Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: Do You Back into Carparks or Do You Drive Front in?

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

On today’s show: We have an intense discussion about whether backing into car parks should be banned during the busy Christmas season. Jono has one of the most awkward hugs in recent history... We talk about what big events you have missed and why Ben should have asked his wife to go to the Wicked premier first. Jono woke up 1 minute before his alarm  Dear Megan: Should I be able to ask her to stop her dangerous hobby? Ben dressed up as a Scarecrow and told his wife he already had the costume.... 10 days of trust - Who would you trust to pick you up from the airport? Someones cat got them out of the Mariah Game?! We talk to Sarah Grace a conductor from Synthony Orchestra. Instagram: @THEHITSBREAKFASTFacebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & MeganSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to Hello Fresh. Cook easy, delicious dinners the whole family will love because nothing beats dinner time. John O'Bennon and Megan, the podcast, The Hits. Welcome to the podcast. I just actually read something interesting before. Okay, see we can guess the celebrities by their real names. So obviously these are celebrities that have all changed their names, the stage names.

It happens more often than you think, doesn't it? Morris Micklewhite. Now, he's become a very prestigious, English actor as well. We've been around for many, many years. Our friend Dan can do a wonderful impression of him. Oh, Michael. Michael Kane.

Real name, Morris Micklewhite is his real name. How do you end up with Michael Kane for that? I don't know. It hasn't got a back, no backstory on any of these. Yeah, right. Mark Sinclair. Now, Mark Sinclair, action hero. Mark Wahlberg? No, that's their actual last one. No, no, no, no, no, no Sinclair.

He loves family. Yeah, Vin Diesel. Mark Sinclair, real name. Vin Diesel isn't his name. No, of course. Vin Diesel is too cool of a name to be an actual name. Oh, that takes all the spice out of it. Came from a long line of diesels.

What's his name is his actual name? I would have thought maybe Vin might have been his real name. Oh, Vincent or Vinny. What is? Mark. Natalie Hirschlag. Now, Natalie is the name that they've kept in their original name, but last name. Portman?

Yeah, Portman. I think I knew that, Hushelag. This one you probably get, Reginald Dwight. Oh, I do know that one. Is that Sting? No, Elton John. Oh, is it Alton John? Thomas Mappother.

Thomas Mepother. Is it still Totho? Yeah, it could be Mipother. It could be Mepother. It's still Tom. Still Tom. Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise.

Oh, Tom Mapother. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Calvin Broadus. Oh, that's Snoop. Yeah, Snoop Dog. Yeah. Carlos Estavis Emilio

Yeah In one night Um What's his face Yeah From two and a half men Oh Charlie Sheen Charlie Sheen

Yeah Because Emilio Estafes And all that Yeah Eric Bishop Now he's He's changed his name To a call that

Last name Easy E Nah Actor But also sings a little bit as well As Yeah He sings a song

With Kanye as well It was in Rachel's movie Jay Z No Oh yeah Jamie Fox, Jamie Fox. Eric Bishop doesn't sound quite as cool as Jamie Fox. Yeah.

Peter Hernandez. I think you guys will know that one as well. Oh, yeah, that's Bruno. Breed of Mars. Yeah, there go. It's really interesting to see what people have changed this to their stage names. Matt, what would you? It's a really good chance for a rebrand.

I feel like you can't in New Zealand. Everyone would be like, if I came into mine, I was like, my name's now Rip Steelestein. Well, you've left it a bit late. No, you've lived it way too. You need to do it like before you become well known. Yeah. But people do it. Radio's one, people do.

At the start, they often will change the name of someone as well. Like PJ. Yeah, that's one. She doesn't have a J in her name. Creach, who works at the rock and stuff and works on the edge. You know, Jaden's his real name, but it's the creature as well. You know, it becomes a thing as well that people become their names and sometimes they go back to their OG names or not.

Is it creach because he's like creature? I think he did a character that was a bit of a creature. That was kind of the gag. Right. Randall was, you know, Clint Rand. There was other Clint's there. Yeah, there was another Clint's for some reason we couldn't get a head around. There was two.

I don't know why that was. Well, that's why PJ had to change her name because there was another polly. Yeah, we're like, well, like, there can't be two pollies. Yeah, no, they can't. But if you're like, if I was PJ and the station came to say, you've got to change your name, we'll be like, okay, call me Jack's Thrasher. Yeah, true. From now on, thank you.

And they're like, no, we want PJ, no. No. She could have chosen a wilder. Yeah, she could have right for it. That was a chance to rebrand, isn't it? Yeah, well, apparently, left our run. I'll have left my run too late. You guys can.

I mean, you can't if you want, but it's kind of a bit weird. Yeah, yeah. You got to change your emails and stuff. Yeah, all that stuff, all the admin involved. So it's too much. You've got to do that early in the piece. You're right. Early doors.

All right. We enjoy the podcast. John O'Ben and Megan. The podcast. Now, yesterday I was at the mall, and I think it's starting to ramp up for Christmas. But there's something I want to run past you guys and see where you sit on this. Because I want to ban this for Christmas over the Christmas period.

Attention's starting to get a little high out there already, are they? Absolutely. The Christmas tension, yeah. I was, like, annoyed, but not enough to sit on the horn, but then the person on the other side was absolutely going for it. So I was like, oh, they're angry enough, but the both of us. We were in a car park, a very busy car park. There was still parks available, but one person had decided to reverse it.

Yeah. I know. What's wrong with reverse again? Oh, not with you, not, yeah. What's wrong with it? It gives you a quick exit. I was waiting on the left side. They were waiting on the right side.

There's people like, ugh. If no one's around, fine, but if there's people around, don't reverse it. I know. And they weren't, it wasn't a swift entry. No, generally the people who are reversing, they aren't quick at it, are they? But I don't understand why you need to. Assert dominance in the car park. If you manage to get a double park where you can drive through and face out, great.

Great, yeah. Ideal. All day. Don't back in. Everyone's waiting for you How long did it take for a person To start getting horny on it Probably

It was probably a good two minutes Two minutes? I mean if you're sitting waiting For two minutes in a car park What does this person do? But sometimes you don't know they're going to reverse it They look like they're going into another park They're going to go back

If you're behind them You then have to reverse back a bit To give them enough space You're right It was at least a couple of back and force And I was just like If you're not good at it don't do it

and don't the blanket ban on reversing into car parks at Christmas time because there's cars everywhere are all waiting so I don't see anything wrong with it two minutes

two minutes seems like an extraordinary amount of time to take you to reverse into a car park granted with the person who honk the horn on that one what's the benefit so you can get a quick getaway

but on vice versa you get a quick entry You look cool I think cars look cooler in reverse but the time that you've spent doing that is the same time probably all longer

you know, the end. It all cancels itself out. Brett, Brett, welcome. Hello. You're chiming in on this one. Yeah, under health and safety law, most places you have to reverse park. What, really?

Is it a law? Yes. Because you can actually back over someone if you're backing out of your car park. Oh, I see if you're reversing out of your car park, you can't see. So they were just abiding by New Zealand health and safety laws, make it. You can reverse over someone.

If you're going on it. And there you go, see. So you can reverse over someone if you reverse out of your car park, but not you can't reverse over them when you're reversing into it. No, yeah, yeah, right. Well, there's no one going to be wandering around in the car park, are they? Who do you see wandering around in a car park? Well, the same person that's going to be behind you when you come out.

Same spot. Rebecca, what do you want to say on this issue? Oh, I just want to say 100% reverse because you can kill kids easily. So it's easier to see them. Do you like killing kids, Megan? Oh, my. No way. But, like, if you're reversing, you can't see kids

And kids go a bit crazy But you're still reversing to get into the car park At some stage you're reversing But I know what you say Oh, yeah, yeah But this is my point though, Rebecca Kids aren't playing inside the car park They're wandering around out of the car park

Oh, they're running around on the street I'm the main part of the road John O'Ben and Megan The podcast Now, Megan's open to a real can of worms here Pressure Point with the audience So reversing into car park She's not a fan of people reversing into car parks.

Are you a reverser? I'm very much team, Megan. Yes. I cannot handle it. Okay, Megan, okay, well, it's really blowing up the text. Health and safety came into play just before 8 o'clock. Yeah. Someone phoned through with health and safety.

And, you know, when you put health and safety into the mix, it really brings the vibes down, doesn't it? Yeah, because then it sounds like I just want to run people over. Takes sort of the ear out of your argument, doesn't it? Someone's texting saying the reason, that they make us reverse into car parks and staff are more fatigued at the end of their work shifts and so they can reverse out

seeing the surroundings but also staff are probably getting there early so I'm fine with that I'm talking about people in the middle of the day then when everyone's there and it's busy and they're like casually going back and forth trying to reverse into a car park draining Hi my name's Megan Pappas

I like long walks along the beach and running over people it's two of my favourite hobbies another great text here you can see way better if you're driving out forwards, says another person. And I'm going to like reversing cameras and check your mirrors and look behind you.

Just be careful. I find it easier reversing it. Oh, really? Hello, the hits. Hello. Are you wound up about this reversing debate? No, I made that awkward. I don't think you made it too awkward.

For once, I don't think you made it too awkward. That's right, yeah, so there we go. So it's a 50-50 split, really. They reversed out of our radio. show pretty quickly, didn't they? Someone made a good point on the text saying that when people reverse in you can't see reverse lights. So you know

when you're like trying to find a car park and you're looking for reverse lights to get the car park when you park frontward out, you can't see reverse light. Another text here in New South Wales Australia. Yeah. It's illegal to park front first. Illegal. It's the law.

So everyone, well I guess if everyone's doing, you're going to know that everyone's going to be good at it. She says, that's a painful. situation, isn't it? That's the thing. If you're good at it, great, because you're probably just going to fang it in. But, like, everyone that does it seems to be like taking three

turns to get in. The ones who can't do it aren't really good at it. I hear you. I hear. It must be annoying for the rest of Australia when people from New South Wales go to, like, Melbourne and things, and spend their time reversing into car parks. Yeah. Well, thanks for your calls and texts on that. Do appreciate it.

John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast. The hits. I was just mentioning yesterday I was probably involved in one of the more awkward hug sessions in recent history so I went into a meeting and there were people in there that were probably encountered professionally I would say four or five times over the years

you know not consistently but and spread out rightly or wrongly there were three people in there rightly or wrongly and they're all female right rightly or wrongly I led with a hug sometimes it's hard to know

it's hard to get a vibe it is hard to get a vibe well I tell you what I've got a vibe pretty early on when I was arms open going in for the hug and I heard oh we're hugging nothing quite like a blow to the confidence as you're going in for a hug and someone's like with the tone of

oh you think we're closer than we actually are that's cute I always because people aren't huggers and like consent these days I always go oh do you want like i'm a hug would you like a hug you know i kind of always just put it out there first but then it's awkward if they're like no yeah yeah yeah no i don't like physical contact no thank you so if i did that to cash it remember she's like i'll be hugging he's like

no thanks we're not fine when you're a guy who refuses to shake hands yes he won't people go to shake his hands he's like i don't do handshake you know what that rattles people when they've got their arm hold it held out but anyway so i'm hugging the the first lady and I can tell she's hating it and I'm in my mind doing the math so I'm like well I can't just hug one I'm going to have to hug all three despite the fact that she's

I don't want to leave the other two feeling did they hear her comment of like oh we're hugging yeah and everyone sort of awkwardly laughed but I so that gives you reason to then to the others be like are we hugging are we like a dresser well I didn't and I uh and I went

for the second hug which was just as emotionally painful as the first one so I'm two down and I'm like, well, here's the third and final one. So I go into hug the third lady, and what I don't see is, because we're standing up, is a chair in between us. And I collapse over the chair,

but the chair stays in between us, and I've got my arms out, so we're hugging as there's a chair stuck in the middle of us, and I'm kind of just trying to use my hand to pat her on the bag. At what level did your head go down to, if you know what I'm saying? Yeah, well, yeah, you're right, this demonstration we're getting in the studio right now. The chair buckled you over

somewhat. Just patting on the back. I was all right, Tony get this meeting started. And that's why he'll be going to H.R. Oh, my way. Don't want to be on the show the rest of the week. Yeah, okay.

We've started to make that even more. Good one. Stephanie, what's that noise? Right there. Hey, yeah. John O'Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits.

Congratulations, Labor leader, Chris Hippkins, announces his engagement to partner Tony just yesterday. He said he may not have won a power boy over the weekend but he hit the jackpot oh isn't that lovely congratulations hippo lovely to uh and if he did win power ball he would have capital gain taxed himself to i imagine as well right might have gone a bit oh actually you're a second thoughts uh now we want to open the phones this morning oh 800 the hits four four eight seven on the text you know the big events in your life that you have missed because we're going to hand over to megan papas now the big events

would we call this a big event i don't know i mean you're making it more than it is my partner doesn't sing and perform on stage, you know, like, you know. It's hard for us to tell, but yeah. It seems like a big of me, you know, but anyway. Okay, backstory. You may have heard us mention briefly yesterday. I got to go to, like, a really cool sneak peak of Wicked for good. The movie, yeah.

You're not allowed to give your opinion on it, though, until 9 a.m. Tomorrow morning. 6am, tomorrow morning. I can't wait for this opinion. And it was an awesome event. Can't say that. Can't say that. No, the event.

Nothing about the movie. We got like a degustation menu, like a sit-down, fancy dinner. Don't want to hear about it. It was, it was, there was sort of only a few people invited. It was kind of like a big deal. It was special. Yeah. It was special.

And it happened to fall on the same night as my husband performing. He was doing a whole bunch of Disney songs with a group of people. Is this the one he's been taking around the country? Yeah. Can I ask, was it the premier night of this in your city? of Andrew's show There's only one Only one and done

Oh one and done Oh okay Ouch One night only Okay So I was like Okay What are we doing here

Well you go to your husband One night only show The Wicked movie We'll be in cinemas this week No but it was a special event It's a special event What did you please tell me I have seen

Andrew sing a lot I think Andrew sing a lot Guys But you can also see the Wicked movie from Wednesday, onwards. I know, but I can't go to this event. She can't have a special event. With a small selective group of people.

Hey, look. Yeah, Tony Street's not going with the old Wednesday. No, look, okay, so we got a babysitter and I was like, I'll go for like two hours and then I'll scoot to your event. And then they said, no, it's like, it goes for a while. It goes to 11 p.m. And I was like, oh, I cannot do both. I can't.

So what did you do? I went to the Wicked thing. For the whole in duration, the entire. So basically you've gone, hey, Andrew, I know you can sing, but I've chosen a better singer. And Ariana Grande, she's four kilometers away. I'm sorry, she hits higher notes. Well, as someone who loves and lives and breathes musical theatre, I thought he would understand. And he did.

It was very chill, but you know, when they're chill and they're salty. He's hurt. He's hurt. Yeah, I see. So you missed a big event, is what you're saying. Well, I mean, again, I've seen him sing a lot. You see it in the bathroom. They all came to our house and rehearsed, so I heard the show.

I heard the show. But you also can again, like I say, see the Wicked movie later in the week. Okay, so this is Megan Stol Demer at the moment. But that's right, yeah. Can I get that beautiful degastation menu? No, you can't. You can't. 0,800 of the hits, 4-487 on the text.

What are the massive, humongous events in your life you've missed? Maybe, you know, there's big family weddings, there's births of kids, things like that. You may have missed. Those are one-offs. Those are... Life milestone. He's already seeing one off in Auckland. John O'Ben and Megan

The podcast. The Hits. Tuesday morning, just talking about Megan. A wee bit of an issue in the household that you chose the wicked movie premiere over your husband's gig. Yeah. Look, I did like initially

kind of broach it with him and to my like defence he said oh, it's super chill. It's super chill. You should go. And then later I was like, You said it was chill

And he was like, I was just trying to make you feel better Oh, right, yeah Well, you can reenact the performance for you in the lounge Yeah, too, yeah They came to rehearse at our house So I heard it And you're like, oh Listen, I'm committed to you

But not vocally, I'm sorry Sorry, guys, to know for me I'm going to Wicked I thought he'd understand, Wicked's massive Yeah, you're right Tough one to compete with, isn't it? But yeah, we're just talking about the big events that you've missed in your life, M, who's filling in for producer Grace

the next couple of days you missed a big family wedding for what I went to a St John training camp oh now to save lives that seems like a worthy cause yeah and that's what I told him I was like sorry

I can't I'm committed to this team yeah I've committed now I can't go to this wedding not knowing how to resuscitate people what if you have to heimlich someone do you learn that in St John's yeah well there was like a different sort of tactic than the homelick that we

were taught what's the new what's the new version of the hymlich I can't remember the name do you remember how to do it

in case Jono choked yeah I can do it if I need to but it was five years quick chat GPT you're like

how it was it I remember going to course when we had kids and it's like I'm never going to forget this pivotal information

of resuscitating people it was week later I was like man I can't remember any of this got a refresh yourself, don't you? Well, that seems like a worthy cause to miss a family wedding.

We've got Gabrielle with us on the phone. Lovely to have you on, Gabrielle. Did you miss an important family event? Well, no, I didn't. My husband did, though. Oh, no. What was it? So he was competing in his first Iron Man event in Taupor,

and our little girl or second child decided she didn't want to wait and arrived three weeks early, and he didn't make it back in time. Oh, okay, so he didn't know that it was going to happen. though right nobody did nobody knew that she was going to arrive three weeks so he went down to get prepared and we were going to follow her

two days later and then she decided no I don't want to wait inside here I want to come out into the world it's obviously like a fast labour very fast like three hours yeah that's not on him that's on your ute what is he evacuated

the youth yeah so he missed the birth of our second child was he got it or was Did he have a good time The Iron Man? How'd he go? No, he had a good time. He still went back down and competed

and we just watched through the TV screen, obviously, because we were still in the birth-in unit. Oh, well, there we go. Well, congratulations, firstly. And congratulations on finishing the Iron Man, too, to your husband. That's a remarkable effort.

We'll take James. Are you missed a massive family event, James? Yeah, well, this is in the past life. I had to work Easter Sunday, and we had big Easter gathering away in Wanganui an hour away and I didn't get there to about 8 o'clock at night so that even finished and everything

in eastern and I think we're all going to turning up when everyone's just pack it up I reckon in that circumstance you just don't go and you say you were sick if you're like going to turn up at the end 8 o'clock at night I had people texting me on the way to Wonganui

when you're coming when you're coming all the food's about going to get here they'll be winding down at 8 o'clock with me they're like you're arriving at 8 you're You're here now. I remember I did that with my 21st. I was having to work for the Rock at the Huntley Speedway. I didn't turn up to my own 21st to like 11.30 at night.

Everyone's already well. We're done, man. We're going to hope. John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast, The Hits. Morning, the Wicked Movie, as we mentioned before us in cinemas this week. We're very excited about it. It's caused a bit of an issue in my relationship at home. Now, I want to put forward my case, but I had the whole family gang.

up with me the other day and I was just maybe I was being too practical looking at it in a practical way okay so got uh very lucky got two tickets got invited to the wicked premiere that was last night and both my daughters huge wicked fans and I emailed and said I know it'd be really popular um to use the phrase from the movie popular um but uh do you reckon there's a chance three of us could go if not um I'm happy that the kids go in and I'll wait outside and I'll do some work or whatever I don't want to take an extra ticket and the lady's like nah come along and we'll just gauge it on the night. Yeah.

It was very kind of her. You were willing to sit in your car? Yeah, so you'll do some work or whatever, they can go along. You would have actually really enjoyed that admin time too. Yeah, well, in some ways, yeah, in some ways, oh, I'm really excited about looking, but also excited about it. 90 minutes of just clearing stuff out on the old email. Now, my wife, as I keep saying, it's just had a major back surgery, you know, big back

operation, got spinal cords fused together. She's not working until the end of the year. She's not driving at the moment. She has not been anywhere apart from doctor's appointments, essential stuff out of the house. Yeah. So I don't know all this. sort of stuff. So I said mentioned the other night, I was like, oh, hey, kids got two tickets to Wicked,

explain the situation, you come along as well. Dad might be clearing some emails. Yeah, clear emails you guys would go on. And then my wife's like, well, thanks for inviting me. And I was like, well, you can't go. And she's like, how do you know I can't go? You've had your spinal bits used together. And she's like, how do you just assume that I got go?

Why would you not ask your wife first? I'm like, but I know you can't go. And I said, well, that's, you can't go. You haven't been going. but why can't she go she's what she hasn't been anywhere she's not she's going to sit down in the car and then she's going to sit down at the movies she hasn't seen you know

I said you haven't started going to places you could wheel her in on a gurney also those cinemas have reclining seats very very comfortable seats they've got lifelab beds could have requested one of those did you want to go and she said well no I can't go well what's a point but the point was that she wanted to be

asked she wanted to be asked in the situation as well as your wife would be asked I'm like But you can't go. You can't go. Like what seems like a redundant conversation? Did you reach the point in the conversation? It was like, well, do you want to go?

She's like, no. You're like, well, there you go. I've asked you. You should have asked her. That's what the kids are like. They're like, Dad, just say you should have said, you should have asked just so she feels validated. Just to double check that she definitely can't. Because that's what she's like.

How is she feeling, you know? How do you know at what point? I'm going to start going to things again. How you know this is not the point? She might have been like, actually, for this, I'm going to try because I'm not feeling too bad. It felt like a redundant conversation, no, Megan. It felt like a conversation. She's lying there with a broken back.

Don't say to your wife that it's a redundant conversation, please. Did you say that? No, the practical part of me was like, well, she can't go, so I moved on. It's just the fact that you thought of her and you wanted her to go, even if you thought she was going to say no. She was your first option. And I was like, yes, she would have been had she not gone through this next century. Your wife always wants to be your first option and she wants to be able to say no. But I got it.

I've gone through. that in my head i'm going okay well man it no can't go moved on so yeah you're you're thinking out of in very practical terms she's thinking of it emotionally yeah so that's the lesson that i've learned right now we've all learned some harsh lessons to do with a little bit of her even a far line there incapacitated oh the wicket movies tearing us all apart she's like i can't go i'm like well yeah but i would have liked to be invited to log so there you go home and tell her how how it was oh you missed such a great bloominium so free popcorn the seats were actually really covered We're inclined right back.

You would be fine. Wicked themed drinks. I'm a lot. John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast. The hits. See, the pre-Christmas miracle's been happening over the last three mornings. I actually fact of four mornings now. So I happen Friday morning, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

And today, is that five mornings? Five mornings in a row. Do you want to know my pre-Christmas miracle? I have woken up a minute before the alarm clock. It was about to sound. That's a good one, right? That is really. Yeah, it's a sense of accomplishment before the day's even started.

I know it's the body clock coming into effect, but it just really makes me proud as a human being. You feel better, too, I reckon, when you don't wake up. We don't wake up. Yeah. You get those annoying like this morning, I was like 20 minutes before the alarm, and that's like that awkward time. Do I just get up or do I go back to sleep?

What did you do? Oh, I kind of just, yeah, I kind of went back to sleep, but I probably should have just got up, you know. Yeah. Because that's like, oh, well, just start. I could start the day 20 minutes early, but then don't get a lot. lot of sleep so 20 minutes would be nice i turned off the alarm and i felt myself um like dreaming

about something that i knew wasn't there and i was like uh because i'd gone back to sleep and then yeah like i might not have been here this morning could have had a cheeky way sleep you could you've done it you've only done it once before but you're still here by six o'clock but boy we gave you grief we did she was still here by the time show started it doesn't really matter i did not get a sweating ticket yeah we're like no i actually got here on time. After 7 o'clock, are we allowed to talk about this?

Yeah. It's like, wicked. Wicked is getting in the way of... It's a bone of contention in my marriage. I might have done something to upset my husband.

You can decide whether it's deserved. It's valid. He's got a valid point. What has it? John O'Ben and Megan The podcast. That's... Someone's mooched into Megan's DM's again,

wanting to sell her stuff. Or wanting advice. kind of the two options for wanting your credit card number. So this is from a guy in the relationship today, and we'd love to know your thoughts. I 100 of the hits you can text us 4-487. He says, Dear Megan, let me start by saying I love my wife. She is adventurous, fun, a bit of a loose unit,

and it is what made me fall in love with her in the first place. But now we've got two little kids, a mortgage and a calendar full of birthday parties, and she's out there fanging it on the slopes. My main problem is that she keeps getting hurt. I don't want to be the fun police, but we're not talking bruises. She has broken her bloody collarbone before and recently had a pretty full-on wrist injury which stopped her from even being able to pick up the kids.

I suggested she take it easy, maybe try the slowest slopes, but she says snowboarding's her thing, but I'm scared she's going to have a serious accident while the kids are little. Is it all good for me to ask her to dial it back? Oh, yeah. Don't want to ruin the fun. I just want to ruin your fun, essentially.

But maybe if snowboarding's not her thing, if she keeps breaking her boats. It would be my suggestion. It's hard because obviously that's what, you know, it says what loved about her, you know, or loves about her at the start of the relationship. Lose unit's fun when you're dating. But you want, you need responsible and reliable, don't you?

But that she's not irresponsible. No, no, it's not like she's doing anything illegal. Fully functioning, no. You need her fully functioning going out. This sounds like it, like, can I flip it and say if the guy was out there fanging it on the slopes? Bloody legend. Because she's the mum and she's expected to, you know. Yeah, right, Megan, you're right.

Like, I can just imagine if it was a guy out there because guys go out and do all kinds of things. Hunting motocross all kinds and no one's like dial it back, you know? But because it's the woman. Second of all, when you have little kids, after you become a mum, you kind of feel like sometimes you lose yourself a little bit. And you're like, who am I? You lose, you're doing so much for other people and for the kids. You're like, who was I before all this happened? This is her trying to claim back a little bit of her.

And that's how she has her me time. She is obviously a bit of a loose unit and that is who she is. That's her essence. She's trying to claim it back. And for you to turn around and be like, can you dial it back? you're trying to change her I mean obviously I guess you can turn from you don't want to lose the person to

anything you know crazy you know why don't you just go go play the bloody snowboard arcade game at time zone it's not the same no is it well you don't break bones you know you just spend less time in the x-ray departments but you can't wrap anyone cotton wall and say you might hurt yourself it's the same with kids

you can't say to your wife I don't want you to break your arm because then you can't help me pick up the kids because she might not break her arm You know, meanwhile, that's making her feel chill and her chest. Although she has got a broken wrist and a broken collarbone. But over what period of time? The stats aren't lying.

Yeah, and I imagine this is the same case for people that get in relationships with Formula One drivers or UFC fighters or things like that. You kind of knew what you were getting yourself into it. You knew she was an adventurous loose unit. So, what's your pranking? Amanda, your wife knew what she signed up for. It was a life of pranking and costumes. She knew what she was getting in for, God damn it.

She'll complain, but she knows. Those are she getting yourself like that. There was a costume at your wedding. That's right. A fox costume. Exactly. Yeah. In the first dance.

You're right. Okay, so I'm 100 of the hits. Megan, you've convinced me. But maybe, you know. Well, because she's brought sexism into play. No, no. I'm just saying if it was the other way around, I feel like the conversation would be different. And I was more about not going to that and not changing someone.

You know, like you're losing who they felt they were. Yeah. And having to change that because all of a sudden you're a little bit older. Yeah. Okay. So 4, 4, 8, 7 on the text, maybe we're in the wrong here. Maybe you've got a better. suggested. Maybe this has happened to you in your

relationship. Can you stop your partner from doing dangerous activities? Yeah, I'm in, I mean, within reason, I mean, you know. And don't say dangerous. It's like risky. Oh, yeah. She's not out there cooking methery. Yeah, yeah. John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast. The hits.

Dear Megan. Oh, no, no, no. Dear Megan, we're in the middle of that. And it's to do with a partner wanting to change his wife, right? That is the essence of this, yeah. So, um, the husband is messaging, saying he loves his wife she's adventurous fun a loose unit this is all his words um but she fangs it down the slopes

and she has he sees keeps getting hurt but he mentions um uh broken wrist and a collarbone so he's asked her to tone it down tone down the snowboarding not stop the snowboarding just go to an easier slope you can't just go to an easier slope she's gonna be like like going down the kid what's the point for someone who's you know used to the big slope

I'm a bit of a loose unit and I'm just like you can't tell anyone to stop doing something they like doing Well stop doing the wobbly knee 360 cyanides mate Knock them on the head Because I'm like thinking

It's like taking up my stilts again And my husband's like oh my God You're going to hurt yourself And I was like well that's the risk we take That's a different story That's the thing you used to do Now you want to take it up again Sounds like this lady's been consistently snowballed

You've stepped away from the same Stilt game. Yeah. Okay, we're going to go to the phones on this one. Can you stop your partner from doing something? Cassandra, something they love. What would you say? Good morning.

Yep. So my partner is involved in jet sprinting. Now, I don't know if you guys have ever heard of this, but they're man-made tracks, and you are going as fast as you can in a man-made boat. These are methanol-filled boats. They go very, very fast. He's been doing it for about 20, 25 years now. He makes the boats as well.

He loves that sport, it's his passion. There is no way I would ever ask him to stop that. Yes, there's been times where maybe he's fallen out of the track and he's maybe rolled the boat a couple of times, but when it's someone's passion, that's what they love. You can't stop them. And I never knew about this sport before I met him. I went along to a few rounds, and now me, as a person who never knew about it,

I think I'm a bit of a secret petrol head because I'm now a navigator and another competitor. Oh, that's cool. Me too. Oh, do you do the navigating in the boat now? Yeah. Oh, that's terrifying. That would be terrible. I'd be like, go out of my dad, but you just have to like point your hand, right?

Go that way, that way, yeah. I've got a lot of trust in my driver. He always knows the rotation as well, which is good, but we have to both learn it, obviously, but... Can't be bickering about directions, can you, when you're in that situation? No, no, good on you, Sarah. Yeah, and I'm not in the same boat as my partner either, just because there is a risk, possibly, of something happening,

so we're both in separate boats. But, yeah, it's his passion. There is no way I'd ever tell them this off. Well, there you go, good on you. If it's a bad day at the track. You both end up in the spinal unit, don't you? Hey, good on you, mate. Really appreciate it.

We've got Sarah with us on the phone. What do you want to say on this topic? Hi there. I can kind of see it from both parties. I definitely understand as a mum how easily it is to sort of lose your interest and lose yourself a little bit and raising a family. But at the same time, I think when you're in a family and, you know, you've got a husband or a partner and you're raising kids and you have future plans, you kind of have. A little bit of a responsibility to sort of safeguard that as well, especially when I'm little, because everyone has a role,

and it does impact the future and sort of the system that you're sort of going with. So I can understand it from both parties. And as someone said, you know, it's not just sort of the possibility of her hurting herself. She's kind of a bit of a little, you know, and she's already done that. So, you know, I think dialing it back is actually a reasonable request. You're not saying you can't do it. Maybe it's out of love. Maybe if the broken bones went in there, I'm sure it wouldn't even be a conversation.

I know, but like, chuck a moon boot on. You'll be right. You don't know. A collarbone's a pretty major break, though. That's true. It's a wrist you can't drive. A collarbone is something, yeah, it really impacts, you know, daily living. If it was just sort of a cracked wrist, you can get by with a cracked wrist as well.

But a collarbone's pretty massive, and it's not easy to break your collarbone, you know. Yeah. Well, there you go, Sarah. Thank you for your input. Appreciate it. John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast, the hits. The debate, can you change your partner? Ask them not to do risky activities.

If you knew, that's always what they were doing when you first started their relationship. Someone texted and said, oh my God, kids already suck the life out of you. Now her hubby wants to as well, bloody hell. Yeah, a lady wants to. She's been snowboarding her entire life and he's wanting to pull pin on her. I understand if it's been consistently happening through the relationship, then that's a harder question to us. I used to do a lot of dumb stunts on the radio

like go through on a skateboard and a man cany through flaming rubbish bins and stuff like if I went home and said oh we're doing that tomorrow that might be a bit of a difficult one to get past the goalie plus with the company too probably nowadays yeah I was going to say it's more an HR or true isn't it Helen where do you sit on this hey how are you yeah we're good Helen

would you stop you tell your partner to stop doing the fun stuff that they like it would you be a big fun sponge Alan Look, my husband is 65 He is a fireman He goes diving He goes hunting He still plays full tackle rugby And we have a running joke

That ACC is his second employer So injured multiple times Multiple injuries Done his shoulder, done his shoulder Oh, he chops down wood too So he's had a couple of influence with You know Axis

Yeah with axes, you're right Sounds like ACC's worst night his nightmare. Absolutely, but, you know, he could be sitting on a rocking chair and doing nothing or he could be out there just living life, so yeah, just do it. Keeps them going. ACC might have different thoughts on that, but you're like, you just do it. Just keep going, chainsaws, get what you say.

If he's out doing that stuff, he's not at home annoying me. And that's a theory, that's a theory, you know, get them out there breaking their own bones and they can, yeah, leave you alone. Let the doctors, let the medical profession do. deal with them. Absolutely. Hey, good on you. Helen, you have a great day.

You too. See you guys. Okay, let's wrap things up. We're going to get back to this person, Megan. What are we going to say? Well, I mean, it is 50-50, but I just don't think you can tell someone to stop doing what they're passionate about. So live with the collar bones.

Live with the broken wrists. My husband goes on tour for a couple of months for a show, and while it's not risky, he's out of action for the family, you know what I mean? So I don't see whether it's any different if someone breaks a collarbone. He's got a lady's clawing his clothes off. That's his passion, Johnno, that's his passion. You know, that's what he did. That's like Megan loved him.

She was one of those ladies. She was clawing his pants off. I can't tell him to stop all the ladies. You knew what you're getting yourself in. A nightmare and pant repair costs, though, for the household. We always knew that with Andrew, didn't we? Going into that relationship. John O'Benon and Megan, the podcast.

The Hits. The Wicked Movie is in cinemas this week. You got to see a sneak peek over the weekend, Megan. We're going to talk more about the issues it's causing in your relationship. After 7 o'clock And then some issues of my relationship After 8 o'clock

To do it But right now When it's getting in Between everyone's marriage It is But went along to Another premiere last night They had a premiere

I went along to that Are you allowed to tell us How you enjoyed it? No not yet Some same as Megan I didn't sign anything But it's not official Really confuses me

That you can't go Oh I enjoyed it Or I didn't enjoy it So tomorrow morning Yeah And then will you tell us How much you enjoyed it? Yeah

Or how much you didn't enjoy It's very It's very odd I can't wait But you can do it on social media You can tell people how much you enjoyed it or didn't enjoy it. In a certain regard, I don't think you can go too deep on it at the moment. What if you went on to Instagram right now, told everyone how much you enjoyed it,

then we played that audio. I actually asked them that and they said it's a grey area. They said, don't be a wanker. Enjoy the movie and shut your lips. But it was, you know, it was a, you know, the dress was sort of Osmopolitan, they called it. So anything, a Wizard of Oz related, so, you know. Because kind of the rule with those were like pink or green, right? Did you wear pink or green?

Is it as a tin man or something? Oh, it was a scarecolitan? Yeah, it is. Oh, Jesus. And, you know, I saw the, to be honest, I saw the costume online a couple weeks ago. I was like, yeah, great, I'll get that. But then my wife was like, you haven't bought another blooming costume, maybe? And I'm going, no, no, I've had this one in the garage for ages.

Oh, dear. And I've gassed littered into thinking that I had this one. She's like, oh, I was an old skit. So just between us all right now, we did some old Wizard of Oz skits back in the day. And that's what we did. I think she knows you're lying about that one. She's the fact that she asked what the skit was. Surely you had a scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz already

and your rich catalogue of costumes. Yeah, so I got changed in the car, but my kids didn't know, I was wearing that as well. So I walked in with that. The lady, to be honest, I had a moment too where the lady was like, who you meant to be? And I was like, it's a scarecrow. It was a scarecrow.

She goes, sorry, she goes, who are you? And I go, the scarecrow. She goes, no, no, your name on the list. I was like, oh. I need to see this costume. You know, I had a little hood thing, a little hat. I mean, it wasn't movie quality. It definitely wasn't as good as.

I can't say it if it's good as the movie or not but yeah I don't want to hear that until tomorrow what 9 a.m. Yeah so I'll just

you know gaslighting my wife into thinking our audio and costumes that's the pubis champagne gaslighting though that's all right every female does their partner

yeah it probably happens a lot with you know like outfits that you've bought surely she should go well show me this skit then because it'll be online oh you know we were a bit slack

with putting things online oh will you okay yeah social media wasn't as big yeah you know but I'm sure you know it was a great skit What was the skip? What did you do?

Don't get into details. It's probably something to do with Australia and Oz, I'm sure. You know, probably. I don't know. Hard to say. John O'Benn and Megan, the podcast. The Hats. John O'Bennon and Megan's 10 days of trust with Dilma.

Dilma, been named New Zealand's most trusted T-brand for 10 consecutive years, which is amazing. And right now we've been putting our trust to the test to see who the office would trust with certain scenarios. Yeah, it's been a little bone of contention throughout the week. Megan is someone who likes to be trusted and also likes to be competitive too. When the office votes not in favour of her. I don't want to, you're making it sound like I want to win everyone. You do? No, I don't.

Yesterday I was like, it's not me, and today it's not me either. But then you won you yesterday and you were kind of chuffed. Yeah, but it was probably not deserved. Okay, we've got $200 today. Jackpotted and a Dilmati prize pack up for grabs if you can pick. We honestly don't know what the officer picked. No, Nikki, it's great to have you on New Zealand's breakfast. How's your Tuesday morning guard?

Well, very good, already at work and the sun's shining for now, so... But Adam, what do you do this early in the morning, yeah? I know. Administration. For a scaffold company, so the scaffolds are out early. So you're doing adminning early. That's the one. All right, Nicky.

The question we understand was, who the office would trust out of Ben, Megan and myself to pick them up from the airport. Ben. They won't even pick his own mother up from the airport. But if you want me, I would, you know,

yeah, there is our Uber's and there's the taxis, yes. But if you needed me to be there, I would back myself, but you guys would be, I'm sure you can. Well, Megan, more than Jono. Yeah, I think John would be like, hey, I've got a shortcut. Megan's got little kids, so she's got.

I'm quite busy and can go wrong. She also got you guys to keep in line. That's true. She's got a lot of their place already. I feel seen. Okay, let's find out if you're right. Let's hope for your sake. People said my name.

Who would you trust out of Jono Ben and Megan to pick you up from the airport? Probably Jono because I feel like it would be in style. Ben, because I feel like he would never be late anywhere. I'm going to say Ben because he would definitely have it in his calendar and he would definitely be there. I'm going to say Ben because he's super organised and he'll be there on time. You're not going to be waiting.

I'm going to say Megan because she would like hang out in Manoa Bay first and then once you're ready she'll come get you next babes Hey well hey everyone got a vote in there as well but you've got yourself $200 and a Dilmati price back well done Nikki fantastic thank you guys there you go go back to the day that's yeah what is Manoa? Why would you hang out of Manua Bay what's Manua Bay that's the shopping centre? Oh I see yeah she would she would 100% she'd be there more for the shopping then to pick you up

yeah and I don't bring too many suitcases John O'Ben and Megan The podcast The hits Of course we are playing The Mariah Carey game This Christmas You can get involved

It's a fun game to play All you need to do is see how long You can avoid listening to Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas If you hear it anywhere Social media If you're at an event Someone just texts through

Saying they were at their daughter's Dance Recital And one of the performers Were dancing To Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas And they're like Hot Spot

Aout of the game Yeah and that's how it happens Apparently after I clock, you two have designed something that potentially could get me out. It is. A game of roulette. A little bit of Mariah roulette we're going to do after 8.30 this morning. But someone's blaming their cat. Yeah, we've got Anna on the phone.

You have busy morning, Anna? Yeah, I'm just working, but I can pick my dill while I chat. Pick in the dill? Yeah, pick a dill. What do you do for a job out of a dress? I work at a boarding school. Yeah, just, you know, the catering. Oh, do you grow your own job?

Dill? No, no. What's on the menu? Yeah, what do you make it with the dill? Oh, some sort of dressing, maybe a ranch. Must be nice. Must be nice. Make the dressing. How many people do you have to feed every morning or day or whatever?

Oh, there's 140 borders. Wow. Gee, that's a lot of hungry mouths. Yeah. We understand that you're out of the Mariah Carey game. Oh, I am and I'm not happy about it. Now, whose fault was this?

Our cat, yeah. Okay, this feels like an excuse that you'd hear from one of the borders or something. Blame it on an animal. How did the cat get you out of the game? Well, so I was just having my breakfast this morning, scrolling on Facebook as you do. And then he'd jumped up on the couch, and he was trying to get my beloved painting, which was claws.

So, the man, Rick, what are you doing? Get away. And I must have hit on the real button as I left my phone on the bench, The next minute I hear the song and I was like, oh, you've got to be kidding me. Oh, no. That was the last we heard of Maverick, was it? No, Maverick still lives to see another day. Oh, okay.

Yeah, series of comical events. And maybe it was the universe saying, no, it's time, Anna. Sometimes a higher power is letting you know that it's time to get out of the competition. Yep. What a shame. Always next year. Rest easy now. You can pick Dill freely and.

Scroll. Without a worry, yeah. Yeah, what a good time. John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast. The Hats. Anakur Fuel, a symphony festival is back for 2026. Auckland to Maine, March 21st. Joining the already stacked line-up of the likes of the exponents of Black Seas just been announced.

So right now, Shape Shifter. How cool is that? Kaylee Bell is going to be there too. Nice and Earl, at Chimor, along with, of course, the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, tickets selling fast in New Zealand's largest one-day music. event, get yours at symphony.com. And we're joined, very likely to be joined by Sarah from

Synthony. Good morning. Good morning. So your role is conductor. Yeah, it sure is. To the naked uneducated eye. It seems like a lot of hand waving. A lot of hand. And I'm assuming each hand wave does mean something to the people

who know what it means. You know what? I've done a whole bunch of interviews. And this has been the number one question of No one understands what we do at all. I'm sure there's a lot. There's a lot to it. But go on, go on, get it. I mean, for the hundreds of time.

You're absolutely right. What we do means something. Like every gesture a conductor does gets read by the orchestra. And so a good conductor should be able to work in a rehearsal without using much spoken word. And, you know, something like symphony, we actually only have one single rehearsal with the orchestra and the artist for symphony.

That's incredible. Which is a three-hour rehearsal. If I waste time with words, that's on me. Are you ever like, if anyone's pissing off, you're like, da, no, no, it's a... I don't think you can, like, flip them off, you know, but... Even if it's just mentally, even if it's just inside.

So obviously, the orchestra... Sorry, it probably feels like you're explaining your job at a very base level, but obviously the orchestra they get the sheet music and they're so good they can just play along to the sheet music and your job is to tie that all together. That's 100% right because again the more professional on orchestra and of course we've got Auckland Philomania who are just phenomenal.

They can play that music without me. That's without question. But you put 60 musicians on stage, they will have 60 different interpretations of how that goes. So my job is to unify. I liken it. The best way I describe it is it's like a sports coach. You can have a team out there on the field of the best players.

But if you don't have a unified game plan, it's going to be a dog's breakfast. Like they're just, they're going to be going everywhere. What I thought was really good. I was talking to someone the other day. And I didn't realize this. Symphony, obviously, has originated and spent a lot of its time in New Zealand. But now goes over to Europe, America, Australia. Everywhere.

Yeah. Yeah, we just finished a European tour, and we have a tour here in Australia, which wraps up on the 5th of December, on the forecourt of the Opera House here. So do you use local orchestras, obviously, in local performance? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we did the opening of the F1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas, which was pretty epic. Did you? Yeah, on the start line.

Were you conducting? Sure was. That is epic. Wow. Did you get to meet any of the drive? or anything? Oh, yeah, well, it was the coolest thing ever. We were in Pet Lane beforehand

whilst we were getting ready to go on. And so we were, like, within a metre of all the cars and all the drivers. We had our own garage. It was surreal. And, you know, and met Brad Pitt in Pet Lane. What? Brad Pitt Lane.

Brad Pitt Lane. A pun, alone. It's his lane. Please tell me you made that joke to him, or probably not. I'm imagining Sarah's first point wasn't all this is a good pun he's going to love this I would have

what did he say to you oh it's like a bit of a wave oh it's still take it take that Sarah that's incredible lovely to talk to you congratulations on all the success and we can't wait for it to come back with all the special surprises

and the epic time at the domain yeah awesome look forward to seeing you that Sarah Grace Williams conductor from Synthony get all the details at Synthony.com Jono Ben and Megan, the podcast. The heads.