It harnessed the power of a new website called "Facebook" and it helped launch the careers of our brightest comedy stars in Rose Matafeo and Guy Montgomery, so why did TVNZ pull the plug on TVNZ U? Join us as we remember the most chaotic and groundbreaking youth channel the country has ever seen. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There's plenty of free pop culture content there and if you upgrade to a paid subscription you’ll get a...

It all started in 2001 when Pieta Keating jumped from winning the first season of normie Treasure Island to hosting the same show only jam-packed with Aotearoa's finest early 00s celebs. Now, with the show about to enter an all new season, join us as we remember when Celebrity Treasure Island began. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There’s plenty of free pop culture content there and if you upgrade to a paid subscription you’ll...

In this extra special emergency episode, we dissect the strange new supertease for the upcoming season of Celebrity Treasure Island which includes Matootles in tears and Tāme Iti calling someone a dumbass. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It began with Justin Bieber's hat being stolen and ended with the popstar being doused in L&P and not knowing what German is. Join us as we remember when Biebermania hit Aotearoa during his chaotic 2010 press tour. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There’s plenty of free pop culture content there and if you upgrade to a paid subscription you’ll get a bonus episodes of The Real Pod every week (featuring reality TV recaps and pop...

In this extra special emergency episode of The Real Pod, we reveal and react to the incredible star-studded cast of Celebrity Treasure Island season five. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was set to be the most talked-about reality series of 2012, until a little brown mouse ran into the middle of Sally Ridge's kitchen and blew it up into a nationwide scandal. Join us as we remember when The Ridges used a stage mouse to make television history. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There’s plenty of free pop culture content there and if you upgrade to a paid subscription you’ll get a bonus episodes of The Real Pod...

Last week, Below Deck Down Under was rocked by a serious incident on board that made headlines around the world. In this bonus episode, Duncan Greive and Alex Casey discuss what happened, how the production reacted, and what it says about how far both reality TV and society has come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did a silly yacht race prompt rumours of sniper rifles and sports heroes being called traitors by grown adults? The ad exec behind the Goldstein ads got carried away and created a campaign which escalated into terrifying intensity and made international news in 2003. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There’s plenty of free pop culture content there and if you upgrade to a paid subscription you’ll get a bonus episodes of The...

Some might remember 1999 as the year Helen Clark became prime minister. We remember it as the year Carlos Spencer and his abs promoted choccie biccies in a racy campaign that saw pearls being clutched the nation over. Join Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive as they look back on the iconic ad that paved the way for future All Blacks to strip down to their undies for a paycheck. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There’s plenty of...

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a doppelganger in our midst". Join Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive as we look back on the suit-based X Factor NZ scandal that stopped the nation in its tracks. If you enjoy this podcast and are hungry for more, sign up for The Real Pod Extra on Substack. There's plenty of free pop culture content there and if you upgrade to a paid subscription you’ll get a bonus episodes of The Real Pod every week (featuring reality TV recaps and pop culture gossip)...

Dust off your fedora and polish your cane, it's time to dive into the delicious deception of The Traitors NZ. Join Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive as they dissect week one of Three's big new reality show, including the sun-soaked New Zealand setting, the devilish hosting style of Paul Henry and the welcome return of our godhead Colin Mathura-Jeffree.  If you enjoy this episode and are hungry for more, then become a paid subscriber on our Substack where you’ll get one of these bonus...

Before we get to our massive bombshell, there's some thrilling celebrity news to get through including Jojo Siwa's southern sojourn, Kourtney Kardashian's pregnancy and Erin Simpson's chook-hungry baby. Also, Jane had a handsome bum doctor, and Alex had a scandal queenie at Cirque on Ice. We also recap the latest on Love Island UK before dropping some very big news about the future of the pod. Whatever could it be? You'll have to listen to find out. Join the Real Pod community! Go here for...

The juggernaut reality series is back on TVNZ+ and has switched up the format a bit. Girls AND boys mingling at the start? Levitating contestants? Turkey teeth? Jane and Alex dissect their first impressions of the show and the cast, and Duncan ponders a new set of gnashers on his upcoming trip to continental Europe. Also, there's another Bachelor baby on the way, Shortland Street is about to drop a massive three-night cliffhanger, and Below Deck Down Under is coming back! Join the Real Pod...

It is Love Island launch week, and we could not be more excited to return to the villa! Alex got to chat with Iain Stirling ahead of the show's debut, but you'll have to wait until the end for that clip. First, we've got to get through our bungles of the week - Jane's excited about Pete Evans' bold new hairdo, the truth about Tina from Turners, plus some behind-the-scenes gossip from Tracked, and Duncan's review of the new season of I Think You Should Leave. Join the Real Pod community! Go...

Allow us to take you inside the glitz and glamour of the Voyager Media Awards, in which MC Mike Puru delivered an incredible media-themed musical number to a standing ovation (from Alex Casey and Duncan Greive). We recap all the gossip and celebrity sightings of the week, and Jane Yee botches a hang with Dame Susan Devoy. All that, plus the bleak return of the Kardashians, a promising Taskmaster cast and a look back at Treasure Island, which premiered 26 years ago this week (we thought it was...

The trio are finally reunited in the same studio for a true chaos pod. In the Real News, the Cornies have come through with beautiful IRL interactions and beautiful gifts, there’s been a dearth of celebrity sightings for Jane and an embarrassment of riches for Alex and Duncan. Here’s a reality check: Paris Hilton’s chihuahua is dead at 23, Honey Boo Boo has finished high school and Sophia Grace has had a baby. Also: we look at the new season of Selling Sunset, Three’s new reality show Tracked...

Another week, another new reality franchise washing up on our shores. But as we discuss, Three’s Couples Therapy NZ is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Plus, the fate of the Sheep Shagger mug is revealed, Duncan and Evelyn from the latest season of Married at First Sight have finally gone public and Al from season nine has announced that he maybe got throat warts from doing a shoey. Join the Real Pod community! Go here for The Real Pod Corner on Facebook And here to chat on our Discord...

In the biggest reality television event of the year (apart from the Married at First Sight reunion), King Charles finally took the throne over the weekend and it could not have been weirder experience to recap. Then, we are joined in the studio by a very special guest from television history who recounts his unbelievably shocking experience being apart of a New Zealand reality show in the mid-2000s. Join the Real Pod community! Go here for The Real Pod Corner on Facebook And here to chat on...

In this extra special episode of The Real Pod, Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive don our silkiest tracksuits and go all the way back to spring 2004, when Dei Hamo's 'We Gon' Ride' exploded onto the New Zealand airwaves. As you can read about now in The Spinoff's oral history of the song, this was a time when hip hop in Aotearoa was at its peak, music video directors were hot property, and kids were still buying CD singles. So how did Sani Sagala, a former musician working in a South...

Pour yourself a cuppa in your favourite novelty mug, because Jane Yee, Alex Casey and Duncan Greive are back for another week of pop culture gossip. We investigate why Suzanne Paul is promoting everything from Liquorland to Burger King in the lead-up to the King's Coronation this weekend, and which Pussycat Doll is performing at the Coronation concert. Also, the teams for Tracked have been announced, Jason Momoa is mainlining Mainland cheese and Jane is still battling a flea problem. Join...