Wine and laughter: the sharp end of TV
Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells discuss their new roles in telly’s hot-seat with Bridget Jones.
as sure, and while she had considered doing a foraging education course they were quite expensive which is where Google’s New Zealand Fruit and Food Share Map came in handy.
However, former Milford track guide Daniel Ford said it was important to protect New Zealand’s natural food sources. ‘‘There are thousands of New Zealanders now living in poverty who rely on foraging to survive. We don’t want thousands of backpackers plundering these finite and limited resources.
‘‘I don’t want to see our plant life torn to pieces for free foreign backpacker food. We need to preserve what we have.’’
University of Canterbury sustainability adviser Matt Morris said foraging was not a New Zealand specific phenomenonand should be welcomed.
‘‘The ability to forage some areas for food and fibre seems to me to be a basic human right. Where we find competition for a small resource, I think that supports the argument to expand the resource. Welcoming travellers, and showing some hospitality in this way should be encouraged, not discouraged.’’ HILARY Barry and Jeremy Wells struggle to describe their roles on the new-look Seven Sharp – but they agree on the level of scrutiny they will be under.
The pair were confirmed as the new hosts of the TVNZ1 show on Wednesday, and will appear on air together for the first time tomorrow.
‘‘You do feel a lot of pressure for night one,’’ Barry says. ‘‘It’s like, ‘Here they are, let’s judge them’.’’
Proving humour will feature heavily in their presenting style, Barry and her co-host have a plan of attack to ensure they enjoy themselves.
‘‘Sometimes, just one drink settles the nerves – and puts the rest of the crew on edge,’’ Barry says.
Wells agrees: ‘‘Maybe like Hudson and Halls, just a bottle of red under the table and sip away. A lot of the audience will be settling down with a drink or their tea, so you’re just setting the mood’’.
When asked what viewers will receive, Wells reels off a list of Kiwi television shows, stretching back more than 40 years, that he’s studied closely – ‘‘so our show will be a melange’’. He is, of course, fibbing. ‘‘I think it’s really important that Jeremy is himself. He is a very funny man, who is here to be Jeremy Wells. We need to give him space to do that. We are not filling anyone else’s shoes, we’re just going to be there and be us and develop as a team and get to know one another as we go on.’’
Regardless, there’s no denying the fact the man widely regarded as the country’s best Mike Hosking impersonator is now doing the very job that once provided him so much comedy fodder.
‘‘I am obviously doing this job as myself, and, yes, that is pretty weird. It is weird when you do an impersonation of someone, and then you get the job they have just done,’’ Wells says. ‘‘I thought about doing every second word as Mike Hosking, just to ease people in, but it’s hard enough to do the impersonation.’’
Wells will continue the tradition of balancing early morning radio – he co-hosts the Radio Hauraki breakfast show – with the highrating current affairs show. But Barry has stepped away from early mornings with Breakfast, where she started in September 2017 alongside Jack Tame.
‘‘It was tough to say goodbye. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave them, and I did talk a lot with Jack about it before I made the decision.
‘‘To be the co-host of what has always been the news and current affairs slot is a huge thrill and a really big honour. They put a lot of faith in you to not muck it up.’’
Wells feels the same, saying he dreamt of this job as a child.
‘‘I never would have thought it would have ever happened though. I watched Holmes and the news every night, and I always wanted to be on television as a kid. But I’m going to be learning as I go, learning on the job. Fear and excitement are the same thing.’’
We occasionally collect mussels from the beach, like tuatua, pipis, cockles or green mussels.’ GERMANS TOBIAS HIUCHNIK AND IMKE LIEBAU, LEFT I thought about doing every second word as Mike Hosking, just to ease people in, but it’s hard enough to do the impersonation.’ JEREMY WELLS