A family affair:

He rocked on the dance floor but now Simon Barnett is dancing to a different tune in the new Three reality romp X-Venture Family Challenge. Cass Marrett reports.

Simon Barnett dances to a new tune.

New Zealand television hasn’t seen much of Simon Barnett since he was rocking blue sequins, gothic eyeliner and a dad bod that put all others to shame in 2015’s Dancing With The Stars.

That’s to change this week when Barnett appears (without the sequins) fronting Three’s newest reality romp, X-Venture Family Challenge, when 16 families of four will compete for a $25,000 cash prize.

But according to Barnett, “It’s not just about winners and losers. Even if you lose $25,000 in the final, it’s about what you learn from the loss and what you learn about yourself in the process.”

In the show, teams take part in a series of challenges from flying drones to navigating obstacle courses. Before each episode, families are tested for resilience and emotional intelligence, then given coaching based on their scores.

“It was about getting the very best out of the individual,” says Barnett.

“It was about taking leadership and exploiting every gift you’ve been given.”

Although Barnett admits there is some healthy competition, he insists X-Venture Family Challenge is different from other reality shows.

“It’s called reality television for a reason. They want the tears, they want the heartache and they want the pain,” he says.

“This was really different. It was about afterwards – when the tears stopped and you’d say, ‘So what did you learn through that and why was it so difficult when you lost?’ ”