Shorty fan Celeste has her chance to dream
Siena Yates meets the Shortland Street viewer who doesn’t miss an episode
Celeste Osterman carries her black bag around with her everywhere, always keeping a mindful eye on it. Inside are two folders, bulging at the seams with years’ worth of work chronicling hit Kiwi soap Shortland Street.
There are old magazines, newspaper clippings, photos of her favourite characters, episode notes, files on each character, Celeste’s own fan fiction and even the lyrics to the Shorty Street theme song.
“I’m not going to sing it for you,” Celeste says resolutely before anyone can ask.
The 32-year-old has been watching Shortland Street since she was 18, tuning in every day without fail.
“It would be quite weird if I missed one,” she says. “I would have to catch up.” Celeste’s super-fan status has been well documented by short film series Amy Street, which follows the residents of an assisted living programme for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Her Amy Street film saw her meet Matthew Chamberlain — who plays Murray Cooper — and score an autograph and a kiss, which, at the time, was enough to send her reeling.
Now, though, she’s on the Shortland Street set itself, rubbing shoulders with the stars, getting the star treatment and appearing in the show’s upcoming 25th anniversary special.
When we meet, it’s her second interview in a row — “but I’m used to it now”, she says.
We flip through her folders together and she points out her favourite characters — some because they’re “interesting to watch”, others, like TK Samuels (Ben Mitchell), because “he’s hot” and Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) because “he’s a bit of a spunk”.
She’s still buzzing from her experience on set, filming opposite Shortland Street original and Grey’s Anatomy star Martin Henderson.
She’s so flustered that when asked what it was like, she realises with a laugh: “I can’t remember.”
Although this experience is clearly a dream come true for Celeste, she’s even more excited to tune in for the anniversary special because she has no idea what to expect and her absolute favourite thing about the show is its cliffhangers.
“Don’t you get annoyed having to wait to see what happens?” I ask.
She laughs and gives a firm “No”. She is willing to wait for the good stuff.
“You must be a really dedicated fan,” I say.
She grins and puffs out her chest proudly: “Yeah. I am.”