Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - December 15 - Sam Neill, Auckland's Friendliest 24 Hour Gym, Jono's Remote Control...

Episode Date: December 14, 2020

On today's show, we were joined by a couple of wonderful guests. Firstly, we had Kiwi actor Sam Neill who you may know from Jurassic Park or Hunt For The Wilderpeople. We also had Scarlett and her dog Coco from Dog Almighty ahead of the final tonight on TVNZ 2. As well as this, we reflected on when we visited 5-year-old girl Vivian to deliver her some presents ahead of Christmas. She has had a really tough year fighting cancer and going through chemotherapy, and she had a Zoom call with Santa while we delivered her some presents. It was a special moment! The video will be on our social channels today too. Finally, Ben took the credit for being a great & admirable parent when he probably shouldn't have. Cheeky Ben!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jono and Ben, new to your mornings. Friends of Skinny, New Zealand's most recommended telco. Happy, happy, happy, oh, oh. Just when you thought you couldn't get enough of Jono and Ben, you can have them anywhere, anytime. Welcome to the Jono and Ben podcast. It is a podcast. Welcome along to it. Do you know what? I caught up with my mum over the weekend, Jenny.

Lovely Jenny. She always posts favourable comments underneath all of our social media. She does. She's very positive. Do you know what she did? So proud of you, Ben. She had to do a car trip, and she reckons it was a round trip of a roundabout between going there and back in the South Island. About six to eight hours she was in the car.

She was like, didn't have a radio. But what she did, she had her phone plugged into a little charger pack, and on the seat next to her, she played our podcast. For six hours? Yeah, six to eight hours, I think she was. I can't remember if she said it was listening to our podcast. She was like, I caught up with Philip quite a lot. You could also use that as a tool for torturing prisoners of war.

You must listen to this podcast. Six hours? I couldn't even listen to us for six hours. I was like, geez. So that's very impressive what she's done. And what was the feedback well she was like uh she really enjoyed what she said she found interesting was like she's I learned lots of stuff about your life like what things you've been up to because you never call her but I'm like well now I'm like I'm just listening to the podcast it's all there if you want to know what's happening in my life I put

it on podcast form it's there with a bit of a comedic twist as well. Yeah. If you want an update from your son, with a bit of a laugh at the end. It's all on a podcast. Yeah. Because have you got so bad at keeping in touch that she's now like, well, I'm going to drive down from Pai here to see you. Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah. Yeah. Listen to the podcast other way, just to catch up. So, yeah. It's the only way she can get anything from her son, is to listen to the podcast. Yeah. So listen to the podcast, mum.

So mum, when you're listening to this, I hope you enjoy this. Or she can also log in and watch Dog Almighty on TVNZ On Demand. Is that another way to see her son? Yeah. She doesn't get quite as much about my life in that show, I guess. But she still gets to see me. Unless she sees you're happy. Yeah.

And she's always worried about you wasting away too. You're never eating enough. Yeah, so she gets to see me on that so there you go so today on the podcast though let's give a shout out

to Jenny Jenny yeah this is Jenny our number one pot no one has probably listened to more of this podcast than Jenny

I know exactly Annie Pryor my mum listens every now and then what is she doing is it an exercise cycle yeah so she's got a bit of a bung knee and so she does

a bit of an exercise cycle in the garage exercise cycle or one of those elliptical I like the name of the elliptical the elliptical

where your arms and legs are moving like a cross trainer thing does she do that one nah she's just doing straight cycle but she's gone

to a new she went to a podiatrist of all people who told her she's been walking incorrectly her entire life

she's like I'm in my 70s I've been walking the wrong way for over 70 years. But is it one of those situations where they're like, now go over there and walk for me. And when you're walking normally, you don't even think about it. You're not walking like Pinocchio. Yeah, but when you actually go, oh, is this how I walk?

It gets in your head. Yeah, don't even think about walking because it really does. It's one of those things you do naturally. It's like breathing or putting your ear. But, don't ever think about walking because it really does. But it's one of those things you do naturally. It's like breathing or like putting your ear. But anyway, that's what they do. I imagine if all of us went to podiatrists and chiropractors that they'd tell us we've all been doing stuff the wrong way. Yeah.

Yeah. Look where I'm sitting now. I've got my leg folded under another leg on a swivel chair. Yeah, posture and stuff. Yeah, posture's shocking, especially computers, isn't it? You sort of arch over. I reckon we're creating a generation of human beings who are just going to be like, almost back to the caveman era.

We're going backwards. From computers. But today on the podcast, we've got legendary New Zealand actor Sam Neill. Really great to catch up with him. He's a lovely chap, Sam Neill. He's probably one of our favourite guests we have on the show. He's joined us on here for three times times and you were like, he had no reason to come on today. He wasn't promoting anything. Nothing to plug.

He just wanted a bit of a catch up with us. This is great. He's fresh back from filming Jurassic World in the middle of COVID and he built a house while he was away that he had no part in. So he walked into this brand new house that he had no say in what went

on in there. oh and the other thing I found really interesting was how much how many protocols and how much they spent on Jurassic World so enjoy that on the podcast

Jono and Ben or as they're known in the office those two Jono and Ben New Zealand's breakfast on the hits I had an opportunity

I had a moment last weekend where I looked like you know I looked like a great parent and I took the credit, and now I feel guilty because it wasn't the full story that these people saw. Oh, it's hard to be a good parent all the time,

but the main thing is as long as you look like one, as long as you look like you're doing a good job, who cares about how shocking your parenting skills are? As long as to the wider general public, oh, he's a good parent, yeah. Well, so we had an occasion where last Friday night we went over to friends of ours house

and they had a few kids and parents around for end of school you know end of school year to sort of celebrate that and the kids are playing with their friends

and we're socialising with the adults but it got to a stage where I was like oh it's getting a bit late I'll go see it's time for the kids to drive me home

it's time for the kids to drive me home was that the good parenting move yeah daddy's had too many drinks no I went and found my two daughters, Sienna and Indy

and I was like, hey guys, just so you know, we're going to leave in 15 minutes. And they're like, oh, can we stay longer?

Let's not do this dance. You know how it works. Inevitably, I'm going to take you home. You're like, oh, can we just do this? Can we do this?

Well, sorry guys, when I come back, you know, we're going to have to leave. And so, I'd given them a sort of 15 minute window.

15 minutes later, I was like, oh yeah, we better go. Went to the girls who were just there in front of a whole lot of our parents. I was like, hey guys, we've got to go. And they're like, yep, sweet. They went off, put their shoes on, grabbed their bags and off they went to the door. And the other parents were like, oh my gosh. He's running a tight regime.

They were like, have we just witnessed a Christmas miracle? Is he Nigel Latter? There's no talk back. There's Latter? There's no talk back. There's no negotiation. There's no talk back. They've just gone, put their shoes on. They're like, oh, this is incredible. Nailed parenting.

And I just went, yeah, yeah. And I didn't say anything. In that moment, I could have gone, oh, I've given them. I see you're reaping all the praise. I did. I took the praise and not telling them that I'd given them a 15-minute warning and I'd had that negotiation conversation. So I'd done all that just privately. And then, yeah, so what they saw was like, oh, wow, this is...

They just saw the good parts. They hadn't seen the negotiation that had taken place. And the fact that Ben promised to buy them a whole bunch of toys from Smiggle. Yeah, exactly. You're like, we're just off home to do our homework, aren't we, kids? Those occasions, it's hard because you take the credit and then later you're like, oh, I shouldn't have taken the credit.

Well, you did the same thing when you were doing community service. Here we go. You must have known I was going to bring this up as soon as you mentioned that. Yeah, Ben was charged with some serious crimes. White collar crimes. Yeah, I had to do some court-appointed community services.

What kind of community services are there? Well, voluntary community services. Oh, I know what I'm doing. I spent all Saturday with a bunch of criminals picking up rubbish on the side of State Highway 1. That was for a TV segment I did many years ago that didn't go well and I learned a valuable lesson and it was a really low moment in my life

but I had to do community service as part of it. And he went to a school and it was part of his voluntary community service and the mothers came up to him and they're like, oh my God, it's so nice.

You're turning up to the Wairarapa Primary School's fundraising day and helping out. And he never told them. I said, yeah, no, it is nice that I'm doing this.

I didn't say, I did not say, well, I did not say, but I, anyway, I didn't lie. I did not say, well, I did not say, but anyway, I didn't lie. I just kind of didn't go into too much detail because the people there, the organisers know why you're there. But everyone else is just like, wow. What a guy, what a guy.

And you know, by the way, can you sign this timesheet for me? Say I've clocked in there and I've clocked out there. There's a parole officer about 20 metres away who knows why he's there. Yeah, so anyway, a valuable lesson. And being honest in the moment. Yeah. Just going, I'm here on community service-based reasons.

Oh, yeah. I've lied and bribed my kids to leave this party. I didn't bribe them to leave the party. I just had the negotiation beforehand. Every parent listening knows what I'm talking about. Morning. This show contains traces of Jono and Ben. The Hits with Jono and Ben for breakfast.

We're wrapping up the year, our last week, this week. We're chatting to some of our favourite people and Sam Neill, legendary Kiwi actor, you'll know him from Hunt for the Wilder People, Jurassic Park, and he's just been overseas filming the new Jurassic World movies, which we want to talk to him about as well. And he joins us now via Zoom. Sam Neill, welcome to New Zealand's Breakfast. Whereabouts are you, mate? I'm back on my farm.

And, you know, after having been in quarantine, so I'm out here in the free world. It's completely, it's totally freaky. I couldn't believe having not shaken a hand or seen someone without a mask, basically, since February. Wow. To come out into New Zealand and everyone's hugging you and they're shaking your hand and they're kissing you and stuff,

it's sort of unfortunate. But it really freaked me out because all those things have gone forever. But that normal human interaction that we have in New Zealand now we're so lucky to have it because it's it's this exists nowhere else in the world it's amazing you've been in the eye of the storm because you're filming Jurassic World and uh I imagine everyone was in masks I imagine the protocol would have been insane yeah it was very complicated and we were tested three times a week every day for the first seven days. We had a shutdown for about 10 days

when there was a suspected case or two. And then we would get tested every day. So I estimated I was tested 55 times. 55 times? It was in the back of my throat. Jeez. It's a fair bit of probing in an old man's head, you know. And you know, what I didn't realize,

because I got tested a couple of times, you don't realize how deep your nose goes. It goes up quite high. Keep going. I thought I suffered some brain damage. You know, my memory wasn't so good for a couple of days. Forgot lines on the set because of all the COVID. 40,000 COVID tests on set, apparently,

just with the project alone, that is the word. Yeah. I mean, I think they spent something like $5 million just on COVID safety. We've still got Sam Neill on Zoom right now. He's just back from filming Jurassic World back in New Zealand.

You must be stoked to be back, Sam. I loved coming back to New Zealand. I loved being in quarantine. It was the best thing. You enjoyed it? I had no responsibilities. People would bring food to the door. You know, I felt completely cosy and safe. And I didn't want to leave.

I know everyone hates quarantine, but I loved it. We're so sheltered from what is actually happening around the rest of the world here in New Zealand. Like you say, you come back, we're hugging, we're doing, we're living life normally. And it's just not happening anywhere else. So I imagine there's a lot of people just trapped alone and feeling quite vulnerable.

Yeah, it was quite a thing to have my first hongi when I came out. Your first hongi. Wow. We're living in a different universe here. It's almost like it is another world, yeah. I mean, I know there's been a lot of economic suffering and so on in New Zealand.

The knock-on effects have been manifold. But, you know, I was in London just before I came back, and I was in a hotel in Soho, which is normally, I don't know, 80 rooms or something. It was down to six. You walked around, and it was like the zombie apocalypse, except there were no zombies. There were one or two people I thought could have been zombies.

They had masks on, so it was difficult. It's hard to tell. They might have just been pasty Englishmen. You've been 10 months, as you said before, away from home, and I understand you built a house in that time without not seeing the house. I mean, how did that work? Yeah, it's...

It's a challenging thing to add to your plate. Yeah, look, it was really so exciting to walk into a new house that had been built in my absence. But I still can't work out there was a switch yesterday. You know, I saw it and I thought

I haven't seen that switch before. I wonder what it does. So I tentatively pressed it, you know, and a whole light came up over the desk that I didn't even know was there. Yeah, but some things, why are dishwashers so complicated now? All they have to do is to wash dishes. It's not rocket science, but you need to be a rocket scientist to work this dishwasher.

It's incredibly complicated. You're like, if I was there, I would not have approved that dishwasher. It's always a sign that, you know, when you need to go to the bathroom and you can't find your own toilet in your house, that you've really been away through this whole project. Way too long. And a dog as well,

apparently. You required a dog while you're away? My dog's arriving tomorrow. Oh, right. She's been at the vet for a couple of days. I love the names of your animals. How do you name your animals? Do you name it after people you admire, you've worked with? I mean, what do you go with? I tend to name a lot of animals after friends and colleagues. Yeah, I've got a duck called Magda Zybanski. She has some cats in Kim,

who I've been talking to this morning, as a matter of fact. Jeff Goldblum's an old ram. He's retired. The paddock I'm looking at over there. Not like the actual Jeff Goldblum, who's still working. He's still doing great. Meryl Streep and Hugo Weaving are apparently animals of yours too? Well, Hugo Weaving was a ram who actually died on the job.

Oh, on the job, eh? He just fell off. He fell sideways in the middle of what rams do. Oh, really? Oh, jeez. You need a new ram every year or two. Otherwise, you know, things get a little

bit Tasmanian. Gotta keep the gene pool nice and wide. Yes, you know, things get a little bit Tasmanian. You've got to keep the gene pool nice and wide. Nice and wide. Yes, you do. Yeah. So a ram, they're putting it all in there, aren't they? They're there for a short time.

Yeah, and a good time. You know, a little trivia. The ram is the most prodigious male animal on the planet. Really? A ram can cover 80 ewes in a day, a good ram. Gee, that's prolific. Show me another animal with that level of promiscuity. No, you show me another. Or capability.

I can't, I can't. Sometimes Ben, when he's on heat, he might be able to reach those numbers. Oh, no. No, no, no. Well, listen, Sam. The other thing that happened while I was away, an Australian film called Rams, which came out. Oh, yes, you were in a movie. Yes, Sam. The other thing that happened while I was away, an Australian film called Rams.

Oh, yes, you were in a movie. Yes. Yeah. It's been doing really well. This film that we just finished, the Jurassic World 3, Jurassic Park 6 or whatever it is, which will be really good, by the way. Have you seen all of them?

Yeah, yeah. I think this will be the best one. I've watched them all with best one. That's good. I've watched them all with my son. He loves them. But I keep going, every movie I'm like, you guys are going back.

You're making the same mistakes. Have you not learned? It's the same. You're like, someone stop this. What happened last time? Have you not learned from the, they told you what happened last time?

They just keep going back for more. That's, of course, Alan Grant's conundrum. I mean, how many times can you get away with things? We'll see with this one. So when's this one out, Sam? But that'll be out in 2022. They're not going to risk it with this coming summer.

Yeah. I mean, look, I think there's a lot of grounds for optimism in general in the world. I think that you've got a new presidency in the States. We've got vaccines around the corner that are just beginning to be distributed now. So I think we're coming into a new year and I think it'll be a lot better year

than the one we've just had, which has been a bugger. Yeah, no, you're right. I absolutely agree. That's a good way to think, optimism. That's what we need. That's what we need. Hey, listen, Sam Neill, it's always such a pleasure hanging out with you. Good to think, optimism. That's what we need. That's what we need. Hey, listen, Sam Neill, it's always such a pleasure hanging out with you.

Good to see you guys. One of the 20 icons, only 20 at all time, one of the icons of the Arts Foundation, which is a great honour too, Sam. Yeah, that was fun. And we had a really good dinner at Government House. Yeah, I'm really, you know, so full of myself. You've really changed, Sam.

I mean, always banging on about your work. I'm sick of you talking about Jurassic World. Listen, if you ever acquire a couple of weasels, you can name them Jono and Ben. Oh, yeah. Okay, so full permission. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

I hate those weasels But I love you guys So nice to see you Take care of yourself And hopefully we'll catch up again in 2021 Alright boys Good to see you See you Sam

Thanks mate We apologise in advance Sorry about that Sorry about that I'm sorry to rope you into this Sorry you've been dragged into this Jono and Pen Breakfast on the heads

The heads The heads. Hey, I realised last night that the remote control really plays such a pivotal role in every household as to who wields the power of that particular house. Don't you find?

Yeah. The remote control. If you have control of the remote control, you're in control. That's why they call it the remote control, right? That control. That's why they call it the remote control, right? That's why it's called a control.

What you don't realise, though, is the more people you add into the household, the further down the pecking order you become. Like I've got Jen, Oscar, Poppy, me. I'm fourth place. I haven't held a remote control in months. Months I haven't had control of that remote. I can imagine though, but are you a flicker? Are you a like a...

Oh yeah, I don't stick around for long. I imagine you're like, you're like, over here, do this, do this. I imagine you're one of those people. And it's always weird because I love Crime and Investigation Channel. So we always end up on some weird documentary about a murder in Wisconsin or something.

And the family's like, can we not watch this as family viewing? So then I have to relinquish it. I imagine you get like, you flick onto something else and then you watch that. Then you'd be like, what was I originally watching? You're watching nine different TV shows. But it's a fight, isn't it?

It's a passive aggressive battle in any house as to who has the remote control. Like are you number one seed in the remote control? It would really depend on the situation. Like, yeah, if there's sport on and I want to watch it, I'm like, yeah, cool, I'll put this on. Yeah, I'm watching this. But most of the time, it's whoever sits down there first

and then go, can I watch whatever it is on Netflix? The kids, you're like, yeah, go for it. So then if you came in late to that, they're already watching something, the controls in Siena, your daughter's hand, do you have the right to then take the remote? Or have they got ownership of it? Yeah, that's a tricky one.

It's a contentious issue. I spoke about this the other day. A while ago, we had a house guest that stayed at our house. They picked up the remote. They're not even a member of the household.

And they were changing the channel and I was just like, wow. I had to commend them. It takes a lot of like... That's a lot of confidence. Yeah. To take someone else's remote. And there's little intricacies to every remote and television setup.

Yeah. And to just go in blind, just like changing channels. I was like, wow, that's just impressive. What do they change it to? It's an alpha dog move. I packed my bags and I moved out of the house. I was like... That golden Labrador has just come and golden showered all over your property, my friend.

Oh, yeah. But then the other thing I love about remote controls is the people that mute them. It's usually like... Dad does. My dad does. I know what you're saying. There's a demograph that likes to mute, and it's the commercials. Yeah.

So we sit there in between watching Jeremy and Hillary on 7 Sharp, and Dad loves that, loves their content. Soon as the bedpost ad comes on, mute. And we just sit in deathly silence. It's okay to mute something if you've got a conversation to have. I understand that. But if you don't have a conversation to have, it's just awkward. You sit in there and you're like.

He's like, I don't need to hear these ads. But I'm like, the advertising is still working because you can see it with your eyes. You can still see the products being advertised. Who runs the remote in the flat, Ju? Oh, I think it's my flatmate, Ben. But it's mainly just so he can play, you know, PlayStation and stuff. I literally come home every day,

and if he's, like, come home early from work, he's just, like, sitting really close to the TV on one of those camping chairs, just playing PlayStation. I'm like, hey, Ben, how are you? So he definitely has control. I don't even know how to work the TV. I'm like, Ben, let's put on a movie.

You just sort it. Oh, so you don't even watch it, really? No, no. Oh, like, if we're having a flat viewing night, I have no idea how to work it. I feel like I'm a boomer in that region. Oh, so you don't even watch it really? No, like if we're having a flat viewing night, I have no idea how to work it. I feel like I'm a boomer. You're quite good with technology, but have you just never tried with the TV? No, I'm just like

oh, someone else can do it. I'll do something else around the house. Well, there we go. That was some wonderful, wholesome remote control conversation. I don't know, you can go and have the same conversation with your friends and family. To everyone pulling a sickie today, you're not fooling anyone. Jono and Ben, breakfast on the hits.

Jono and Ben, Merry Zoommas. Now 2020 has been a really tough year and Santa wants all Kiwi kids to know that nothing is going to stop Christmas and we've got a very special opportunity for some deserving Kiwi kids. It's happening all this week. We've teamed up with TheMarket.com, We've organised Time in the Diary with Santa for one-on-one Zoom calls with Santa. And TheMarket.com's bloody good website. Over two million products on there too

and free shipping and free returns available as well. And it's been a really special week so far. If you'd like to register thehits.co.nz if you know a little child who deserves a one-on-one Zoom meeting with Santa Claus and it comes with a little bit of a surprise twist. Yeah, so yesterday we went and we organised a Zoom video call,

thanks to themarket.com, with Santa and Vivian, and she was joined by her twin brother Emmett, they're five years old, and their sibling Ruby, and they had a little one-on-one Zoom call with Santa Claus himself. Santa! Hello, Merry Christmas. Hello, Vivian! I told you I had an important meeting this afternoon. Hi, Santa! Hi, Santa!

Hi, Santa! Hi, how are you all? Good! I really want this thing called present pets for Christmas. Me too! Same! We all want it! Yeah, can you get some Santa? Please! Please! And through the miracle of I want it. Yeah, can you get some Santa? Please?

Please? And through the miracle of Christmas, Santa has employed us as part-time, we haven't got a full-time gig yet, but part-time contracting elves. We're contracting to the North Pole. And we dress up in elf costumes, non-breathable velvet elf costumes, not conducive to the New Zealand climate,

summer climate. No, better for the North Pole, I imagine, these costumes. But we turned up on Vivian and her family's doorstep. As she's talking to Santa, we knock on the door and we have the presents

that she's just spoken to Santa about. Hello. Come out, darling. How's it going? This is Vivian. Vivian, how are you? I'm Elf Jono. I'm Elf Ben, how's it going? I'm Elf Ben and Elf Jono.

You have been a brave little trooper sweetheart. So Santa wanted to give you these two presents early for Christmas, alright? Is that what you wanted? Yeah. Oh darling. There's a lot for you to carry. You're very strong. She's like, all right, see you later. We're done.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. We'd like to take the credit for it. Do you want to give us a hug? Can we have a hug, darling? Oh, lovely to meet you, sweetheart. Now, they then ran off and played with the toys, but Vivian and Trish, Viv's mum, and the whole family have had a hell of a 2020. Harrowing year.

You mentioned why Vivian has been very brave this year. Well, here's why. Crazy year for you, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Right in the middle of our Level 4 lockdown, we found a mass and was told it was stage 2 cancer. Oh, shit.

And, yeah, six months of chemo. It was really hard not having the family support. I can imagine. You couldn't see anyone. No, we couldn't have anyone. So it was just me and her backwards and forwards from the hospital and we were only just told on the 30th of November that she was cancer free.

Oh, that's great news. But imagine how hard lockdown was for everyone, let alone dealing with a poor, well then four-year-old, going through cancer treatment, taking her into a hospital too, which potentially could have been riddled with COVID. Just unthinkable to go through that. So such a brave family and I'm so glad that little Viv's now cancer-free. Yeah, it was awesome to meet Vivian and Trish and family,

bringing them some Christmas joy yesterday. As John has said before, you can register a deserving child at the hits.koto.nz for a one-on-one Zoom call with Santa direct from the North Pole, and that's a thanks, of course, to themarket.com. It's giftmas every day at themarket.com, a huge range, free shipping, free returns available too. And we'll get the adorable Vivian's video up after the show.

Shall we put that on social media for you? Want more Jono and Ben? You can catch up with the boys anytime. Just search Jono and Ben on Facebook. Now, Dog Almighty, our careers literally have gone to the dogs. We've been saying that many times. But Dog Almighty, a reality TV show we've been hosting on TVNZ2. The grand final is tonight 7.30

and someone wins $100,000 which is a life changing prize it was amazing to be a part of the show and just to see these incredible dogs and see the bond between their owners it was a really really cool experience a lot of people come up to you and say oh I love this show

I love this show it's just so nice to see you doing something inoffensive. And I was like, what offensive things were we doing before? We didn't have a show where we listed off our top ten favourite terrorists or anything. No, but we did, yeah, a lot of, by you saying that right now, we would have

offended people. So you're doing it right now at a lovely moment. So Scarlett and Coco are one of the finalists, one of the top four. You would have seen Scarlett and her cute little dog Coco on the show. What is going on? Me and Coco have made it to the finals. I think I need to wake up from a dream.

And she joins us in the studio. Well, they both join us in the studio. Scarlett and Coco, nice to see you guys again. How are you doing? Nice to be here. Thanks, guys, for having us. It's good to see you again. Good to see you.

You've done a wonderful job on the show to get to the finals. When you started this journey, did you ever imagine that sort of 12 weeks down the track that you'd be in the grand final? I literally feel like I'm in a dream. I didn't think I'd make it through the first audition, let alone be here. So do you compete in agility competitions during the weekends? I definitely don't. I'm working most weekends. Otherwise, I'm just sleeping because I'm so tired from work. Well, let's say you work as a doctor, right?

Yeah, I'm working as a doctor at Middlemore, so it's really busy. And unfortunately, I don't have much spare time to compete in agility, but I would have loved to. So how did it happen? So how long will this go off? How long have you and Coco been together? So I've had Coco. I like your relationship this go after? How long have you had you and Coco been together? So I've had Coco. You're in a relationship with a dog.

How long have you had Coco? You realise it's not a dating show. What's the right question? How do you word that? How long have you had Coco? What am I trying to say? I knew what you were meaning. I've had Coco for 10 years.

I got her as an eight-week-old little puppy, and we've been best friends, soulmates since then. She's just staring at you right now. She's in here and she never takes her eyes off you. She's almost like, let me just lick your face. Dogs licking your face. There's been a lot of face licking over the series. A lot of kissing dogs licking you, right?

Do you let Coco kiss you? I don't normally. She can kiss my cheek if I'm feeling nice. It's when you think about where their mouths speak. That's what gets inside you. It's terrible. It's been a heck of a journey for you guys. As you say, you don't compete in competitions.

So how did you do it? Do you know that Coco would be good on the show then, I guess? Yeah, well, Coco's pretty versatile. I've taken her to lots of random places. Apartments, like friends' houses. She just does weird things. So I thought she'd be able to handle all of this really well. The unusual setting, yeah. Yeah. And we have done agility in the past. About four years ago, we were a part of a

dog training club, you know, shows. So that taught you the basics of how to sort of work with Coco. Definitely. Yeah. So she knew how to weave and jump and listen to me in weird places. Definitely, yeah. So she knew how to weave and jump and listen to me in weird places. So, yeah. But then on the show, they throw all sorts of curveballs at you guys. You only have,

and I think people don't realise, you only have a week to learn some of the challenges and you don't exactly know what's going to happen, whether it's going to be learning how to play piano or jumping into water, whatever it is, you guys don't know everything that you're going to do when you turn up, right?

Exactly. And, you know, you say a week, but it's actually only five days and then working full time and then trying to think about how to teach these new things. Oh, my gosh, it was so stressful. Busy time. Yeah. And what you don't appreciate when you're just watching the show

is everything these dogs are doing, most dogs can't do. Oh, yeah. Apparently, like, it's almost impossible for a dog to walk backwards. when you're just watching the show. It's everything these dogs are doing, most dogs can't do. Apparently, it's almost impossible for a dog to walk backwards. But you see so many dogs walking backwards, you become numb to it. Coco jumped up onto a little pony. That's something that Coco's done before. I became numb to that.

I should never become numb to a dog jumping on a pony. Yeah, that week was probably the most stressful theatre week. And Coco, she's ridden, I used to have a horse, she's ridden my horse, you know, a couple times, but she's never jumped up onto a horse. And we met little checkers, and the first thing Coco did was literally jump up on him. Wow.

And I was like, that's amazing. And he didn't care. I was like, thank goodness. Yeah, it was an amazing performance. My daughter was like, there's a unicorn on top. I know, it's pretty cool. It changed lives. We've got Scarlett and Coco with us from Dog Almighty. It's finals week this week.

Can I just jump in? Sorry to jump in. There was a moment that I ate one of Coco's treats and it never even made the cut for television. We made Ben eat dog biscuits and then I ate it and then they never put it on telly and it just looked like on telly with the edit

I was just looking like you'd said something that offended me or something like I was like so what we want to do we want to make good have you got any dog treats now I do

I do we need to get this content out there we need to get this content I've done it no I don't need to eat another dog treat Ben Boyce

eating Coco's dog treats again well it didn't make it to telly at least it can make it to radio. No, this wasn't what I was trying to do. This one's a good one. It's tripe and liver. Tripe and liver. Coco, you go first.

Coco, can you... Coco, there you go. Coco, taste test. Okay, Coco. I think she approves. The seal of approval from Coco. She's like, yeah, no, that's good. And then Ben's turn.

Well done. Well done, Ben. Lisa's going to make it on some form of media. There we go. Tripe. What was that? Tripe and... Stop saying what it is. Tripe and liver.

They're really good quality. It's like 96% meat. I don't know what the 4% left over is, but let's not question it. One for you, one for Ben. Okay, that's good. I did a good interview. I get a treat.

There's no part of me that regrets that. It's just turned really weird. All right, Alright well good luck for the finals and as Jono said it was so good getting to know you and the rest of the contestants

and of course your fairy friends and all the best for the future Oh thanks for having me guys Thank you Yeah yeah nah Yeah nah Yeah nah

The whole movie Yeah nah She'll be right and at the end of the day Jono and Ben Breakfast on the hits Now I played a video I don't know if you saw it yesterday

I showed Juliet after the show this guy at the Las Vegas Now, I played a video. I don't know if you saw it yesterday. I showed Juliet after the show. This guy at the Las Vegas, Nevada airport. Plane was about to take off. He had jumped the fence, ran across the runway. Literally used the runway as a runway. And climbed onto the wing of the plane. It's about to take off. It's about to take off, yeah.

And the passengers were like, oh, there's a man who's running down the wing of the plane. It's a dream of mine. Don't you always look out to the wing and go, have you thought about that? It's a childhood dream. It's a dream until you do it, I imagine. Yeah, it's a dream until like 14 police turn up.

Yeah, but the problem is too when you're on a wing and then the police are on there, there's not many places to run, is there? So he kind of ran towards the end of the wing and you know... Oh, so he was running

from the police, right? Yeah. Oh no, he wasn't running from the police. He was just up there having a laugh. Oh, just a laugh? Well, I don't know

if he's laughing. It seems like, why else would you do it? You're in Vegas, yeah. Purely for enjoyment purposes. But he got to the end and some wings, you know how they kind of push up the wing at the end? Do you understand what I'm saying? This is a very bad description for radio.

Yeah, I know, man. Yeah. Well, he ran to that and then he tried to climb up onto the end there. And then he fell onto the runway. So quite a drop too. Yeah. Just imagine it was kind of like just imagine a guy falling off a wing onto a runway and that's what it looked like. Yeah no okay I've got it in my head and it doesn't sound fun. No. And that was the end of the week but I've always looked out the window and gone jeez I wonder

if it A could hold all the weight and there was him four police officers on there. Was the plane moving or was he just doing it just before it was about to take off? No, it was just about to take off, yeah. And the flight was delayed for four hours as well after that. You see it in action movies, you know, occasionally. Well, Tom Cruise did. Yeah, Mission Impossible and stuff like that, grabbing onto the plane and they managed to do it.

Yeah, and something called Mission Impossible. He pulled off the impossible, yeah. So he's probably inspired by that. But what we wanted to do right now on the 0800, the hits, and 4487. Did I just say the 0800, the hits? You did. No, it's fine.

We'll gloss over it. Thank you. Is plane chat. What have you got? What's happened to you on a plane? What have you seen on a plane? Has the plane nearly gone down? Oh, jeez.

Who do you sit next to? Does he sit next to someone famous on the plane? You always you seen on a plane? Has the plane nearly gone down? Who do you sit next to? Do you sit next to someone famous on the plane? You always go fondly, you tell the fond tale of me sticking my crotch into your face on the plane. I sit next to you. You always sit next to some punisher on the plane or a crying baby and this

time I sat next to someone who looked like a baby and also was a punisher and it was Jono and he sat next to me. It was a long flight and I went to sleep. He was in the middle seat. I was in the aisle seat. And I woke up with you straddling me with your legs on either

armrest facing me with your crotch towards my face. Yeah, there's a backstory but I'm not going to explain it. Guess what happened? You're right. He claimed you were like, try not to wake me up and climb over me. Well, I needed to go to the lavatory. Sorry, this punisher didn't want to wake you up.

Apparently I'd been punishing enough. So punishing, he was pretending to be asleep. So that's what happened on my plane ride. Now our old friend Suzanne joins us on New Zealand's Breakfast. Morning to Suzanne. What happened? Whilst flying from Darwin to South Goulburn Island, which is a remote Aboriginal community in the top end of Australia, 15 minutes into the flight,

we hit turbulence through a tropical cyclone coming through. And the turbulence opened up the door in the Cessna, and I was sitting right on the door. So the pilot is shouting at me instructions on how to close the door whilst having my seatbelt still on. So hold on, the plane door has flung wide open, and you're sitting right next to it? Yeah.

So you could get sucked out of the plane any moment. If I didn't have my seatbelt on, yeah. Oh, my God, that's such a scary experience. It is, but I actually stayed quite calm, which surprised the hell out of me. That's what I would. I would panic. I'd be so bad in those situations.

I feel like, Suzanne, we've spoken to you before about animals or insects that you've encountered, right? Snakes. Oh, snakes. That's right. A snake fell from the ceiling on you. Yeah, I thought it was the same, Suzanne. So you've had this happen to you.

So once a snake falls on you from the ceiling, surely a plain door, where does that rank? Way above that. The python falling on my bed, I could actually run on terra firma. But the door opening several thousand feet above sea level, that's like the only way I can go is plummet. You sound like Crocodile Dundee. Well, it's part of living in Australia.

Yep. So we'll go back to the plane. You're mid-air. The door's flung open. You've almost been sucked out. Thank God you had your seatbelt on. What are you doing? The pilot is shouting instructions because of the noise he has to shout.

So I can actually safely close the door whilst still having my seatbelt on. I managed to pull the chain. Are you pulling the door against the wind or it's going? Yeah. So I've got the chain of the door. I'm pulling that back inside and click that into position and then get the top part of the door, click that back into position. Whilst this is going on, getting flung around, hitting the head onto the ceiling of the plane because of the turbulence.

Oh, so the plane's still going up and down. Oh, my jeez. This is insane. Well, we were going through the beginning of a tropical cyclone. So, yeah, it was better than paying for a roller coaster, right? I'll tell you what, you could sound a little more frightened. Yeah. You know, you're very even temper all through this.

And how many other passengers were on the plane, Suzanne? Nine. It was a Cessna. And what was the reaction from other people? They must have been freaking out. Well, they were because most of them hate flying. And when that happened, one poor guy, his bowel movements well, escaped him. Oh, no. So, that was

15 minutes into the flight, so another half an hour, plane just wrecked. Oh, well, you can imagine that. It would happen. Oh, you would. You'd almost want to open the door again, though. Get a bit of wind flow going through, wouldn't you? Wind down at wind, eh? Yeah, wind out or something. But, I mean, I would do that. Oh, yeah, totally.

I did it now, just listening to the story. And the plane landed safely, obviously. Or else we probably wouldn't be talking to you. Yeah, it landed safely. The ambulance was there to meet everybody, just to make sure that everybody was okay. But yeah, it was just one of those things that happen when you're flying in,

flying out from tropical islands. And then she had to fight off a kangaroo. At this stage, I've not had to do that. I had to fight off an emu, but not a kangaroo. I was just thinking either you or Samuel L. Jackson are the best person to have when there's snakes on a plane because you've dealt with both in your lifetime, snakes and planes. Well, I haven't actually seen that movie, so maybe I will.

Oh, there you go. You might want to watch that film. It might be quite applicable to your skill set. Yeah. Hey, look after yourself, Suzanne. That's an incredible story. And, well, I can't wait to hear more of your wonderful yarns in 2021. No problem.

Add these two men together, and somehow you get three quarters worth of a normal dad. The Hits with Jono and Ben for breakfast. Let's do some Spy. Spy.

Thanks to Sharesies, New Zealand's fastest growing share platform. Shares made easy. Alright, it's time for producer Juliet to update her uncles on what's been happening

in the world of popular culture. Now over to you, Jude. Thanks, Uncle Jono. Now, Meghan Markle has made a surprise appearance during a 2020 Heroes special on CNN. So every year...

Is it a surprise appearance now? She's appearing everywhere. When does it stop becoming a surprise? True, that's a good point. So every year, CNN do a Heroes special where they talk about and give credit to the people who have really made that particular year better for people. And so this year obviously has been quite different and she's

gone to giving credit to the quiet heroes in communities who have helped out their neighbours and things like that during COVID-19. We saw the good in people, in our neighbours and in entire communities coming together to say they would not stand by while our neighbours went hungry. We know the value of food. And in moments of crisis, the warmth of a meal can feel as comforting as a much-needed hug, especially in the absence of human contact due to the social distancing we're all experiencing. There you go. Very presidential-style speech.

We were saying, do you reckon she's going to make a run for the White House at some point? I would not be surprised and then that would mean Prince Harry would be first man of the White House a royal in the White House

that is just mind blowing that would blow your marbles being a royalist yeah oh my goodness I don't know how I'd handle that

that would be really that would be quite groundbreaking in history I'd say I see she's referred to still as the Duchess of Sussex yeah are they allowed to go under that moniker are they? well I see she's referred to still as the Duchess of Sussex. Yeah.

Are they allowed to go under that moniker? Well, I think it's just the news sites kind of still using that term for her and him. The Queen probably doesn't use those terms for them because, you know. She calls her something starting with a B. I was trying to think of something clever that wasn't the obvious, but I can't think of it. Beautiful human being and she is she is

she is and so yeah well done her to you know make that little speech for the quiet heroes as they say and that's a quick little spy

for you guys for more you can check out the hits.co.nz lazy why is there not another story we're running late guys she's always stressing out about the news plan on time

yeah but you don't want to run you know what I reckon we should do? We should just talk for another five minutes about nonsense just so we're five minutes late for news. All right. Broadcasting live. And mostly awake. Jono and Ben, New Zealand's breakfast.

On the hits. I thought there was an intro there, so I just started awkwardly whistling along to wish you a Merry Christmas. But Ben will do the intro with his own mouth. Yeah, every queen deserves a good hair day, and we've got a GHD Wish Upon A Star limited edition gold gift set to give away right now with a game that we like to call Merry Quizmas.

Taunting me he is this week with these hair appliances. Next week we're going to give away full adult size clothing just so I can get my own back on bed. It's the ideal Christmas present for people who deserve a good hair days all through 2021 and yeah I feel like this is a burn every time I get to talk to you about it.

Yeah that's right. Next week I'll give away some size 32 waist chinos. These are in hot demand. The GHD's luxury Christmas collection available now online or in salon right now.

Alright, let's go to Carrie. How's Auckland this morning? Hi, it's bad traffic. That's how Auckland is unfortunately. Copy and paste that comment every day of the year. Am I right?

Hey Carrie, how's your hair at the moment? Looking pretty average. If only I had some new JT. Well, okay, you might be able to get some. You've got to get three out of five questions correct, all right? Okay. Christmas questions.

The first question, Mariah Carey doesn't want a lot for Christmas. All she wants is? All I want for Christmas. You. Boom, one from one. Question number two. In the song, how many days of Christmas are there? Twelve. Yeah, well done.

Oh my God. Are you near a fire station? Because I think you're on fire. You might need to get put out. And on average, Christmas trees usually grow for how many years before being sold? Is it A2, B10 or C15?

Two. It's 15. Oh, didn't it? Which seems like a grotesque amount of time. A lot of effort put in. It does. That's a lot of effort. A few weeks of joy. You got two correct.

Just need one more of the final two questions. What is supposed to happen under a mistletoe? Hitting. Yeah, you've got three. You don't need the last question. You've got a GHD Wish Upon a Star limited edition gold set. That is so cool. She couldn't be happier, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh, my God. Whereabouts do you work, Carrie? I don't even want to know. It's so embarrassing. I do want to know now. I'm a hairdresser. Are you a hairdresser? I broke my straighters about three months ago

and I've been using some full-ins. And so I was like, oh my God, what a perfect opportunity. Oh, well, you know how well these GHDs work. You enjoy those. Have a great Christmas, all right? That's why I'm not going to gift them. So, guys, I need them for work. Oh, good on you.

And if you're a builder, next, we're giving away a hammer. We'll do that before 9 o'clock. You can head to ghdhere.com slash nz to view the full collection. How good is that? Real Kiwi blokes with soy lattes. Mmm. Shona and Ben, breakfast on the hits. Scrolling through your feed.

Time for your daily update of nearly factual information. Ben Boyce, scrolling, what's been happening overnight? Oh, well, travel bubble is the big news, the big talk of the day. They reckon a travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia will be opening up in the first quarter of 2021. That's barring any big changes in levels or cases like that. So you reckon at some stage in the new year, we'll be able to fly between Australia and New Zealand.

Is that the normal year or the end of the financial year, when you say first quarter? Oh, I don't know. When is the financial year? I love it when people say end of financial year. I think it's in July. Yeah, I think it is. But yeah, I feel like maybe Jacinda is just saying one of those things as a parent. You're like, where are we going to go with that? You're like, soon.

I'll look at that later. We're going to Kelly Telford soon. We'll take you to one day. Yeah. It's a bit hard to predict really, isn't it? Because you don't know what's going to happen over in Aussie. We don't know what Kelly Tulten soon. We'll take you to one day. Yeah. It's a bit hard to predict, really, isn't it? Because you don't know what's going to happen over in Aussie. We don't know what's going to happen here. Take it day by day, baby. They reckon inquiries, a surge in inquiries for flights

has just happened in the last 24 hours, and I quite like this. Dan Lake, who we used to work with over at News Hub. He was... Dan News? Dan News, yeah. Wonderful Dan. He said, forget about the travel bubble.

How about the travel boublé? Have the music. We heard this play. I was like, well, that sounds a lot nicer than the travel boublé, doesn't it? The travel boublé opening up. We need to do a take two on that. I said to you just before, I've got the boublé music ready to go. Stop.

We'll do a take two. He's going to come in with his thing. Okay, go. Okay, so instead of a travel bubble, Dan, you said, what about a travel booblay? That's beginning to look good. It wasn't really worth the second time, was it? But it made me smile this morning.

That's exciting, though, because they were talking about the Cook Islands opening up early next year. Yeah, and that's still on the cards as well, too. So we could be having some bubbles opening up in the new year. Might be a holiday away for some families. Even if it is open, will you go? Or will you still be a little hesitant? No, I reckon, no.

Yeah, I think in the future, if it's all like, if it's the same here as it is there. You just said year, no year. No, I think I would. I mean, obviously, you're not going to book a flight if cases are surging, but they're not going to let you book a flight. So, yeah.

Imagine the airlines also have so many flights just sitting there in credit. So for them to even claw their way back financially, there's probably about five years worth of flights they owe people that they haven't taken in the last year. That's true. And the travel agencies and hotels,

hotel bookings and things like that, it would just be like oh, we'll sort you out later. That later's going to be coming very shortly. And this is very cool news. It happened last night. Kiwi artist Stan Walker is engaged to his partner Lou Tyson. So congratulations to Stan Walker,

friend of the show. I don't know who he was. He was until the last time he came in and we used the big six television screens we have here on the wall to replay his very first Australian Idol audition, and he was stoked. When was the last time you saw your performance?

Oh, don't do this to me. No, you've got to be serious. And we wanted to get your reaction of you. I hate you. I hate you. I don't want to hear this stuff. I don't think we'll be going to the wedding. He was even walking

out of the foyer. We've got a big window here looking at the foyer. And he was pulling the fingers at us as he was leaving. Really cut deep. I'll be like,

you're right to play. He's like, yeah, you can put that up online. So congratulations to Stan and Lou. That's awesome news. Great news. Great news.

He's New Zealand's favourite son, isn't he, Stan Walker? He's awesome. Oh, that's awesome news. Great news, great news. He's New Zealand's favourite son, isn't he, Stan Walker? Oh, he's awesome. Oh, adorable. Every time, because he lives in the Bay of Plenty, but every time he's on the radio, he's like, just don't say that I'm going home to the Bay of Plenty. Because he reckons every time he's home, all of his family, he's got a massive

family, just all come over to his house. Would you say Stan Walker's our favourite son, much like Canada's favourite son is Michael Bublé? It's big. Another second. Do a take two on it, guys. Do a take two. And then a scrolling through your feed.

I'll play a song. Want more Jono and Ben? You can catch up with the boys anytime. Just search Jono and Ben on Instagram. Now, Christmas time. We were just talking about the wonderful Marcus Lush, the eccentric Marcus Lush who hosts the Nighttime Show on ZB. He's amazing. Love him. Fantastic broadcaster. He has compiled a list of the most

despised Christmas foods and there's a big list, I find. There's some controversial stuff hitting your Christmas table. Yeah, these are things that he didn't like. And, yeah. One that's dear to my heart is the Christmas pud. Now, Annie Pryor, my mother, loves a pud. Loves a Christmas pud. And she traditionally has not put nuts in a Christmas pudding.

Right. Now, I know there's a lot of debate about pineapple on pizza, but we do not delve into nuts in a Christmas cake. Are you a nuts in a Christmas cake type of guy? Because you're not a fan of cake. I don't know how you feel about Christmas cake. That's the cake that never goes away too, Christmas cake. You could have it in your fridge.

I was looking last night. It can last up to a year, if not more, in your fridge. Yeah. In your freezer, sorry, in your freezer. In it. Yeah it in your fridge. I was looking last night. It can last up to a year, if not more, in your fridge. Yeah. In your freezer, sorry, in your freezer. Yeah, in your freezer. So I'm like, what are they keeping in there? And yeah, and it could three months in the fridge and up to a year in the freezer. It lasts longer than a Big Mac. So yeah, my dad, my dad, Kevin Boyce

loves, yeah, he loves a Christmas cake and we'll keep it in the freezer for, you know, a piece of Christmas cake. It is October. Exactly. I'll thaw it out. Yeah, I'm okay, thanks. But why not? It feels like it's open slathered and it'll just chuck anything in a Christmas cake.

You could put coins in there. Remember you put coins in there? That's right, yeah. Coins are Christmas. Yeah, my grandma used to put that back in the day. Now, I don't think you're meant to do that anymore. You can do your car keys, your cell phone, whatever it is. Put it in the Christmas cake. I think now I don't think you're meant to do that anymore. You can do your car keys, your cell phone, whatever it is. Put it in the Christmas cake.

I think now I don't think people recommend it now because obviously it's not very good for you because they're not sterilised. What was the point of it? Well, it was exciting as a kid because you'd be like, oh, I got 10 cents. I think it's good luck. It's either good luck or a trip to A&E.

Choking on a coin. It's eat very carefully too. I didn't even like it. Like I didn't even like eating the, you know, because you know me, I'm not a dessert person, but I'd eat an extra bit

just because I had coins in it. You'd be like, oh, I'll get some more money. It's dangerous for your oral hygiene as well. The teeth could really crack if you bite hard into a coin. Not a good idea. But it's not a good sign

when you've got a cake and you have to douse it in custard just to hide the taste of the actual cake. And put money almost bribing people to eat it. Mince pies, we've talked about it as well. Very confusing, the Christmas mince pies.

They're fine, but it's just weird that they're called mince pies when we've already got a mince pie. Yeah, we're talking about you're tricking your sensations at the beginning of the show. Yeah. When you bite into a mince pie expecting your classic mince and cheese style pie and you're greeted with, oh, what's this?

Some sort of fruity mixture inside a mini tart. That's fine, but it is confusing when you're thinking, yeah, when your brain's thinking one thing and you end up with the other. It's almost whoever designed Christmas was like, what are the world's most horrible foods and how can we eat them on one day? Maybe that was it.

Maybe they're like, we've got a lot of stock. We need to shift it somehow. We'll invent Christmas. We've got this cake that doesn't expire. Christmas is a whole new thing, guys. You need to eat some of this. Paid to talk words and stuff into a microphone. It's New Zealand's breakfast.

Jono and Ben on the hits. The A to Z of New Zealand. We are calling every town and city in New Zealand. We call one a day. We're doing this alphabetically, and we're slowly working our way around New Zealand. Heading to Karatane today, which is a small seaside settlement near Dunedin.

It's a popular holiday retreat for the people of Dunedin, and much like Ben Boyce, it's renowned for its scenic beauty, golden parts, and tranquil bush. Today, Karatane, it's a base for various activities, including surfing, kayaking, fishing, breakdancing, bare knuckle fighting, illegal greyhound gambling and racketeering. Let's go through to this mecca of entertainment right now to the chairman.

Hello? Hello. Hello, it's Jane. No, no, it's Jono. You're Jane. Yes. Ben's over there. I can't see him though. No, no, it's Jono. You're Jane. Yes. Ben's over there. I can't see him, though.

No, you can't see him. He's over there. He's looking good, though. He's got a lovely plaid shirt on today. I'm sure he does. He's looking very svelte. He's got about a three-day growth going on, looking mysterious and sexy.

This is like a three-year growth for me. I'm quite puberty, but lovely to talk to you. Whereabouts in the country are you? In Otago. So, Karatani, now, correct me if I'm wrong. Is there some association with nurses? Yes, it's where Plunkett originally came from. Truby King was the founder.

I've heard this story before. Well, they used to be called the Karatani nurses. Yes, right. And would they travel all around the South Island checking on babies? Yeah, I believe so. Oh, the stuff you learn. And you are the chairperson of the local school. I am, yes.

So we know a lot about you. Don't you worry. And your FPOS pin, your FPOS pin is 8276, we understand. So how many people live there? Oh, that's a question I actually don't know. I want to say it's around 300-ish. Everybody knows everyone. Oh, really?

I suppose that could be a good thing and a bad thing? It's generally good. You know, if your clothes are found in the main street, we know who to give them back to. How often is that happening? It's only happened a couple of times. So what should we do if we ever come to your little place? Oh, there's so much to do.

It depends whether you're a surfer or a walker or a... We've got two great beaches for surfing on. There's the Karatani Bar and then there's that beach. See, the whole thing's right on the coastline there, aren't you? I've been looking online. It looks amazing. Yeah. It's a beautiful place to live. So you've got... What's your preferred beach?

Because you do have two great options there. We do. It depends on the waves. We use both. And if there's no waves, we paddleboard or kayak up the Waikawaiti River. Oh, and so is the water cold? Not if you've got a wetsuit on. Oh, you're one of those. It's fine once you're in.

Yeah, definitely. We surf and swim all year round, right through the winter. It just depends if you put on booties in the hood or you go in your swimming togs. My husband doesn't own a wetsuit, refuses to. But he'll swim in July. He'll surf in July. Down south, you pretty much buy the need.

This must be freezing. Yeah, we talk them into a dip. Generally, the kids and I will, well, the kids and I always wear a wetsuit. I don't blame you. And so at the moment, it must be like the tropics for you when you're out there swimming. Oh, absolutely. We were out there in the howling wind yesterday. I'm looking at this place. I'm looking at the moment, it must be like the tropics for you when you're out there swimming. Oh, absolutely. We were out there in the howling wind yesterday.

I'm looking at this place. I'm looking at the picture of it. You must never get stressed. Is anything stressing you out in Karatāne? No, not really. No. I can't think of anything hugely stressful. Well, Jane, what you don't know is that we're going to put you in the middle of an ad.

Oh, wonderful. Welcome to the beautiful, tranquil... At Moana Gow, Hawkesbury Village, short drive from Karakani. When you come to visit, you simply must check out the... Local shop. Hot coffee and fresh baked bread. And as the locals always say... If you can't surf it, you might as well skate it. If you haven't visited this beautiful location,

it will have you saying... Gosh darn it. And once you've said that, this special place of paradise will have you uttering more words like... Whoop whoop. And once those words have left your mouth, believe it or not, further words will fall from your mouth.

Karatani, it's better than all right here. Oh, lovely, Jane. Listen, thank you so much for your time. I'm glad that's not a university exam. No, that's a lot of pressure, isn't it? High pressure filling in the blanks. I don't know if I could do it, but we make people do it every day.

Yeah, we do, but I think you passed. You get't it? High pressure filling in the blanks. I don't know if I could do it, but we make people do it every day. No, no, yeah, we do. But yeah, I think you passed. You get a pass in this and hopefully university exams as well. Thank you. Hey, look after yourself. Have a great Christmas and really appreciate your time. You too.

Thanks. They're proud of New Zealand. Go New Zealand. If only New Zealand was proud of them. Shano and Ben, New Zealand's breakfast on the hits. I drove to work today and I went past this gymnasium where it's open 24 hours. But you know what it's labelled as? Auckland's friendliest 24-hour gym.

Oh, you've got to have something to be memorable for. You do, yeah. They're probably the grumpiest 9-to-5 gym, but you spread them out over 24 hours. Mind you, the friendly, you know, the competition of friendliness in a 24-hour game, I imagine you're quite tired. You know, long hours. Oh, yeah.

Don't get longer hours. The 24 hours. I am a member of a 24-hour gym. It was always my dream to be in the gym by myself. You know, I just feel like I was a celebrity, like the Dwayne the Rock Johnson. You know, like he's got his own home gym. Look at me, here I am at 3 a.m.

Yeah. Just getting early. I love like it was all for me. And it happened once when I was, we came back from work overseas and I was jet lagged. And I was like, it was like three in the morning. I'm like, I can't sleep. I'll go to the gym.

I went there and I was like, yeah, I'm by myself. And just as I was about to start working out, some other guy walked in. I was like, oh, no. He wanted to be Dwayne the Rock Johnson as well. Yeah. He's like, oh, you want to be Dwayne, dear? So I was pretty unfriendly towards him. I was like he wanted to be dwayne the rock johnson as well yeah he's like oh you want to be dwayne dude so i was pretty unfriendly towards him i was like just looking like oh there's a problem with branding a bris a business friendly the whole time because not everyone is friendly the whole time ask ellen you know hey you said you were gonna button off

that you just got covered yeah no you said you're gonna button off the I'll button off. I'll button off. The slander of Alan DeGeneres. You couldn't help yourself, could you? No, I couldn't. No, and I need to. Didn't you injure someone at the gym? Hey? Didn't you injure someone at the gym on the treadmill? Oh, that's right.

And then she phoned. No, her sister phoned the radio station. What? There's a story. Oh, no. That's all I'm going to say. Alan DeGeneres over here. What did you do? So I'm going to say. Alan DeGeneres over here. What did you do?

So I was on a treadmill and then I finished on the treadmill and I had hit what I thought was stop. Right. Unbeknownst to me. And I was like, I'll go off and you know how you can get a wipe just to wipe down the thing. So I'd hit stop and I'd turn around to get a wipe. Unbeknownst to me that when you push the button, it goes into sort of a slow down, warmed, cool down mode of stuff. So the middle is still treading.

It's still moving. And I looked over and I saw a lady and she was about to step on it. And I thought, oh, that's still moving. And she hadn't obviously noticed it was moving, right? No. And I went, oh, and she stood on it and it just took her out.

Her feet clean from underneath her and she went, whoop, boom, and her face, her face landed on the, on the treadmill. I forgot this was such a horrible story.

I'm sorry for bringing this up. Still rotating on her face and I was like, oh no. Do you know what's, Do you know what I find, I would have paid to see your reaction out of,

like the poor lady, but like your reaction, you just would have been like, oh no, oh no, oh no. And I sort of picked her up, I was like,

are you okay? Oh, in that situation, you're like, yeah, I'm fine, but you're like, especially when there's like

treadmill marks down your face. Everyone's looking at you, you're like, oh please no and then her sister texts the radio station was like why don't you ask old mate what he did to my sister this morning and then I got ashamed

that was not a friendly gym at that moment but I deeply apologise what it did is it created because you see the same people all the time at the gym it created a bit of banter between us we've got to bond it now bonded over you over a horrific treadmill injury I caused same people all the time at the gym, you know, it created a bit of banter between us. We've got to bond it now. Yeah, we've bonded. Bonded over you. Over a horrific

treadmill injury I caused. So beware of the cool down mode, it's a thing. Ben and Jono call this show Jono and Ben. Breakfast on the Hits. The Hits. Bye. Thanks to Sharesies, New Zealand's fastest growing share platform. Shares made easy. Well,

she's got a mouth and the reading ability of a six-year-old, but she has two reading levels above me, so she's qualified for this job. Jew with Spy, what's going on? So Saturday Night Live is a very popular television show series that's in the States. Yeah, it's like a sketch show, a weekly sketch show. It's been going for many, many years and launched many people's careers.

Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon all started on Saturday. And as it suggests, it's all run live, isn't it? They do sketches live. Yeah, a lot of it live. Risky. Risky running live. And they have a guest star and they pretty much write them all within the week. Film some things, but you're right, a lot of it

is live. And a lot of it is taking the mickey out of different celebrities or events that are going on. And so they did a sketch about COVID and the scene was a family of little coronaviruses. The Rona family I think it was. The Rona family. And they've all got little sort of helmet

type things that looks like the virus. Oh it's just like those graphics we see on the news. The alarming graphics of the virus. Yeah. So they're dressed like that and an actor named Timothée Chalamet, he played a rebellious COVID-19 in the family that failed to let down his family by not being able to spread COVID to New Zealand.

We gave you every opportunity. We paid to send you to New Zealand, and now look, zero cases. People are going to concerts there. It's a disgrace. So they're basically just ripping us out for not having COVID in quite a funny way, which is cool because I'm like, shame, everyone else.

Well, I shouldn't think that, but you know. It's quite cool to see. It is cool to see. There must be different strains of COVID. Isn't there a new strain of COVID in the UK now? How is there? You're going to a higher level, yeah. Oh, jeez.

And I pitched this to Nano Girl Michelle Dickinson that there's a thing when you contract it that it makes you go out. Makes you go out and socialise. Oh, you read that, didn't you? Yeah, I read that. It makes you get 5G. I'm wearing my tinfoil hat.

Don't use 5G, mate. It'll get you. You started spouting this propaganda about us. I mean, she didn't think that was the truth. She didn't buy it. No. The scientific professional didn't buy it. She could not not prove it, though.

Because whenever you hear someone who's got it, they're like... The people just do stuff. That's the thing. Humans are social beings, Donna. Think about all the places you went to yesterday. You went to so many different places. Yeah. Could you have proven? And when you lock it down, when you're like all the places you went to yesterday. You went to so many different places. Yeah.

Could you have COVID? And when you lock it down, when you're like, oh, he went to the park. He went to the car, parked his car. He went to the cafe. He went off to how many assemblies? He went to about four school assemblies. Yeah, just for one day. Just for one day, yeah. Maybe you've got COVID.

Maybe that's it. I've never been out so much as I have in the last two weeks. I might have it. Oh, gosh. I'm feeling very social. Lord save us. Lord save us. Lord save us.

And Australian pop star Cody Simpson, so he was kind of compared to the Australian Justin Bieber back in the day, and he also dated Miley Cyrus earlier this year. He has qualified for the Olympic swim trials, and so traditionally he grew up releasing music. He kind of went on tour, was quite big. I mean, not breakthrough in the States, I don't necessarily think, but he's been training

in secret for the Olympics and he's made the trials. It's quite interesting that he's sort of ditched his singing career and focused on swimming because I think he grew up swimming quite a lot as a kid. He did and it's saying here at 13 he was offered a chance in music that he just couldn't turn down, so kind of put swimming on hold.

Oh, right. Yeah. She's always come back. Miley likes Aussies, doesn't she? She does. Loves the Aussie beefs. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Hemsworth as well. Liam Hemsworth, yeah. Well, someone should tell her there's some New Zealanders who are like Aussies except not as good. She's more than welcome to any New Zealanders too. Open slather. We kind of sound the same. Yeah. Yeah. Just probably not as good. She's more than welcome to any New Zealanders too. Open slather. We kind of sound the same. Yeah.

Yeah. Just probably not as cool. We don't have cool as, you know, as dangerous animals. Yeah. Yeah. But we're all right. We're all right. We've got some famous brothers too.

I can't think of any right now, but I'm sure. Oh, the Barrett brothers. The Barrett brothers, yeah. They're like our Heemsworths, aren't they? Yeah, you should give any one of the Barrett brothers. Yeah. Apart from the married ones. Yeah.

Yeah, that's fine. They're off a little bit. Am I just pimping out the Barrett brothers? I think so, yeah. I think so. And that's five and more. You can check out thehits.co.nz. From stealing Mike Hosking's car to stealing the hearts of New Zealand. Jono and Ben, New Zealand's breakfast

on the Hits. Actual hearts being not bestowed. A filling... What I'm learning is that every artist has a Christmas song. I've heard songs I've never even... I've heard three songs this morning about Christmas I've never even heard of. Yeah, I feel like every artist feels like, yeah, I need to do a Christmas song now I've heard songs I've never even, three songs this morning about Christmas I've never even heard of. Yeah, I feel like every artist feels like, yeah, I need to do a Christmas song now, and that's Katy Perry's.

Pretty cool. Yeah. Can't wait to hear Metallica's Christmas song. We'll play that tomorrow, no doubt, but we'll end the show on a good note, as we always do. Invercargill looking good this morning. Kylie?

Morning. Yeah, lovely to have you on. Why is it going to be a good day in the South? Because every day is a good day if you let it and today is a new day. Oh, that is inspirational. I'm going to put that on like a tea towel

or a fridge magnet or something. That's impressive. You're right. You know, you can easily let a day become a bad one. Yep.

But you can also let a day become a good one and that power is in your hands and in your mind. That's correct. Thanks, Tony Robbins. Now get out there and own the day.

And sell, sell, sell. Is that what you say? Yeah, go out there. Meet your monthly targets. You look after yourself. Kylie, thank you for that. Kylie, hold the line. We're going to send you out something.

We're clearing out the price cupboard this week. Thanks. All right. Some expired contraception or something. It might be that. Some paperclips or something. From the ZDM Prize, the promiscuous ZDM community.

Let's go to Kirstie of the Carpenter Coast. Welcome, Kirst. Hello, how are you? Oh, it's doing well, mate. It's going to be a good day for you, I understand. Oh, it certainly is.

We've got not a cloud in the sky and I've got a little wee business running up here which is just being done at the moment. Oh, that's good.

Quick plug for the business. Take it away. My business is Framed Alive. I make living art, vegetable gardens, and you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and on my website. Well, you're a beautiful person, Kirsty, and you keep up making that living garden, okay?

Thank you. Have a great day. You have a great day. That was a really inspiring way to start your Tuesday You guys enjoy it We'll catch you tomorrow from 6 Want more Jono and Ben? You can wake up with the boys weekdays from 6 on The Hits

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