Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: Was this an auto correct fail or is Jono flirting...

Episode Date: February 16, 2025

ON THE SHOW TODAY: Ben caves under his daughters' peer pressure—will he ever make a decision again? There is a Kardashian in my house! Jono made such a massive mistake, he had to email the company... We chat with a man who survived being struck by lightning… and yes, he bought a lotto ticket! Would you elope in Fiji?  Can we actually connect to the White House through six degrees of separation? One couple accidentally got each other the exact same Valentine’s Day gift—adorably in sync or just plain awkward? Stick around until the end to take on the NZ Herald daily quiz with us—think you can beat our score? Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & Megan Instagram: THEHITSBREAKFAST  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jono, Ben and Megan podcast, thanks to HelloFresh, your home advantage for delicious midweek dinners everyone will love. Welcome to the podcast on a Monday morning. I know Megan today, her husband Andrew not well, so she didn't answer the phone at six. Should we try her again now? That's a good idea. Let's see if she answers. I mean, it's an idea. I don't know if it's a good idea that we keep harassing her on her... We tried her very early this morning and she didn't answer. Fair enough. Do you know what the issue was

it's because we came from private maybe if i plug my phone in she might come from a person yeah if not she'll just be uh screening your call yeah and i'd screen i'd screen myself too to be honest um but yeah because we got 10 out of 10 on the new zealand hero daily quiz so we're like well this is a great reason to call megan um because she's in you know she's in the depths of sickness we wanted to make her feel good give her something to feel better about hope in the day yeah exactly your call has been forwarded to voicemail the person you're trying to reach is not available where's this british person come into the old voicemail game? There's a lot more.

Like when you bring people, or sometimes there's a dude that does it as well. Is he a quaint British gentleman? Yeah, and it's just like, it feels like everyone's got like an answering service, but it just seems to be happening on, yeah. So you don't have the people going, oh, it's the nurse here, leave a message after the beep.

We'll sometimes throw you through to that too. Yeah, which is kind of weird. But anyway, yeah. So, well, listen, it's Denise here. Leave a message after the beep. We'll sometimes throw you through to that too, which is kind of weird. But anyway, yeah. So, well, listen, been blocked twice by Megan today. Yeah, she doesn't want to talk to us. No, I won't go for a third one. It won't be good for self-esteem. Hopefully she's back on deck tomorrow,

but we kick things off with a very unfortunate autocorrect. Have a listen. John O'Bannon Megan. The podcast. The hits. I've had a shocking autocorrect interaction Over the last couple of weeks With a lady called Liv

Who I'm emailing about just some House admin Back and forth with Liv And I've been bouncing probably I'd say A dozen emails To and from with Liv And you know in the past And I'll open it it's my attention

to detail when it comes to emailing is sometimes things are overlooked right okay yeah and i feel like autocorrect at times does us dirty yeah it can do sometimes just like i checked the email yesterday morning so i checked the thread because i had to go back through previous emails to check some information that I'd said to her. And I went, uh-oh, dear God. Every email has started with what I thought it was typing, hello, Liv, or g'day, Liv, good to hear, Liv. And Liv has autocorrected to love through the whole email thread. Hello, love, g'day, love. Just so patronising.

Now, I'm wondering if she gets this a lot through autocorrect, so she knows. Hello, love. Do I acknowledge it? You need one of those little asterisks, and they've got live, live, you know, when they put that. Don't you hate it when you have to do that on a text, where you have to fire the asterisk? Well, type the right word you type the word in this case you

might have typed live exactly what you wanted and it has auto corrected you and you're like when you don't need like other times i do need like when i spell definitely or things like that definitely no and it's like they they auto correct that and i'm like great this is good but on this occasion no do i have to acknowledge it or do i just go do i I just keep going, oh, no, I feel like we've formed a relationship. Like I've called her love 12 times, a dozen times now. Is she going to get weirded out if I start calling her Liv? It's a bit weird. I had one at the end of it.

Thanks heaps for some reason went to thanks Jesus at the end of a message. And I didn't realize until the person replied back with quite a God, a pro-God message back to me. A genuine one a genuine like we should thank jesus and again i was like i don't want to go back and go it was autocorrect just want to say thanks he so i just kind of left it but now he's really pro god he's you know he's really getting the message out there as well what was the actual subject no it was very like again it was probably something mundane and then i I was like, thanks, Jesus.

And they went, yes, Jesus is the reason for everything. You know, like a lovely message back. Obviously, that really hit a sweet spot with them. And then I was like, oh, Jesus. John O'Bannon Megan. The podcast. The hits. Peer pressure.

It feels like something as an adult you don't get as much of. You know, it was real. When you do get it, you're kind of thrown off, aren't you? And you're like, how am I meant to react to this peer pressure? I remember I'm meant to give in to it. Yeah, yeah. But as an adult, you kind of know, when you're an adult, you can kind of make your own decisions.

But as a teenager, that's when it's ripe. People would really get into you. Oh, the old you would do it. You won't. Reverse psychology, you won't do it. I will. I know. It was always one that we'd get people. You won't do it. I will pee on this electric fence. No, you won't you know reverse psychology you won't you won't do it you know i will i know it was always one that we get people why you won't do it i will pee on this electric fence yeah no you won't

yeah the old you would do it now i am the old me and i'm like i shouldn't have done it yeah but my kids are starting to get to give me a little i guess a form of peer pressure because you know as a parent sometimes you always you don't want to make decisions some sometimes that you know the wrong decision so i guess you go oh hey we'll talk to mum you know like we'll talk to your partner oh yes they'll ask me something they'll go oh you know like hey can we can i do this i was like hey yeah maybe we'll talk to mum you're great that puts a lot of responsibility on mum and also having a conversation otherwise i'm gonna make a call and then be like i don't know what's happening on saturday i don't know what that was so we'll talk to mum but now buys you some time as well it does it does it's

not a no it's just, we'll talk to mum. And now they've started going, oh, you always talk to mum. Why can't you make a decision? Now they're getting into my head. They're like, oh, that's what you always say. How much power do you wield in this household? How come you always have to talk to mum all the time? Why can't you just make a decision?

That's a great point. Oh, my. Damn it. This peer pressure makes me want to make these decisions. Are you making any rash calls now just to prove that you can make decisions one or two

and I'm like I shouldn't have made that call you know just because I got peer pressured in for my kids he's going to come

back to bite me I know exactly I'm going to say sorry and apologise but I want to look like I'm you know like I'm up there

and I can make decisions without consulting great play from the girls I think it's a really smart play from kids. I'm sorry, apologies right now if there's kids listening because they may use that tactic on you.

That's right, kids. In fact, use that tactic and see how it works. Yeah, just call into the credentials of the parents. It is a really good one because you're like, you find out who the insecure one is, don't you? It's definitely me. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast.

The hits. My daughter, a few years ago ago, she adopted a French accent. I remember telling you. I was like, oh, this is funny. She was talking like a cute little French girl. She wasn't dropping character for like four days. It was a point where I was like, I guess it's going to look like we've adopted a cute little girl from France.

She did drop that eventually. But she does impersonate. She likes impersonating things. She'll go through periods of impersonations. And she hasn't even watched an episode of the Kardashians, but I think it just pops up on YouTube every now and then. And so now she's ended up spending a lot of her days talking like Kourtney Kardashian.

One of the Kardashians. One of the Kardashians. Now, this is Kourtney Kardashian. One of the Kardashians. One of the Kardashians. Now, this is Kourtney Kardashian. I'm not here to hold a grudge. I think that was the point in having the conversation. So she's getting quite monotone. Yeah. She doesn't give much away with her facial features.

Upward sort of inflection at the end of sort of sentences, yeah. So probably spends a lot of her time talking like this now. Hi, I'm Courtney Kardashian. I'm not here to hold a grudge. I think that was the point of the conversation. Very good. That's very good. It was good.

So we went from having a French girl who were buying baguettes and smoking cigarettes to now one of the Kardashians. One of the Kardashians in your arsehole. It's real art, isn't it? People that can do impressions. Yeah, she's going full method on Courtney. Actually, Producer Ali will wheel you out again. I'll try and make it do it. You might remember $20 Karen from about 20 years ago.

I feel like we've made you do this like three times over the last week. Have you ever heard it already? It brings me so much joy. So $20 Karen was obviously the message that was left on the phone by a lady called Karen. She wanted her $20 back. An iconic message. If you haven't heard it, this will mean nothing to you. You left it on the wrong phone, right?

She left it on the wrong voicemail, that. And it sounds something like this. Hello, this is Karen. Rachel thinks she can ignore me and hide from me for her $20. That she owes me from like well over three months ago. She won $600 at the pokies at the Stokes Valley Bar. And she said to Jada Dion, oh, don't tell Karen you sent me. You've got the information.

Thank you. thank you. What we need to do is we need to have a $20 Karen impersonation competition in front of $20 Karen and she decides and the winner

gets $20. That would be fun. Kind of like one of those they have those celebrity lookalike competitions over there. When you have Adele and stuff.

Yeah. But it's for $20 Karen. Yeah, I'd take that for $20. Should we do that? If anyone else thinks they could do a $20 Karen. Yeah, I'd take that for $20. Should we do that? If anyone else thinks they can do a $20 Karen, 4487. Otherwise, we're just giving Ellie $20. I'll take it.

I feel like that. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Now, last week, a man by the name of Bruce Wilson made news. He was struck by lightning just out of Taupo, and he reckons that his rubber jandals saved his life. And on Friday, when Megan was here, we caught up with him

for what was like, what, your 300th interview, Bruce? It has been one or two. Are you still in the mood to talk, Bruce? Yep, yep. He's definitely not being honest there. Oh, the story of the lightning. I mean, none of us have been struck by a lightning like you have, and particularly wearing jandals, so we want to know about it.

Yeah, well, this should be a very good plug for Archie's jandals, which I haven't actually got in contact with him yet, but I think it's probably quite a good marketing tool. So what were you doing? There was a storm coming through to Taupo, and you were up on some scaffolding, were you? I was down at Kenock, which is two kays down the road. We overlooked the lake and we're down there with some mates having a quiet beer

and saw the storm coming. So I rushed home because I knew all the doors and windows were open. Folded home to shut the place up and I noticed there was a big right on mower. Uncovered it to the side of the house. So I shot around there and covered it, and there was this almighty clap of thunder in the trees about 300 metres away. So I just stood up casually and just leant against something

that was beside me, and it just happened to be some scaffolding that I'm staining the house on. And I got zapped. I saw what I could describe as two arc welders, one in each eye. I don't know if you've done any welding and how bright that is without goggles. I must have been knocked out. So I came to about a metre away against the side of the house. Far out.

Oh, my God. And that's sort of the story, really. So where are your jandals? Saved your life. Oh, hell yeah. Jandals and the scaffold had rubber wheels on it. So I've spoken to a few electricians, and they reckon that's probably what saved me. Wow. She was just looking here.

Roughly one in 1.2 million chance of being struck by lightning. You need to go out and buy a lotto ticket or something now. You've got the same amount of chance of winning. Yeah, I bought one, but I don't think it's done any good. Now, what does it feel like? Can you remember the pain or the sensation of being struck by lightning? I don't know. Have you guys ever been struck by an electric fence?

I imagine it's like that times a million. Double it and treble it again, and it's just that thud. An absolute just thud. You know, as though someone's just belted the hell out of you. And, yeah, that's all it is, really. Since then, Bruce, have you had a little extra pep in your step, mate? No, well, that evening I was all hyped up. But I sort of had a double whammy because the day before we were on a beach,

this place called Kawaka, just around the corner, and I got stung by a bee and I'm deadly allergic to bees and wasps, and so I was filled up with adrenaline the day before. Mother Nature's trying to off you for some reason, Bruce. Because I was reading here, you said it was a bit like a hangover the next day, that, you know, you just felt really groggy. I think it was a combination of the adrenaline,

because that knocks you around for a day. Probably that zap I got, and yeah, I'm sort of a little bit tentative at the moment, waiting for number three. I'm not surprised. Now, Bruce, I don't want to cast a stereotype, but you sound like the type of guy who would have dusted yourself off and gone back down the road and joined the team for beers.

Yeah, well, I was at work the following day, so yeah, it was all good. Did you go to a medical professional for a little once over? No, I had my warrant of fitness about a month prior, I think. I know, but you got struck by lightning in between. Yeah, yeah. I assume my heart's in reasonable shape with adrenaline and lightning. Sounds like we're talking to everyone's dad right now. It's like a defibrillator, isn't it?

Really just give you a zap, good to go. Probably the old school people really, you know, just sort of harden up and get on with it. Harden up and get on with it. And no one else was there at the house? Really, just give you a zap, good to go. Probably the old school people, really, you know, just sort of harden up and get on with it. Harden up and get on with it. And no one else was there at the house? It was just you? No, there was no one here. I rang up my wife who was still down at Kinloch. Yeah, she said I was just talking ten to the dozen and

couldn't really understand anything. She said I was just hyped up. I was just talking. Really fast. Good luck! Here we go! What's going on, Bruce? She bolted home and I was just sitting in the chair having a gin. I couldn't watch TV because the sky dish got zapped. Oh, no. You know, those guys are hopeless.

You want to air your issues with Sky Team, do you, mate? Oh, God. Well, yeah, that happened Friday week ago, and the first time a technician can get out here. You know, we're only a quarter of an hour from town. You know, how long does it take? It's probably a few, I don't know. I really feel like you're my dad again.

Oh, that's so good. Well, yeah, you've enjoyed your 15 minutes of fame. People like ourselves are bugging you. I'm getting close to sort of not answering my phone. Yeah, fair enough, fair enough. We really appreciate you answering your phone for us. Glad you're safe and you keep well. Try and avoid that third one.

I will, yeah, yeah. Go and buy some Archie Jandles. Bruce Wilson struck by lightning. The podcast. The hit. But last week we were talking about how it took seven years from the time that I got engaged to Amanda, who's now my wife, for us to get married. We got married in Fiji.

It was wonderful. And we spoke to a whole lot of people who are currently still engaged, many of whom longer than seven years. Yeah. And they are doing... Married at First Flight with Tourism Fiji. Yeah, how cool is this? Tourism Fiji has come through. So now we're searching for an engaged couple

who want to embark on an extraordinary journey, get married at first flight in Fiji. So it could be you. You can register right now at the hitstockco.nz if you're currently engaged and you want to elope in Fiji. Say I do in paradise, you and your forever, just a three-hour flight away, staying at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort. All thanks to Tourism Fiji. Say I do in paradise, you and your forever. Just a three-hour flight away, staying at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort.

All thanks to Tourism Fiji. This is incredible. This is all happening. Amazing. Now, we must say, this is in no way inassociated. Married at first flight, no way associated with the show

featuring the fame-hungry Aussie bogans in Australia searching for love and Instagram followers. Completely different concept. And if you would like to, it's almost worth, if you are married, it's worth getting divorced and getting re-engaged. Yeah, true. Just so that you can enter this competition.

So we're looking for engaged couples. Or if you've been holding off on engagement, maybe now's the time. To get engaged and then you can go over and get married. That's what they say, all good marriages start with a radio competition. Yeah. Pretty incredible prize, thanks to Tourism Fiji so if you want to go you can register right now

at the hitstock.nz as I said before and we could be taking you over there but we wanted to know because you know you're eloping you're heading away

the people that win this are going across by themselves the couple to get married has anyone eloped because you you like to think about logistics

you're an admin guy you're like what about the family what about this what about. You're like, what about the family? What about this? What about if they've got life admin? What about dogs, cats, kids? You're starting to worry about stuff. Have we had people elope before?

Are you listening right now? Oh, 800 of the hits. And you did elope for your wedding. Was it weird? Did your family get awkward? But then you get a big party when you come back, I reckon, too. Absolutely. And sometimes the wedding's about you guys, whoever gets married.

So, you know, maybe it's, although I did get, I think I've told you this before, on Fiji after I got married to my wife, we went on a honeymoon in Fiji, and we met another couple who were getting married the next day from America, and they were like, hey, would you like to witness our wedding? It was just the two of them. And so I got to witness, we got to witness their wedding. So it was, yeah, they were eloping in Fiji as well were you the best

were you the groomsman well I guess in some ways by default yeah we just signed the form for them we saw them when we went to America a few years later

lovely couple what are their names again Brittany and Reid oh you do remember this time yeah yeah sometimes it took me a while last time

but I was thinking about that yesterday sometimes you forget sometimes you remember Brittany and Reid you wouldn't get a more American-sounding couple. Brittany and Reid. And so did you go out with them after the wedding?

No, well, they kind of invited us. We had a drink with them, and then we kind of went, hey, it's your guys' thing. I mean, we're already in your wedding photos. What are you talking about the whole time? Yeah, I mean, we took a lot of American chat, a lot of Disneyland chat for me. Yeah, basketball stuff.

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The Hats. We could be getting you married at first flight on the flight out to Fiji. Thanks to Tourism Fiji, when you get there, you'll get married. We're looking for engaged couples that have maybe been together for a while, for whatever reason, haven't got married yet. We could be doing it if you want to register.

You can do so at the Hats.co.nz. We're going to pull a party. We're going to come and party. haven't got married yet, we could be doing it if you want to register. You can do so at the hitstockcode at NZ. It's going to be a great time for you. But yeah, essentially eloping. That's what they call it, isn't it? When you head off overseas on a wedding and you're worried about a few life things that we need to sort of check off for the couple and make sure everything's sorted before we do send them off to get married. Now, Sineadid good morning to you

good morning you're an eloper eloped yes we are eloped hard did you elope in new zealand or overseas no we eloped here in new zealand we were living in blenheim at the time and it was post covid and uh we managed to get ourselves a really good deal um so it was just me my husband's our two-year-old daughter. The babysitter knew because she had to take the child and that was it. No one else was aware. Wow, and how did the family take the news when you dropped the bomb? The majority of them were pretty good with it.

There were a few... A couple of prickly ones? A few people, yeah. But at the end of the day, it allowed us to be able to purchase a house and things like that. That's true. Did you have a bit of a party when you came back? Well, it was four years this year and we're still waiting to have one of those.

That ain't happening. Maybe for the five-year one, we might get one. And so what do we need to look out for as we send this couple off to a lope? Any things you could have done better? No, just don't care what people say. If people get grumpy because they don't get an invite, just

don't even worry about it. Deal with the family members. You can make new ones. Yeah, exactly. And it saves, you know, that awkward all the family meeting, although we've been together 10 years and our family still haven't quite met. Really? It's usually done at a wedding so wow um yeah no they still haven't met so that's incredible good way to keep the family separate as well hey thank you so much

for your call awesome thank you thanks you know good tips there don't care what people say claire okay you had a spur of the moment wedding yes I did yeah I was on a holiday in Vegas actually for my sister's wedding, my older sister's wedding and she got married on the Friday and we thought what the heck we might as well do it too so we went down to the court

booked our licence and got married on the Monday oh wow so all the family were kind of there as well I guess yeah just immediate family. None of my in-laws were there, so that caused a little bit of a contention. A few salty people when you returned? Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, so a little bit of frosty atmosphere with the in-laws.

Again, though, it's your wedding, though. It's your wedding. I know, I know. It's good fun, though, and it was an exciting thing to do. Must ask you, how did your sister feel about you piggybacking off the back of her wedding? I asked her before I did it. Yeah, so double checked, and she thought it was great, because me and my husband, we've been together 32 years now, so we've been engaged for 18 years. Oh, far out.

So yeah, so just thought, let's just go for it. It was a formality by the end, that's wonderful. Now, what advice would you give us? What do we need to look out for? Just, yeah, like the previous lady, Sinead, said, just go for it. At the end of the day, it's your day. Do what you want. And then we just made sure we had a really good party when we got back home.

Oh, well, thank you. Oh, well, thank you for sharing that with us. We really appreciate it. John O'Benn and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Today, hopefully, she'll be back tomorrow. There's a guy in Brisbane already, if We really appreciate it. John O'Bannon Megan, the podcast, the hits. Today, hopefully she'll be back tomorrow. There's a guy in Brisbane already, if you think about it, it's the middle of February.

He's trying to eat a full rotisserie chicken every day. What a legend. Every day for the entire year. He's over 40 days into it. This seems to be going all right, but some health experts are warning maybe it's not going to be so good for him in the long run. Mind you, if that's all you're eating every day, if you balance it with some fruit and stuff, surely that's fine.

It doesn't mean he has to eat just the chicken. You're right. He probably can have fruit and vegetables and stuff, but yeah. Why? Oh, he went out with his mate and his mate got us half a dozen beers and a whole chicken ate the whole chicken. He went, that's classic. Loved the way that, I don't know, let's say it was Greg, that Greg ate the whole chicken.

He went, you know what? I'm going to do that next year every day. So it's not for charity? No. Chicken a day for charity? No, in fact, he's trying to raise money to help fund his chicken buying. But he's not raising any money for charity. No.

That's for chicken purposes. It's quite expensive, I guess, getting a chicken every day. I haven't bought a rotisserie chicken in years. Have you not? Yeah. It's the best thing of summer, you know. Chicken for the supermarket. Get some coleslaw and buns. It's the best thing of summer, you know, chicken from the supermarket, get some coleslaw and buns,

it's the best lunch ever. What are you paying? Oh, well, it depends. It's probably about 15 bucks, depending on the size of the chicken. Oh, that would add up. Yeah. A day, yeah, daily chicken costs through the roof. Yeah. 15 a day. To tell you what, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I bought a basketball hoop for my son's birthday over the weekend.

Finally thought, okay, father-son bonding experience. Oh, did you rope him into it? Assemble this hoop. Nightmare. So bowed out on the first step. Oh, right. So the first step is you get the three poles and you connect them together. That holds the backboard.

Righty, righty, right. So boom, boom, boom. Slammed the three poles together. Okay, great. We're on fire here. Then gone to the next step. Stick that into the base. righty righty right yeah so it boom boom boom slammed the three poles together okay great we're on fire here then gone to the next step stick that into the base do all this other stuff i'm like five steps down the track i'm like why is this all not aligning so the supporting poles and all the other stuff's not quite aligning up then my wife comes out and there's a lot of swear words being thrown i think oscar learned three new swear words as well probably he's at the point now everybody probably wants to adopt himself to a new family uh and she's like have you gone back through the steps have you missed i don't need to go back through the steps

i've done everything fine and uh went all the way back to step one and apparently you need to measure carefully how far each pole goes into the other so there needs to be a certain amount of centimetres over each pole. Right. I didn't do that. So now, I googled how to undo the poles, because they're quite stuck in, you know. And the basketball website's like, our poles are conveniently designed, as soon as you insert them, to be permanently

attached. Oh no! So I have to send that email to the company going, and I don't want to say it was me, but it was me. You know, I'm email to the company going, and I don't want to say it was me, but it was me. You know, I'm going to go, unfortunately, an incident has occurred. Well, they're going to know it's you though, right?

But I tried to write it whereas I was blaming it on someone else, but not blaming it on someone else, you know? So I'm kind of just waiting for a solution on that at the moment. So have you stripped it right back to the original three poles? No, I can't. I can't separate them can't do it. Yeah, right. They're all stuck together. So I've paid for this basketball hoop,

but I can't pull it together now. Well, you said it was going to be done in 25 minutes or something, wasn't it? Wasn't there an instructional video there? We're almost 25 days later. Oh, jeez. And then I go back and watch the YouTube video, which I should have done in the first place.

Yeah. And I'm like, these guys are making it look so easy. So why just pay people? You just pay people to do it, don't you? Yeah, totally. That's what I should do. If you can, you know what? I'll raise some money like the chicken guy.

Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Something of the weekend happened. I thought it was very unusual. Probably a sign of the times. My kids, probably like yours, have uh phones the last couple of years you know more for safety reasons at first and now that's what you say now it feels like for snapchat purposes and other

things as well scrolling through okay this is just a device so we can get in touch with you that's how we start then your your parenting slacks off they take advantage of it and then they just stare at their phone uh but indeed my youngest daughter who's you know 13 years old uh she tried to call me yesterday when i was out and about and i missed it and uh i realized when i checked the message that i haven't listened to the start of this message what she says 3 46 p.m i've never recorded a message before but um i don't know what you said. She'd never recorded a message before. It's really throwing her.

I know. Anyway, goodbye. That was not a textbook message. No, when it came inside, I was like, have you never recorded a message? She goes, no, that was my first ever voicemail. And it was, yeah, you could tell. She doesn't really, and that's again the sign of the times, doesn't really ring anyone. No.

And you know, 100% of people when they get the voicemail, they're like, oh God. And those that do follow on through are generally the Kevin Boyces, the dads, the Annie Pryors, the mums of the world. They're the ones who leave the voicemail. Have you seen the new thing where it texts you now? Have you seen that? Oh yeah, I've seen there's an option for that.

How are they doing that? Yeah. Takes your voicem where it texts you now? Have you seen that? Oh, yeah, I've seen there's an option for that. How are they doing that? Yeah. Takes your voicemail and texts you the dialogue, like it writes out the transcript. How does it do it? How? Yeah, that's a whole lot easier, right, than having to clear a voicemail.

So there you go. It's making the voicemail kind of irrelevant. It's like, why doesn't the person just see the text? Well, that would be nice. That's what everyone wants you to do, right? No one wants no one. Even the voicemails are like, oh, mate, no one needs me here. I'll even fire a text for you.

I'll do the heavy lifting. Yeah, so that was the first ever voicemail. It wasn't a great voicemail, to be honest. Generally, you need to say who it is. Yeah. My dad likes to say the time, even though that's not necessary because of the time it says it. But anyway, it's good to know.

And what sort of day it is, you're like, that's good. Those are the things as well. That's great. Beautiful day here. This is the time it says it, but anyway, it's good to know. And what sort of day it is, you're like, that's good. Those are the things as well. They're great. Beautiful day here. This is the time. Sometimes they find themselves in a bit of a hole of a conversation with themselves as well, don't they? Jono, Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The hits. We're on the hits break for Cirque du Soleil coming back to Auckland later this year. If you haven't seen a Cirque du Soleil before, they are incredible. Just amazing, amazing performance. This one is called Cirque du Soleil before, they are incredible. Just amazing, amazing performance. This one is called Cirque du Soleil Accordio. It's going to be back later in the year.

All the tickets go on sale very shortly. You can get all your details at cirquesdusoleil.com. And we've got the first family pass that you can be going along to see. This time the audience is going to be facing each other. A double-sided stage as well, which is pretty cool. The problem I find, I love the Cirque du Soleil, it's been to a couple, but they kind of make a rod

for their own back because you sit there and you become numb to how amazing everything is. It's incredible, eh? This guy like eating fire, riding a motorbike backwards in a wheel full of machetes and things, and you're like, come on, mate, can we ramp it up a bit? It's incredible. So if you want to win the first family pass to Cirque du Soleil, we've got a little game

that you might want to get involved in with it right now. Yeah, the theory is that six degrees, sometimes six degrees or less, connects everyone in the world. They used to do a thing with the actor Kevin Bacon, didn't they? That's right, six degrees of Kevin Bacon, yeah. That everyone was somehow connected to Kevin Bacon. And it worked. There was no one that wasn't.

And my son was talking to me, he's shooting around his basketball, and he came in and said, you know, everyone is connected by less than six degrees. And we just started naming people that we could be connected to. And he's like, Taylor Swift. So I'm thinking, okay, well, we know a lovely couple called Ashley and Tracy. And Ashley manages Joel Little, who's a music producer. Joel Little's made music like Taylor Swift. So I'm thinking, okay, well, we know a lovely couple called Ashley and Tracy. And Ashley manages Joel Little, who's a music producer. Joel Little's made music with Taylor Swift. You're like, well, there's four connections.

Yeah, gotcha. You can name anyone and have a connection, can't you? Yeah, I guess in some ways. I mean, yeah, sometimes you can go, I know of this person. But yeah, you want better connections than that. A meaty connection. Yeah. So we wanted to kick one over today.

We'll leave it wide open. Not one particular person, but we'll say the White House. Okay. The White House in America. Yeah. Can we get six degrees or less connection? And let's say the best connection to the White House wins the tickets to the Cirque du Soleil. Yeah.

The Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, we had him in the studio last week and we were talking to him about the White House. I don't want to get too political or anything like that, but there's a button that Donald Trump's got to get Diet Coke, apparently. Do you have anything like that in your office? No, but I do go about through, I reckon, about four to six Pepsi Maxes. Oh, so you could have a Pepsi Max button potentially in your office. It's actually a really good idea.

There's no point having crawled your way through the bowels of political life to arrive at Prime Minister and not to have a button. It's the only thing I can agree on with Trump. There's no point having crawled your way through the bowels of political life to arrive at Prime Minister and not have a button to press your axe. It's the only thing I can agree on with Trump. If I was him, I would have a Coke button. Absolutely. It must be quite a place, eh? Because they talk about they can just order up ice cream from the basement and from the kitchen.

Have you been to the White House? I have, actually. What's it like? It's pretty special. I mean, like, it's pretty hard to get into, obviously. Yeah. Security checks even for other leaders. And I was there for a dinner with NATO leaders, actually,

which was quite cool. Yeah, it was really good. Well, you met Biden, didn't you? Yeah, I did. Yeah, I met him a couple of times, actually. And I had a 20-minute chat with President Trump, so... OK, six degrees of separation from the White House. With the audience listening right now. Yeah, maybe you've been inside.

Maybe you've met a president. Yeah, we need to go not just look to the White House. Yeah, I stood outside. What was quite cool, but there was a huge motorcade when I was here many years ago with my wife. Huge motorcade, like police cars, a whole lot of those black SUVs driving past. And then there was an ambulance at the end of it. And I was like, wow, was that like Obama? And someone said, yeah, it probably was because the ambulance usually follows the president around.

They have him, carries his blood. Oh, in case there's any. In case anything happens. Really? Yeah. So they were like, yeah, that's the president. I couldn't see the president. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone follow you around carrying your blood?

What a lovely treat that is. You stub your toe or something like that. Quickly, turn some more blood on. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hit. We're talking six degrees of separation. We threw it out there.

The White House. What is your connection to the White House? Donald Trump, actually, speaking of the White House, he's got his mugshot. Remember, he got arrested, obviously. He's got his mugshot framed in the White House. Donald Trump, actually, speaking of the White House, he's got his mugshot, remember he got arrested, obviously? He's got his mugshot framed in the White House. He was kind of pouting in the mugshot, too. He sort of knew this is a great photo shoot opportunity here. You know, when you get the chance to have a free photo, no matter the location, the setting, or the reason, you've got to take full advantage, don't you? He's bragged about his mugshot before. Have a listen to him.

Number one selling mugshot in history. It beat Elvis and it beat Frank Sinatra. Did you know that? Frank Sinatra had a big one. Did you know he got arrested for something? And I think Elvis had a fight at a gas station or something. But Elvis was one,

Frank Sinatra was two, and I'm proud to admit and I'm proud to tell you that you have made mine bigger than both of them by a lot. It's the number one mugshot in the world, and that's the way he's put it. Number one selling mugshot in history. Who's buying mugshots? I don't know, but anyway. Who's keeping a track of those stats? It's not fact-checking right now, but we wanted to know it.

Oh, 100 the hits. Have you got any connection to the White House? And the best connection will win. A family pass to Cirque du Soleil coming back to New Zealand very shortly at the end of the year. Cirque du Soleil, Cortio, it looks incredible. All the details at

CirqueDuSoleil.com. Morning, Amy. How are you in Wellington? I'm great. How are you? We're doing well. All great. American accent. Good start to the game. The theory being that you can connect anyone in the world, six degrees or less. What is your connection to the White. The theory being that you can connect anyone in the world six degrees or less. What is your connection to the White House? So my great-great-grandmother was Lyndon Johnson's housekeeper in Johnson City, Texas, back in the 50s, I believe.

Oh, so a president's housekeeper. Yeah, yeah. Before he was in the White House, when he was still in Congress. Oh, wow. 36th president of the united states so did your great-great-grandmother get to go to the white house do you know or she did not she didn't really like to travel and so yeah she didn't ever get to go but she does have uh we do have a lot of pictures of her with um lbj we all oh yeah so yeah my grandmother had a picture on her wall like my

whole life um of lbj shaving shaking my great-grandmother's hand. Great-great-grandmother's hand. Okay, what dirt did she give you on LBJ, mate? She cleaned up the dirt. That's what she did. Well, she died before I was born. Oh, you couldn't get any goss. I feel like he would have invited her to the White House,

and I love her response. Oh, I don't like to travel. She doesn't. Not for me. Sorry, LBJ. That's pretty cool. Do you want to go to Cirque du Soleil?

It's incredible. The new Cirque du Soleil coming to New Zealand in October this year. We've got a family past the cordial if you want it. Absolutely.

That'd be fantastic. That's incredible. Yeah, you will love it. For scrubbing Lyndon's toilet and pulling his hair out of the drain hole, you're going to get that one. Okay?

Your grandma. Legend. Thank you so much, Amy. Thank you. Y'all have a great day. You too. Y'all have a great day too. I love that.

Marco's actually phoned through on 0800. You're calling rubbish on the six degrees theory. Yeah, absolutely I am. In my case anyway, I don't know about all the other stories I've heard, but do you remember the TV show on Discovery Channel? What was the show? Six Degrees of Separation. I never saw it.

I know. Yeah, I think it's on Discovery. It was a long time ago, but I'm sure you can still find it. And anyway, my one was Bangkok. I was living in Bangkok at the time. And I was an ambulance driver there, the only foreigner. So I was kind of semi-celebrity status. And so I got lumped in with these five other people in Bangkok.

And then the person that I followed on after was a lady, a photographer, and I'd never met her before. But she had to say that she knew me, that she'd taken photographs of my ambulance or something. And then the guy I was supposed to have known was some kind of chef. And I actually had to pull up in my ambulance and drop the host off and said, oh, this is my mate Andrew. He'll take you out for dinner tonight. Awesome. It was fake. You didn't know him?

Not at all. TV shab, bloody TV. A soulless TV industry. But I will say the photographer, about three months later, they actually met her at a dinner party. So you ended up connecting.

So they knew something was going to happen in the future. They hedged their bets. I think it's the existence of your life. And so my life wasn't over. So I guess by the end of my life, I could have met them. Yeah, they took a gamble and it paid off. It was a big gamble. That's great.

Are you guys... Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Of course, on Friday, it was That's great. Are you going to... Jono, Ben and Megan, the podcast, the hits. Of course, on Friday, it was Valentine's Day. She was looking into

a bit of the rumours about the history of Valentine's Day over the weekend. Back in Roman times, one of the stories goes St. Valentine was a bit of a renegade

and he was marrying people when they weren't meant to get married. Right. A renegade justice of the peace. The emperor didn't want them married because he wanted young men to fight. And if they got married, he was like, well, they're going to have a reason to not fight.

And so he was illegally marrying people, got arrested. He was sending cards to someone that he loved, so hence the cards. And then on Valentine's Day, he got brutally executed. Lovely. So in theory, we are celebrating the execution of a man beheaded. Yeah. So that leads into A way to bring the vibes down

That leads into Hey I'm not a huge supporter of Valentine's Day And every time I look into it I'm like Why are we doing this? Even more reason why you're not supporting Valentine's Day But producer Grace 23 years old

You and Jack Madly in love Yes And strangely every year Grace What do you make him do? I make him ask me to be his valentine Have you ever said, not this year?

No, but he has to ask You can't just expect it But you are in a relationship Yeah, nearly five years But he has to ask You would assume on his part That you're going to be the valentine every year Unless one year you're like

You've had a shocking 12 months, Jack Yeah, he's to earn it If someone could get in there before him Yeah, exactly Sorry, Jack, not this year treat him mean keep him keen uh but you had a hilarious moment where you're buying a present for him yeah we had both gone to the gym together and he said he was going home and i was like perfect time for me to go and get his valentine day present and so i'm going to the warehouse and i was like that's his car what is he doing here so luckily i messaged him i was like hey i'm at car. What is he doing here? So luckily I messaged him.

I was like, hey, I'm at the warehouse. What are you doing? He's like, I'm buying you a Valentine's Day present. And I was like, well, this isn't going to be good. So he was over at the kiosk printing photos, and I was like, well, I have to go to the kiosk and print photos. So it turns out we nearly bought each other the same present. Oh, wow.

What I love, too, is you said that as he was at the counter buying your present, he made you shut your eyes and cover your ears. Yeah, I was just awkwardly at the warehouse just standing like this with my eyes covered and all the people around me are like, what is she doing? Going outside wasn't an option? No, because I wanted to get my stuff done. Going to another place that prints photos? Yeah, probably, yeah.

So who got the best photo? Be honest, who printed the best photo? I think, well, I used AI. I got the 10 Things I Hate About You movie poster. I did see you do that. And I put our faces on it. So I think I win. I think I win.

So you essentially got each other the same present. Yeah, he even asked me when we were standing in line, he's like, oh, Grace, where are the frames? And I was like, why do you need frames? We bought each other the exact same $6 frame and we both put gold writing on it. So exactly the same. I was like why do you need frames we bought each other the exact same six dollar frame and we both put gold writing on it so exactly the same

it was crazy you're also in sync apart from the fact that you made an AI picture yeah mine was obviously better well that's a good thing

you're meant to be you're buying the same present for each other yeah it would have been awkward if he was in there buying a present for someone else

yeah oh my god who's that on that photo you're getting printed there? That's right, yeah. Okay, well, thank you very much, Chris. Jono, Ben and Megan. The podcast. The hits.

I saw they played at the NRL Indigenous All-Stars game over the weekend in Australia, which is pretty cool. Then I saw Chris Max at the Manu World Champs. Manuing in a suit. Yeah, the baseball half from 660, yeah, jumping in the water in a suit, yeah. How'd the Manu go? I didn't see. I just saw him about to jump in. No, I think he said it was a bit of an average Manu, I think,

but it was in a suit, so I think he should watch for that. Yeah, tough conditions. And a hat, too, which is good, yeah. Like a businessman jumping, drunkenly jumping in after a long lunch. But Denzel Washington, he seems like a very wise man, doesn't he? Yeah. I always remember in the eye of the Will Smith slap gate storm, there was footage of Denzel Washington pulling him aside.

He had some advice for him, didn't he? Yeah. He's just oozing advice. Like if someone just put you on the spot right now and said, give me some advice, life advice, go. What do you got? I've got nothing, really. I was like, yeah.

Get someone to clear your if you pass on get someone to clear your email history or something I don't know yeah that's good mine would be

if you're at the supermarket park close to the trolley bay oh yeah so that once you've unloaded your shopping you can

put your trolley back that's good advice but this is Denzel Washington so he's been he's in an interview and he's been asked you know can you

give me any life advice from the interviewer now it's only coming through one ear so hopefully you can hear it in your car otherwise you're going to hear 15 seconds of silence right now Can you give me any life advice from the interviewer? Now, it's only coming through one ear, so hopefully you can hear it in your car. Otherwise, you're going to hear 15 seconds of silence right now.

Don't rely on social media. Put it down. Turn it off. Shut up. Be quiet. Learn. Read. Relax.

Get better. First part of your life, you learn. Second part of your life, you earn. Third part of your life, you you return Isn't that good? Every time he speaks you just want to get up and start Slow clapping You learn, you earn And you return, you break life down into

Three segments and he's so right Yeah I feel like he just rattled that off the top Probably off the top of his head It could have taken weeks to come up with that He was a rubbish truck runner For up with that he was a rubbish rubbish truck runner for many years

yeah before he was a movie movie actor oh he's a good yeah you learn you earn

you return yeah Dental it's a lot smarter than that well what phase are we in at the moment

I feel like sometimes you're still learning though yeah but I guess in essence let's not pick Denzel's advice John O'Benn and Megan the podcast, the hits

Zealand Herald Daily Quiz is what we like to do first thing in the morning, try and get 10 out of 10 but with no Megan today we thought if you want to get involved we can go to the lifeline maybe a couple times 4487 or 0800 the hits if you want to actually join us on hold Megan,

she really does pull us through this quiz daily. So it's going to be interesting to see how we go today. Down a soldier. Ellie, welcome back. Hello, thank you for having me. Welcome to a masterclass in guessing. Here we go. The New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz.

You guys got this, okay? First question. The Warriors play the first game of the NRL season in which city? Auckland, Canberra, or Las Vegas? Las Vegas. That is correct. There we go. Nice.

Great. Warriors. This is all good. Keep one for one. Easy. All right. Dan Castellaneta is famous for voicing which cartoon character? The Simpsons, yeah.

Correct. Well done. Yes. We're on fire. Have you written this specifically for me? Simpsons, yeah. Correct. Well done. Yes, we're on fire. Have you written this specifically for me? Simpsons and the Warriors. Yeah, it feels like it is. There's a hand sanitiser question next.

I think you can get this one as well. Question number three. Which artist performed at this year's Super Bowl halftime show? Kendrick. Yeah, Kendrick Lamar. That is correct. Have you done this down for us? It does really feel like maybe there's an easy quiz

that we've never been doing. New Zealand Herald Daily Quiz. All right, question number four. What is the chemical symbol for lead? Is it PB, LD, or LI? LI, wouldn't you say? Lead? Well, maybe you wouldn't.

Oh, wait, under the hits. We need your help. We're down, Megan. Producer Grace is very good at science. Yeah, I went under the hits. We need your help. We're down, Megan. Producer Grace is very good at science. Yeah, she's our... Yeah. Her and Bill Nye are the science people that I know of. And, yeah.

John's texting 4487. He said PB. Are we locking that in? That is correct. Johnny! Thank you, John. Well done, John. Best for John and a PB for us as well.

Is this question five? This is Yeah And I think you'll get this one as well Motoring through it Robbie Williams biopic I don't even know how to say that Biopic?

Biopic Has him depicted as which animal? It's a monkey It's a monkey That is correct Well done Wow Nice

Five from five Do you want to go to the break Or should we take a question to the break? Let's take a question to the break eh Okay Which Kiwi chocolate bar Has recently reappeared in UK shelves? Is it Morrow Gold, Peanut Slab or Perky Nana? There was an article about this the other day and I don't think I clicked on it.

Oh, okay. Run the rattle through the chocolate bars again, sorry. Morrow Gold, Peanut Slab or Perky Nana? All of them. Kiwi chocolate bars, and which one has recently reappeared in UK shelves? In the UK. Would you say Perky Nana? Could you imagine Peanut Slab's still been there, hasn't gone anywhere.

Morrow Gold feels like it wouldn't have disappeared. In the UK, though? Yeah. Okay. That is correct. Oh, wow. Well done, Jono. Haven't had a Perky nana in years Neither

Alright question number seven Which film has received 13 nominations at this year's Academy Awards? Is it Conclave, A Complete Unknown or Amelia Perez? I think it's the last one isn't it? Is it Amelia Perez? Yeah that's your answer? That is correct Oh Ben boy Well done Questionce? Yeah, that's your answer? That is correct.

Oh, Ben, boy. Well done. Questions eight? Yeah. Oh, my God. Okay, under the Chinese zodiac, it is currently the year of the snake, horse, or rat. That is correct, Ben. It's the snake.

Oh, my goodness. We don't need Megan at all. Yeah. Just holding you back. Question number nine. Timbuktu is an ancient city in which country? Morocco, Mali, or Senegal? Now you got me.

Jono, Ben, and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Really well to get all the way up to question number nine. Nine. Yeah, you're doing very well. So the question was, Timbuktu is an ancient city in which country? Morocco, Mali, or Senegal?

Now, a lot of, like you, actually thought it was not a legitimate country. Yeah, I thought it was just a fun thing we sang at kindy, you know? It was a fun thing we did sing at kindy. Brought us a lot of joy, but it also was a real place and according to John on the text, he's helped us again. Is there a lot of text? Yeah, a lot of text. Everyone's saying Mali.

That is correct. Well done! Thank you! We are doing it as a nation, the team of five million bonding together once again. Okay, this is the final question. Question 10 already. I know. You've done it. Okay.

Where are red pandas primarily found in the wild? Is it Central Africa, the Himalayas in China, or South America? Okay, we should do this on our own. You reckon? Yeah, we should do this on our own. You reckon? Yeah, we should do this on our own. We've lent on the audience twice. Well, okay. I know in China

the zoos and things like that, they're quite big on the pandas over there. You go to China, see the pandas. That's what they say. You go to China, see the pandas. But I don't know if the red panda at least is named. Very cute, the red panda. And there was a movie, there was the animated movie.

And that was all based in so you would lean towards the Himalayas in China if you want to see a red panda in the wild, you've got to go to China to see the pandas. Come on, see the pandas. That is correct. We did it. Start to the try to see the pandas. Come on, see the pandas. That is correct. Yay! What?

We did it. Ah, start to the week. Who would have thought that? I know, well done. It's almost worth calling Megan for now.

We'll give her a call. Is it? Should we give her a call and say we've done it? I mean, she is dealing with it. No, let's give her a call.

You think so? Yeah, why not? Okay, we'll give her a call. She won't appreciate this. She'll either not answer or not appreciate it.

Especially at 6.28, she's dealing with Andrew who's not well But this is something that she tries to achieve every day Yeah exactly And now I've done it without her Sorry I need to do a bloody one Don't I Yeah poor Andrew Poor Andrew.

Yeah, he was hospitalised. Yeah. He was sickness, wasn't he? Yeah. So Megan's having to tend to the family. Well, this will make her feel good anyway. Yeah. You know, in the trenches with illness.

A little bright spot in her day. Will she answer? I reckon not. Yeah, I think she's going to ignore us. It's 6.28 in the morning. Definitely worth leaving a voicemail. Your call has been forwarded to voicemail. That's okay.

The person you're trying to reach is not available. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up. Megan. Megan, guess what? We got 10 out of 10. And you didn't have a daily quiz. Daily quiz. It happened. It happened.

Now, we're not going to say it's because you weren't here. I mean, some of the questions were tailored towards us, it felt like, at the start with Warriors and Simpsons. But we thought we'd just call you. We know you're in the trenches with family illness, and we just wanted to shine a bright moment on your day. Alright. At 6.28

in the morning. Lots of love. All right. Bye-bye. Hope Andrew gets better. Bye. She'll appreciate that. She will.

She will. Might probably won't clear it for another four months or something like that.