ things are … Read more
After week four on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including tribal lego bricks, big budgets and stuffed toy voodoo. Anny Ma on the big ol’ budget Firstly: Hawaii? Really? Can we refund the costs of taking the 14 gals, the one real … Read more
In this topic-driven series, Alex Casey gets reality star Chrystal Chenery’s take on the world over coffee and scones. Her opinions about both her time in the spotlight and life in general were so fierce – and so candid – that we decided to publish them over the course of a week. Today she remembers Dancing With the Stars … Read more
Compiling the best reading of the week from your friendly local website. Gareth Morgan: Why is a Right-to-Life campaigner leading the inquiry in the right to assisted death? “To have the Chair of our Health Select Committee not open to evidence and reasoning is a travesty of natural justice, indefensible anywhere apart from a theological state … Read more
The first season of The Bachelor NZ was arguably the greatest of any localised reality import. Unfortunately the second is thus far a disaster. Duncan Greive asks if we have any right to expect otherwise. A long time ago, before HD and broadband and snackable content, there was a little sitcom that went by the … Read more
Alex Casey assembles her contestant power rankings for week three, including near-death experiences, cocktail kisses and a spectacular vomit from the frontrunner. It was a week that promised “thrills and spills” on The Bachelor NZ, a promise that mostly delivered on one contestant – and shortly after the entire nation – being sick in their mouths. … Read more
There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old dorks talking about it. The Fantasy Suite is The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ, hosted by Jane Yee with Alex Casey and Duncan Greive. What has happened to our beloved show? Jane, Alex and Duncan open by trying to figure that out, eventually … Read more
In a week-long series, Alex Casey gets reality star Chrystal Chenery’s take on the world over coffee and scones. First up: Chrystal shares some wisdom for our new Bachelorettes based on her time in the mansion last year. Chrystal became a reality star that outshone almost all other offerings in the ashes of the great MediaWorks … Read more
After week two on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including the official drink of the show, Jordan’s dessert flirt and Lindsey’s paintball massacre. Anny Ma on the holey necklace Who would’ve thought that after watching a reality show about some Kiwi lasses finding love, I’d … Read more
Alex Casey assembles her contestant power rankings for week two, including a wet t-shirt contest, arty conversations and the hit list to end all hit lists. This week on The Bachelor we saw a crummy dog wash, crummy paintball and a crummy mousse attack. Or as Mike Puru chose to describe it, a series of “spectacular” dates. … Read more
The Beauty Spot is Zoe Scheltema’s weekly column that dissects the world of beauty and fashion. This week she interviews Terese Tomlin, head stylist and make up artist on The Bachelor NZ. Arguably, there is no more glamorous television event than that of The Bachelor, and it has careered back to our screens trailing thirty … Read more
After week one on The Bachelor NZ, some of the greatest minds in the country* assemble to talk about the big issues including Jordan’s expressive forehead vein and the mystery ingredients of bliss balls. Claire Adamson on the truth about Danielle Anny Ma on the Bachelor vein Jordan is a Classic Cantab Bloke, and despite his … Read more
He’s back as the host of The Bachelor NZ, but are Mike Puru’s greatest TV performances hidden in plain sight over on shopping channel YesShop? Calum Henderson watches one of his hypnotic advertorial masterpieces. If you listened carefully you could hear it in the wind at around 7:30pm on Monday night: the sound of a … Read more
Listen to the second episode of The Fantasy Suite, The Spinoff’s weekly podcast all about The Bachelor New Zealand. There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old group of plonkers talking about it for far too long. It’s The Fantasy Suite, The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ hosted by Jane … Read more
Alex Casey presents her first contestant power rankings for The Bachelor NZ 2016, including scabby tattoos, #wokeboarding and the return of Thingee. Welcome back friends, it’s been an eternity. How’s your health? How much of Art Green’s book did we get through over summer? I read one chapter and then ate a giant pile of … Read more
The Bachelor NZ is back, and with it countless group dates and one-on-ones and helicopter rides. But there’s a much simpler way to find true love on TV. Expat Kiwi Julia Hollingsworth explains what our next Bachelor can learn from China’s most popular dating show. A cryogenic tank slides down a chamber onto a garishly … Read more
Alex Casey reviews the first episode of The Bachelor NZ, including bliss balls, gongs and a whole new meaning to the word “throw pillow.” “He could definitely be my future husband… I think.” And so the second season of The Bachelor NZ opened with a perfect “yeah, nah” blend of sincerity and trepidation. Almost instantly, the show … Read more
Listen to the bold return episode of the The Fantasy Suite, The Spinoff’s weekly podcast all about The Bachelor New Zealand. There’s a new Bachelor, a new mansion, and the same old group of plonkers talking about it for far too long. It’s The Fantasy Suite, The Spinoff’s weekly podcast about The Bachelor NZ hosted … Read more
Alex Casey revisits clips from Miss Popularity on NZ On Screen, the reality competition where women were called “Boomerang Babes” and left at the mercy of the Australian Outback. 2005 was a strong year. I met Neville Longbottom at Armageddon whilst wearing a ‘Vote for Pedro’ badge, everyone at my school was either in love … Read more
Alex Casey watches with bated breath as Art Green attempts to set a Guinness World Record for loudest apple crunch. “It’s an ethereal apple,” whispered Paul Paynter, fourth generation heir to the Yummy Fruit Company dynasty. We both stared in silence at the pristine bowl of apples, resting on a plinth behind thick studio glass. … Read more
Has the slimy old Spinoff found the new Bachelor for 2016? And has he been hiding in plain sight on TV3 the whole time? Alex Casey investigates his online presence to see if the tailored suit fits. This morning The Spinoff received word that Jordan Mauger is the next brave tribute stepping into Art Green’s non-existent shoes for the … Read more
Alex Casey over-analyses the first short teaser for The Bachelor NZ. The brand new, sequin-laden teaser promo for The Bachelor NZ dropped on Valentine’s Day harder than Matilda falling off a wild horse called Paris. And, much like the sensually stripped-back song that accompanies the 45 second clip, it’s got me all bloody shook up. … Read more
Alex Casey watches UnREAL – a drama set behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-esque reality show – with The Bachelor NZ runner-up Dani Robinson, who dishes the dirt on how real reality TV really is. Set behind-the-scenes of a Bachelor-style dating show, the fictional world of UnREAL hints at the dark methods used to construct reality TV. Co-created by Marti Noxon and … Read more
Revisiting Alex Casey’s piece about ‘crotchgate’, an issue which took over the internet, broke our website, and revealed some heavy truths about shock jocks, women’s bodies and rape culture in New Zealand. I have spent a very large chunk of 2015 floating on the choppy whitecaps of the MediaWorks reality TV sea. I’ve recapped and … Read more