Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL: We Were Joined By Mr Heckles, The Grumpy Old Neighbour, From Friends!

Episode Date: May 26, 2021

Kia Ora! Continuing on with our Friends reunion, we caught up with Larry Hankin who played Mr. Heckles. He was around for 5 episodes before he got killed off the show! Larry told a very funny story about what happened once he found out about the death of his character. Jono also got into another internet wormhole but about some really interesting things you may not know about Friends. Finally, Ben's wife Amanda loves shopping, and he's picked up on the 5 things she usually says to justify her purchases! Enjoy the show!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jono and Ben, new to your mornings. Friends of Skinny, New Zealand's most recommended telco. Happy, happy, happy, oh, oh. Just when you thought you couldn't get enough of Jono and Ben, you can have them anywhere, anytime. Welcome to the Jono and Ben podcast. G'day, guys. 27th of May, it's a podcast. That's right, it's a good podcast.

Well, that's still to be decided. Fun show, though. It was a really fun show. Yeah, it was a good podcast. Well, that's still to be decided. Fun show, though. It was a really fun show. Yeah, it was a good show. We spoke to Larry Hankin, who was the grumpy old neighbour from Friends. And, gee, he was – I love people who like him. I would love to have it longer with Larry because he's got so many great stories. He was on Breaking Bad as well. We never really got there.

He was on Billy Madison with Adam Sandler. I mean, he's done so many things over the years. And if you're listening to this going, hey, Jono and or Ben, I can't tell you two apart, but why were you interviewing the old grumpy neighbour from Friends? Oh, yeah, sorry, sorry. We should have probably explained that. We're doing a Friends of Friends reunion because the Friends reunion is released today. And so basically the honest answer is we're riding off the coattails of that international brand

and doing our own version, talking to the friends of the friends. Friends of the friends, yeah. The people that you go, it's a long list of people that you'd go, oh, yeah, I kind of remember them. But it's been quite interesting. Actually, tomorrow on the show, we just found out we're talking to someone who put together the iconic set. It was their job to come up with basically designing the set,

central perk, the apartments, and all the bits and pieces that went in. And then I guess if they had something, like there's a turkey going to be stuck on someone's head, they would have to find the, you know, make the turkey to be, you know. And a lot of Easter eggs. I wouldn't be trusted to do that job, mainly because I don't have an eye for detail. But secondly, I'd keep putting, like, prank objects and, you know,

I'd be like, ooh, what's that sitting on the bench there? Oh, he's put one of those there. Champagne him. And I didn't realise as well, which of course makes sense. It's not like you can go out and buy new stuff. Unless the apartment was buying, oh, here's a new TV. It's got to look like it's lived it. So they've got to have stuff that's kind of,

you're going around op shops or you're looking at, I guess, equivalent of Trade Me to find these things. And the set is so distinctive on that show in particular. You know, it's like the Simpsons lounge, isn't it? Oh, that's true.

Yeah, so we're going to talk to him tomorrow on the program. What else was I going to talk about? I had something else for this podcast and Trump's completely

escaped me. Oh, no, it was a magician. A magician just came in and he did a trick on me and it involved him sending an email to my Gmail then asking me A magician. A magician just came in. Oh, yeah. And he did a trick on me. And it involved him sending an email to my Gmail, then asking me a whole bunch of questions,

and then the results were on the email that he sent me. Oh, it was amazing. It's going to be on the podcast tomorrow. It's incredible. It really was. I have no idea until we even start to think about piecing that together because I was coming up with the numbers. I know. Yes, you were. He had no idea. I know. And think about piecing that together because I was coming up with the numbers. I know. Yes, you were.

He had no idea. I know. And I almost got to sway it at one stage. And if I had swayed it, it wouldn't have worked. You know what a really good trick like that is?

You're a victim of it and you're like, the whole time, like, how? I know. I don't ever want to find out, so you do and you don't. Because it's always a simple,

like, oh, why didn't I think of that? But then, you know, in my head right now, I'm just like, that was so, you do and you don't. Because it's always a simple like, oh, why didn't I think of that? But then, you know, in my head right now, I'm just like, that was so, so impressive. It was amazing. Yeah. Anyway, well, you'll hear it on the show tomorrow, but I'm still getting over that. Yeah, a little bit like that. Because he sent it to me before we even started doing it.

Yeah. Before I even started predicting. And you went in on it. I was not in on it. You went like one of those, oh, yes, this guy. Oh, no, we've never met before, sir. Hello, in on it. You went like one of those, oh yes, this guy, hello, we've never met before, sir. Hello, my good sir. You, my good sir. Yeah, I was like, because that's sometimes you go to those shows and you're like, oh, this person's in on it. Is that a plant?

This person, no, they've been on a trapeze before, you know, but. Yeah, I'm just bewildered at how it happened. There was no conversation that you had? Nothing. No, like, oh, I'll read this email, but there's actually this one or anything? No, and it didn't open up. Oh, my gosh.

Anyway, we're vaguely talking about something you have no idea about, but it really impressed us. Yeah, enjoy that on the podcast tomorrow because we definitely enjoyed it. They're proud of New Zealand. Go New Zealand. If only New Zealand was proud of that. Jono and Ben, New Zealand's breakfast on the hits. Of course, the Friends reunion is on TVNZ2 tonight, 7pm. You can see all the original cast, the main cast, back together,

and it's going to be a lot of fun. But what's more fun is our Friends of Friends reunion. Jono and Ben's Friends reunion. With some actors from the show. Slightly naughty, slightly unsanctioned, our one, isn't it? Yeah, a little bit illegal, a little bit naughty. But we're forging ahead with it anyway, and I'm just glad it hasn't been shut down.

I thought this thing would have been closed by the bigwigs on Tuesday, but no, we've made it through to Thursday, New Zealand. So far, we've got some hot fire intel on the show, haven't we? We spoke to a lady who says Chandler smells nice. She was a background extra on the show. She stood on his foot. Yeah. Also, apparently as a background extra,

if you mouth the words apples and pears, it looks like you're having a convincing conversation in the background. It does. And we also learnt yesterday that the Friends theme tune was recorded by musicians who were grossly intoxicated. Yeah. Didn't we?

And they came in the next morning hungover and someone had added claps in overnight. I know. They didn't put the iconic four claps in there. Maybe they did, but they just can't remember. Yeah, well, true. Maybe it was the last thing they did before they left. This morning, though, we're going to catch up with Larry Hankin. Now, he played an iconic character on the show,

the grumpy neighbour, Mr. Heckles. Mr. Heckles, no one is making any noise up here. You're disturbing my oboe practice. You don't play the oboe. I could play the oboe. And I'm going to have to ask you to keep it down. And we're very lucky to have

him joining us now over Zoom from the United States. Larry Hankin, how you doing? I'm alive. I'm alive and well. You do so much. Actor, screenwriter, producer, director, singer, author, artist. Where would people most recognise you from?

Would it be friends, fair to say? Or would you say... It would be, yeah. Actually, I would say that the plethora of fans is from friends. And they're all under 16. They're like 12 to 16. Then there's a drop-off, and then it starts coming back around 34 to 45.

The original kids who watched Friends when it was original, they're now grown up. They have daughters. The daughters are now watching the reruns and the moms and the daughters watch it together in New Zealand we haven't stopped playing Friends since 1999, it's just been on loop

it pretty much has it was the five episodes you were in it felt like you were in a lot because you were quite an integral character to the show, you were the reason that Joey and Chandler ended up flatting together. Because I understand after six episodes, you get to become a recurring character

and your pay increases, but they cut you after five. Yeah, you were like, your character died. How about that? How about that? Yeah, let's go get him. Come on. Let's go get him. Get a beer bottle.

Meet me outside. Let's fix that right now. Bring him back to life, hickles what happened was i just yeah they can i did five and my agent called me and said hey i got good news and bad news i said well what's the good news he says you got your fifth you got your fifth on friends they wanted to call me yeah they want you to do it i go oh great man five one more and uh recurring character because you get a real bump that you could buy a house you're in the property level okay so what's the bad news i got five well you know what could be bad they're gonna what's the bad news they kill you in this episode what what you have a heart attack they need the apartment for chandler

chandler is moving out they're throwing him out of the apartment but here's the weird thing that just because i i asked around when i found out i got on the set you know so my first day of my fifth show i didn't know that it was also the first day of the new season and the first day of the new season they have a party i went to the set but there was nobody there so i said where is everybody and they said they're upstairs there it's a party it's opening of the new season so i go upstairs i was really angry now this is three days after i got the phone call that you're being killed on this show but i didn't realize that i had kept in that anger for three days i mean i was really angry yeah right because here's here's how it worked i said what's the what's the bad news so i was related i had a house i had i had five or one more and i could get you know i could

get a down payment on the house right had the driveway i was in the driveway pulling in the garage door is starting to open up and he said but you get killed boom wow the house is gone. So in my mind, and I swear to God, this is real. In my mind, I had a house. And 10 seconds later, friends took it away from me. And that anger I held in. I didn't know it. And when I went in and they went upstairs to the party and I saw the three producers and all of a sudden that anger just welled up and I went over and I said what the hell did you people do why did you kill me no no the character why did you kill them why did you do that and the room just shut up a hundred people and the the one of the producers who was a really smart I didn't get along with anybody there, but I thought she was really smart. She just leaned into me and she said, could we talk about this a little later?

Just like that. And it just snapped me out of this anger thing and I go, and I realized what I had done because the place was dead silent. And I realized everybody's looking at me the place was dead silent. Wow. And I realized everybody's looking at me. Oh, Larry's made this awkward.

I'm not cool. So I just I said and I just turned around and I said, where can I go? Craft services table. I just start headed for the craft services table. They got a cup of coffee, anything to get away. And as I'm walking to the craft services table all the people around they just split man just a parting of the seas moses heading for coffee and some salmon what a party what a party what a party and i get to the thing and i'm thinking what should i do and now i'm all alone and nobody will come near me and tell them.

So I'm there all alone. What should I do? And I just got a cup of coffee and I go like this. And this kid, about 15 or 16, all of a sudden he appears. He comes right over and he stands right next to me and he looks up at me. And he says, dude, that was so cool. That's what I do. That's the story of that. You're like, oh, that's what I do. Oh, Larry.

That's the story of that. You should be like, kill the neighbor. Kill the other one. His other neighbors? Kill the next door neighbor. Well, I tried every, they wouldn't, they would, so after my thing with the, you know, why did you do that? They wouldn't come near me.

If I would walk towards them, they would walk away. So I just gave up. I just said, I just, you know, I'll do my part and go away. But meanwhile, I mean, Mr. Heckles is a huge, huge character. Yeah, totally. Oh, that must be awesome. So screw you, friends. Screw you, friends. I'm there and you can't get rid of me.

Listen, lovely chatting with you, Larry. You're an absolute character. Congratulations on all the success you've had in your career. It's such an illustrious career and we wish you all the best. Keep safe over there. It's been lots of fun. All right.

He's fun. Paid to talk words and stuff into a microphone. It's New Zealand's breakfast. Jono and Ben on the hits. Now, Jono's internet wormhole. Thank you, producer Juliet. At the moment, we're in the middle

of our Friends of Friends reunion. We've been talking to, you know, Friends of the Friends cast because the core cast, they didn't email us back when we asked if they were keen

for a chat on the hits in New Zealand. No, they were doing something else. Another Friends reunion, which you can see tonight. They were talking to James Corden, who's actually interviewing them tonight.

It's the official Friends reunion tonight. TVNZ 2, seven o'clock, actually. So Shoreland Street, if you're a fan of Shoreland Street, it's going to be after the Friends reunion on TVNZ 2 tonight. We were just talking about that off-air, smart programming play there from the programmers at TVNZ. Oh, yeah, we were talking about that.

Yeah, because you're going to have such a bolster audience watching Friends that the flow-on effect of the way TV works, you know, they'll spill over to Shorty Street. Maybe some new people, maybe some people who haven't seen it in a while, get reignited by the storyline, join Shorten Street back tomorrow night at 7 o'clock. Yeah, it's a smart programming play. But no, Friends, our unsanctioned Friends reunion

continues on today at 8 o'clock. We've got Larry Hankin, the old grumpy neighbour who died. So he was quite an integral character because when his character died, that meant that I think Joey and Chandler moved into the apartment and then they became all the friends in the apartment building. But we were reading about Larry

and the thing is, if you were on Friends for six episodes, that made you a regular recurring character and your pay increased. But he got killed on the fifth episode. Yeah, his character got... He didn't get the pay increase. We'll see if this is a sore point

for Larry Hankin after 8 o'clock. I bet you it would be. I mean, you know, if you're like, yeah, I won away, this is great. And then you're like,

what, what? You're pulling the rug now. Yeah. But anyway, can we hit the music producer, Juliet? Jono's internet wormhole. Oh, it's hit the music producer, Juliet? Oh, it's actually the Friends music. I've got some Friends facts.

I got lost on the internet yesterday. And, you know, usually my facts, you don't like my facts. So they're too long, they're laborious, they're not that interesting. Well, not when you're like, 97 facts on the, you know. Well, I trawled through all 97 Friends facts, okay. And I've picked out what I believe are the three most interesting. Okay, all right. Did you know that evil Ellen DeGeneres Oh, here we go.

turned down the role of Phoebe? What? Phoebe Buffay. She got... She was the role of Phoebe. What? Phoebe Buffay. She was meant to play Phoebe Buffay. They offered it to Ellen DeGeneres. Really? Really. Because Ellen had her own.

She was on a sitcom for a while, wasn't she? She had a show called Ellen. Yeah, it was Ellen. Before the Ellen talk show, right? She came out, I think, on that show as a character, but as Ellen. Yeah, and it was huge. It was one of the biggest racing episodes in the States for years. I didn't know that about Phoebe.

That was a good first act. Yeah, but that... Sorry, Juliet, I should have got you to get this song before. Can you see if Shiny Happy People, R.E.M., is in the system? Because you know the original Friends, or the song that we know as the Friends theme tune, I'll Be There For You, that wasn't the original choice.

In the pilot, they used Shiny Happy People by R.E.M. Wow, let's play that song now. Let's see if we've got it. Here we go. We've got it. This was meant to be the actual theme tune. It picks up a little bit of the song, right, doesn't it? Yeah, fast forward through this boring, violent, boring nonsense. I'd be prepared for this if we'd have got to this.

Yeah. People. Oh, no, wrong word. Yeah, so that was meant to be the original theme tune. Not quite as upbeat as the one we know and love, but okay. Jennifer Aniston hated the Rachel haircut. Really? She looks back on that period in her life,

her life of style and fashion, and despises it. That was an iconic haircut. Everyone wanted the Rachel. Hated it. Loved the hairdresser, she said. The hairstylist was wonderful. There was Jono and Benny. Everyone wanted the Jono.

Everyone was like, give me the Jono haircut. We had a TV show. Yeah, but this adds to genetics, you know. Many people rocking the Jono too. And, you know, everyone's talked about how much they've earned. If you haven't heard it, 22 grand each episode in the first season, which leaped up to a million each episode for each of the cast by the end of the series.

That's still a remarkable amount of money for the first series too. Crazy. Isn't it? Crazy. Well, if you go off, what, how many episodes a season, they're probably pulling in over 190-odd grand, aren't they? Because they were all, you know, no one was really an established actor, really, like household names when they first started, right?

They were all kind of, you know. So that's a huge salary. Are you not getting 22,000 an episode for this show? I'll do some negotiating for you after the programme. No, I'm not. And this is what I found quite interesting as well. Courtney Cox, arguably probably the best actor on the show. Yeah, she was probably the most famous going into the first episodes.

Was the only cast member not to get nominated for an Emmy. All of the other, you know, they all got nominated for an Emmy apart from Courtney Cox. Oh, there you go. They're really interesting. Jono's into that wormhole. Real Kiwi blokes with soy lattes. Mmm.

Jono and Ben, breakfast on the hits. We spoke a little bit before about, I want to start this little bit of a chat by saying that I actually have more clothes than my wife Amanda. We talked about this the other day that I take up pretty much 80% of the wardrobe. Yeah, I tried to remedy that

by giving away some of your clothes on the radio and I think I pulled it back to, what is this, 77% coverage you've got now? Yeah, still a lot for me. I mean, I was lucky enough to get a few clothes for TV shows over the years. And, you know, so it's just kind of dominated the wardrobe now. But my wife, Amanda, you know, enjoys going. As do I, go out shopping. But I love the justifications that she will give when she goes shopping.

And I've kind of narrowed it down over the last few weeks. I've sort of narrowed it down. You know, she's gone shopping maybe once, maybe twice, you know, over the last few months. And I've sort of narrowed down the things, the justifications that she would say. What does she come home and say? So there's sort of five things. It starts with, there's always like, I saved so much on this. That's the first thing.

Have a look at this. I'm like, oh, that's cool. I've saved so much on this. That's the first thing. Have a look at this. I'm like, oh, that's cool. I've saved so much on this. Such a big saving. It's like a lot of the shopping addicts. They went to university and did a degree on how to mind if you, mind if other people into thinking that you got a bargain. It was 40% off.

It was 60%. Whatever it was, it was like, not telling me the price, but just how much I saved on the original price. You're like, well, give me the hard figures. And I'm like, if it really was that 60% off, I mean, how are these people functioning as a business? I mean, you know, surely they can't sell something for 60% off.

All the time. It's amazing. The whole of Westfield Mall is always having a 70 to 90% off sale. It's like a raving alcoholic who's like, this is my last drink. I'll just have one more. It's my last.

So that's one. That's the first one. The second one is this item. This is an item of clothing. I can dress it one more. It's my last. So that's one. That's the first one. The second one is this item. This is an item of clothing. I can dress it up or dress it down. That's a great one. Which tells me that I could wear it anywhere. I'm like, well, we're going to the dump this weekend to dump

some green waste. You're going to wear it there? No, you're not. You can't dress it down. You can't dress that down. The versatility is quite good too because it feels like you're getting your money's worth. I get it. I'd like to see you mow the lawns

in high heels. I get it. Then the next one she likes to say is how cute is this? It's cute, right? That's always the thing like getting me

to sort of gauge how cute the item of clothing is. And what do you say? Like how cute is it all the time? It's not like a lost puppy or anything like that.

I'm like, it's nice. It fits well all around your torso. But it's so cute, right? And I? Well, it's not like a lost puppy or anything like that. I'm like, it's nice. It fits well around your torso? But it's so cute, right? And I'm like, yeah, you know. And then does it, is that like usually the leader?

How cute is this? Yeah. I got it for a bargain. Oh, yeah. And it's, dress it up or dress it down. These things are all combined into one. The other one,

it's going to last me for ages. It's going to last me, you know, like forever. Let's be honest, you get sick of wearing the same clothes. Yeah. This thing, it's going to be around forever. That's what you say. It's going to last me, you know, like forever. Let's be honest, you get sick of wearing the same clothes. Yeah,

this thing, it's going to be around forever. That's what she said. It's going to be here longer than Chris Warner on Shorten Street. That's what she's going to think. And the final thing

that she's like to pull out now to my wife Amanda is, I'm stimulating the economy. Nah, yes. And I'm like, that's a good one. You know, she's like,

there's hardworking business people out there. They need to get small to medium businesses. They need to bounce back. And you know, and if I feel like I'm like, oh, we shouldn't probably do that, then I feel like I'm going against. Stimulating the economy.

You're not being kind. Like Jacinda told you to. And I'm like, it's a good play. It's a fantastic play. And I tell you what else is on sale now too. Ben Boyce. His marriage has ended. And if you want to catch him for, I'd say, $70 to $90 off.

Yeah. He's going for it. Dress me up, dress me down. I'm not that cute though. And it's not going to catch him for I'd say $70 to $90 off. Yeah. He's dressed me up, dressed me down. I'm not that cute though and it's not going to be around for ages. Broadcasting live and mostly awake. Jono and Ben, New Zealand's Breakfast on the hits. Don't you hate it when you find out something

that you owned and have since departed with is now worth a lot more money than it was when you had it. I imagine this happens quite a lot. Oh, my God. It's just yesterday, because I used to have an old vehicle. It was from 1975.

It was a Holden Kingswood. And a guy comes up to me. He's like, have you still got the Holden Kingswood? I said, no, I sold it. He's like, shouldn't have done that. And he shook his head. Oh, no. Because you sold it

because, you know, it was costing you a little bit to keep it going as a car that you were using from day to day, right? Yeah. I mean, it was becoming, what would you say,

an issue in our relationship, Jennifer and me, and the amount of money that was being poured into maintaining a car from the 1970s. Yeah. And, you know, it was a choice between the car or my marriage.

And it turns out you've always got to pick your marriage over your car. Well, no, I haven't told us how much it's worth now. Yeah. So I sold it for $15,500. Right. It was in relatively good condition. He said, now go on to trade me the average one's going for $50,000. Only two years ago I sold it.

$50,000? Is that worth throwing in the marriage for? What would you do with this case, with your marriage? $50,000 on the line. $50,000. Oh, God. Don't you hate that stuff? It's like a

reverse antiques roadshow where you turn up and you go, I used to have this thing. How much is it worth now? And they tell you. Well, you could have sold it at auction for this much.

And everyone's like, damn it! And it's all censored and beeped. I'd like that. The antiques roadshow, the stuff you've already palmed off. I wonder if there's more people listening right now.

0800 The Hits is the phone number. Roadshow, the stuff you've already palmed off. I wonder if there's more people listening right now. 0800 the hits is the phone number. Did you have something and you've now got rid of it and even found out later it could have been worth a lot of money. I mean, factoring in supply and demand, Holden's no longer a thing, which it was. It was a Holden. You know, inflation. Hey, maybe that was $15,000 two years ago.

It was basically 50 grand anyway. Maybe you would have spent that on keeping the car running oh exactly yeah and other stuff to make myself feel better

I had a pair of like I was doing some filming with Dan Carter legendary all black Dan Carter he was in the jockeys ads

and I bought a pair of brand new jockeys underwear and I was like I'll get Dan Carter to sign these jockeys and this will be a cool thing

and I kept them in my room and it was just to the side and my mum was staying and she just did some washing, tidying up, washed the underpants. They'd never been worn. And the signature came off. Oh, no.

And then not long after there was an auction and I had a look at it last night and they had undies signed by Dan Carter. I was like, sold for a thousand bucks. For a charity auction, obviously, which it wasn't long after that. She's your mum. Damn it.

The white's whiter and the bright's brighter. Jenny Boyce. I sold them in EpiSan. Someone had signed your underpants. It was weird. I thought, well, you won't want them. Jack Carter signed these underpants. I could have got, yeah, but anyway. To be fair, it's New Zealand. You could probably hunt down Dan Carter

and get him to sign your underpants again. We could do got, yeah, but anyway. To be fair, it's New Zealand. You could probably hunt down Dan Carter and get him to sign your underpants again. We could do it this afternoon if you want. Do you want to? We could do it. It could be a fun little thing.

Hey Dan, sign Ben's underpants. So 0800, I just wanted to check this open this morning. 4487 is the text as well. You tell us the item that you used to own

and we will try and guess how much it's worth now. Yeah. I imagine there's regret filtered all throughout Aotearoa with this sort of thing. I think it was the artwork or, you know, family heirlooms and things like that you've given away, and then you've gone, oh, my God, it was worth what?

Yeah, it's like when you give me away, inevitably, and you find out I'm worth $100 million. This fine piece of art you're looking at right now. We want your calls and texts. 100 of that. If you give us a call, you may win a pair of Peter Alexander Friends sleepwear collection. It's now available in store and online. Let's go to Megan.

You're on from Christchurch. What's the item? We'll try and guess how much it's worth now, Megan. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? Good. How are you?

I'm doing well. Christchurch must be cold this morning. It's. Good morning. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm doing well. Christchurch must be cold this morning. It's freezing. Yeah. Eight degrees in Mozgiel today, too. Oh, really? Chile. Okay, what's the item?

I had a collection of my dad's old vinyl, over 100 of them. It's a lot of vinyl, isn't it? Yeah. And I imagine a lot of people would have got lot of vinyl, isn't it? And I imagine a lot of people would have got rid of vinyl too. This thing's never going to be of use and then they become all retro and kitsch.

I'm going to say $50,000. Not quite. You see, you always go too high in these things. You at least go... Well, I want to be impressed. Well, we'll be impressed when she goes, that was worth $50,000. Okay, $500.

Okay, warmer, but it was more than that. Okay, so what was it? So I, like you said, sold them for like a dollar each, thinking they wouldn't be that special. So I got just over $100 for them. And then I actually found out after the fact from my mum that they were quite a premium collection

and I could have easily got minimum $20 for each record. Oh, so what's 20 times 100, Ben? I'm no good at on the spot radio maths. How many thousand is it? $2,000. Thank you, Producer Humphrey. Smarter individual than me. Well, it's not quite $50,000, is it? it? Oh, $2,000. So thank you, Producer Humphrey. Smarter individual than me. Well, it's not quite $50,000, is it?

But it's still $2,000. Oh, especially if you sell something for $100. Oh, he's spewing. Because I imagine you're like, oh, these things are just taking up space. Why would someone pay $50,000 for 100 records? Oh, it'd be a shocking investment. $50,000.

I've always thought that was CDs. Are CDs ever going to have that vinyl resurgence? I hope so because I've got a few to get rid of. I can sell them. Yeah, I think I threw mine out. I never need these again. We'll go to Lisa in Tauranga. What was the item?

Hi, how are you? Yeah, doing well, Lisa. You tell us the item. We'll try and guess how much it's worth now. We used to have a Nissan Skyline R34 GDR. Oh, I don't know what that is, but I'll pretend that it was worth $50,000 now. Stop saying that. It's like the Godzilla. So we sold, yeah, we bought it for $50,000.

Oh, Juliet's just brought up a picture of it. Yeah, yeah, I know the ones you're talking about. You bought it for how much? $50,000. You bought it for $50,000? Oh, okay. Oh $50,000. You bought it for $50,000? Okay. Oh, geez, okay. Let's say $400,000.

Oh, no, it's gone too high again. So what did you sell it for? We sold it five years later for $70,000, and now it's worth $150,000. Oh, my goodness. Jeez. worth $150,000. Oh my goodness. But I mean, you can only do what you can do at the time in your life, can't you? Well, that's true, and we've

got into different cars now, so loving that. Hashtag no regerts. That's what they always say. Hey, we're going to send you out some Peter Alexander Friends at the Friends reunion on this week, so we've got some sleepwear coming your way, alright? Oh. Want more Jono and Ben?

You can catch up with the boys anytime. Just search Jono and Ben on Instagram. Jeez, I've realised, finally realised something that when I go to eat food, at dinner time in particular... Oh, you have breakfast, you don't eat lunch. During the day, yes. So dinner's ravenous at dinner time. You don't have snacks at all. Nothing, you have breakfast. You don't eat lunch. During the day, yes. So dinner's ravenous

at dinner time. You don't have snacks at all. Nothing. Nothing for breakfast or dinner. Just feed off my stomach lining and pure adrenaline. That's what this machine's run off. Dr Libby was talking to her

and she's always quite worried about you. She's like a health and nutrition professional and she was quite worried. I haven't had my daily six-monthly check-up from Dr Libby. We should get her on soon.

We talked to her about it on radio, and then a few months later, she actually contacted, not for an interview, but just to go, hey, I'm really quite concerned. She was keeping her up at night. How's that strange little bald man in New Zealand? She's like a mother. She is like a mother, yeah. But I never change my habits, though.

I even joke with her. I'm like, even worse, Libby. Going downhill, mate. I think we've got her back on the show tomorrow, actually. But, you know, so at dinner time, it's... Every meal that I partake in at dinner time, I'm like a death row inmate who's having their last meal. You don't even think to eat during the day and go, hey, I could balance this out?

No, time. Less time. Okay, you wonder why I'm so productive during the day. You can eat a snack as you go. Because I'm not spending 30 seconds eating almonds like you. I'm using those 30 seconds. So yeah, last night I got McDonald's and every

time I order, my family, they're like you're going to order too much. Don't order too much. And then my stomach is saying to me, you're not going to order too much. Whatever you order, I can handle. I've got an optimistic stomach. So yeah, go to McDonald's and I've said to you before, I like to. I've got an optimistic stomach. So you go to McDonald's, and I've said to you before, I like to dabble in the new burger range.

But then I also like to give myself insurance. If that doesn't satisfy my taste buds, then I've got my staples. So then that results in multiple burgers. So I end up, you've got chicken nuggets, chips, new burgers, old burgers, desserts, apple pie, you name it. It's a feast. And then I get to the point where it becomes my family sitting around there judging me. They're like, he's ordered too much again.

He's never going to finish it. They're just like one of those YouTube eating challenges. I bet he can't eat all this. And it becomes a battle. The dinner table becomes a battle of wits and determination. You want to prove them wrong, right? Yeah. And if there's anything left over, I'll be like, well, I'll eat that tomorrow.

I'll put that in the fridge. Put the leftovers in the fridge. But when are you, though? Because you're not going to have a breakfast burger, are you? Nine times out of ten, I don't eat it tomorrow. It rides out five days in the fridge and you inevitably end up throwing it out. I feel like that's a game that many people play. And my mum in particular, like putting it in the fridge. But she does,? I feel like that's a game that many people play, and my mum in particular,

putting it in the fridge. But she does, to her credit. It's a mental thing. You feel better if you put it in the fridge, don't you? Like, I'll get to that. And she does. She gives herself, we're talking about Christmas ham, I think it was January, like, mid-Jan, and she's still like, or something. Yeah, they're still eating the ham now. It's like they go

too far, whereas other people are like, well, one or two days, I'm done. But she actually eats the leftovers. Oh, she does? Yeah, she makes use of them. Are you a leftovers person, Julie? I'm absolutely a leftovers person. I hate wasting food. It's good for lunch the next day, right? Yeah, totally. Oh, and Millennial Max refuses to eat leftovers, no matter how good

it is. He buys new food every day. Yeah, it's a non-thing in the office. He's looking at us guilty with those youthful eyeballs of his right now. Yeah, I's a non-thing in the office. He's looking at us guilty with those youthful eyeballs of his right now. Yeah, same as you, Max. But you make yourself feel better by keeping it in the fridge for five days and then chucking it out. Add these two men together and somehow you get three-quarters worth of a normal dad.

The Hits with Jono and Ben for breakfast. Five words for 5K on The Hits. You're only five words away from a massive payday. Our Game of Word Association, we play it every day around this time. We tell you five words. You tell us the first words that pop into your head. If your words match with ours, you walk away from the show with $5,000. Yes, we're going to head to Tokoroa.

Joanne, welcome. Morena. Morena, Morena. How are you? Love Tokoroa. We've been there a few times, and I like the giant statue of the man holding the chainsaw. Oh, isn't it awesome? I'm currently actually on Te Wharekura bus

carving the kids to school, so we're just pulled over. They're all crowded round. Oh, this is cute. We've got a busload of kids playing five words. Kia ora. Kia ora. Kia ora, kids.

Morena. Lovely to have you. Lovely to have you all on. So you're all going to play together. This is wonderful. And the money can be small. You can decide how the money splits you in. Let's not put that in.

Let's win the money first. Okay, let's win the money. Who do you want to send into the soundproof booth? You know, I think I would like to go with... Is it Juliet? Producer Juliet. Feel like you're vibing with Juliet. Alright, we'll send her into the

sound proof booth and after hours we actually operate that as a den of iniquity as well, these sound proof booths. So she's heading in now. The door is shut. Well done. Okay, hit the music. Okay, the first word this morning is Levi's.

Levi's. Jeans. Jeans. Very confident with jeans. What do the kids think? Yeah. Yeah. I.

Okay, jeans. We're looking at jeans. The next word is scissors. Scissors. Cut. Paper. Scissors. Cut. Paper. Cut came to mind. Scissors.

Can I come back to that one? Yeah, come back with that one. Thank you. Okay. Marshmallow is the third word. Marshmallow. Toast or roast? Roast marshmallows.

Don't you toast them? Yeah. Oh, they're a bit of a debate over whether you toast or roast marshmallows. Do you have them toasted or do you have them roasted? Roasted or toasted? Roasted. You're looking at roasted. Toast marshmallows. Toasted. Roasted. Roasted. Roasted. Sorry. You're looking in roasted. Toast marshmallows.

Toasted. Roasted. Bonfire. Oh, it's a big debate. We need an answer. I'm sorry. Okay. Roast.

Roast? You're going to roast? Okay. You're going to roast? No, we're going to toast. Oh, you're going to toast. Yeah, we're going to toast. And do you want toasted or just toast?

Toasted. Toasted marshmallows. We're heading right into it. Okay, yep. Toasted. Okay, we're locking in on toasted. We have to be exactly right. So we're going to not toast, toasted.

Okay. Nervous is the next word. Nervous. Nervous. I would say Joanne in Tokoroa right now. Nervous. I'll come back to that one, sorry. Okay, and king is the final word.

K-I-N-G, king. King. Yeah, queen. King, queen, that's a good option. Okay, so the two quickly we want to go back to are scissors. Cut. Cut. You're going to lock in cut.

Yep, that was what you thought the first time. And back to scissors. Cut. Cut. You're going to lock in cut. Yeah, that was what you thought the first time. And finally, nervous. Nervous. Unsure. Unsure. Is that you're unsure of an answer or is that what you want to lock in, unsure? Nervous, unsure.

This seems pretty good. Unsure. Unsure. Unsure. Nervous is a tough one. Jeans, cut, toasted, unsure, and queen. They are your five words. We'll get producer Juliet out of the soundproof booth.

Yeah, Juliet's actually moving into a new flat, and it's going to be the soundproof booth. With no running water or oxygen. Juliet, good luck. No pressure. There's a busload of schoolchildren wanting you to win $5,000. It's all on you. What do the kids want to say to Juliet

before she embarks on this journey? Morena. Morena. Oh, Morena. First word this morning produced by Juliet to see if we can match with Joanne is Levi's. James.

Well done. Yes. Would you reckon John I would carry on the same order? Or do we come back to the ones that were a little bit tougher? Maybe we'll come back to the ones a little tougher. Let's go to the last word this morning, which was king. Queen. Well done.

Shit, this is a bad mistake being you lull into a false sense. Okay, word number two was scissors. Scissors. Cutting? What? We have to be exact here. They were cut.

So close. Damn it! What would you have gone for marshmallow? Probably toasted. Toasted? Marshmallows? Oh my gosh, are you kidding? And nervous was the last one.

Anxious? Oh! So you almost got four out of five. It was pretty close. Damn it! Well played this morning, Joanne. You did a really good game. Oni, oni.

Hey, listen, kids, you have a great day. You too. Thank you. We've disappointed a lot of children this morning. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, so close. It's tough. It's tough out there.

Hey, next time, Producer, can we not get a busload of children to disappoint? Oh, jeez. One person at a time, we want to let down. Yeah, yeah, nah. Yeah, nah. Yeah, nah. The home of yeah, nah. She'll be right, and at the end of the day...

Jono and Ben, breakfast on the hits. Bye. Thanks to Disney's Cruella, in cinemas May 27th, and on Disney+, with Premier Access May 28th. Producer Juliette is not here to pussyfoot around. She did turn up one morning wearing cats on her feet and it was strange. And she vowed from that day forward, no more pussyfooting.

So here she is with Spy. So ahead of the Friends reunion tonight at 7pm on TVNZ2, the stars have been doing a few interviews before the reunion airs. Just kind of with a little bit of... The stars have been doing a few interviews before the reunion airs. Just kind of with a little bit of... Sometimes I'm like, why are they doing interviews when they're probably going to be discussing and reflecting on friends, which is what they're going to be doing in the reunion anyway. Oh, well, you can take that up with the NBC public relations person.

Maybe I should do that. But in one of the interviews, Jennifer Aniston was asked who her favourite guest star on the show was. Because across the whole show, there have been many, many guest stars. I saw her this morning. Sorry to interrupt. Bruce Willis guest starred on the show and refused to take any money for it. Really?

Did it for free? I think he was going out with, I was Burt Reynolds going out with Monica. Someone was dating Monica. Anyway, he was on for a couple of episodes. Didn't accept a fee. Wow. That's interesting. We probably didn he was on for a couple of episodes. Didn't accept a fee. Wow. That's interesting. We probably didn't need the money to be fair. But Jennifer Aniston

said one of her favourites was Brad Pitt. She said Mr. Pitt was wonderful. And after seeing those photos, I'm not sure if you guys remember, I think it was last year or the year before at one of those awards ceremonies they were photographed together for the first time in ages, lovingly looking at each other in the eyes.

They had body language. They embraced too. They hugged. Her body was pressed against his body. Everyone was frothing. And now the internet's going wild because they're like, oh, Jennifer Aniston said one of her favourites was Brad Pitt. To be honest, you probably couldn't remember anyone else.

True, true. Who was your favourite person we had on the show yesterday? I couldn't tell you. I can't remember. Yeah, I know. But it was a great show yesterday. It was a great show. It's a great guest.

Now, Producer Huffrey, we were having this conversation yesterday. You're like, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are back together. We're all excited

for a new episode of Friends. Juliet's wandering around in a bum bag. Ben just bought a bucket hat. What year is it? Yeah. We made that conversation. 1994. Brad just bought a bucket hat. What year is it? Have we made that conversation? 1994.

Brad and Jen get back together. Oh, wow. That would be amazing. And speaking of Brad, him and his ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, she has six children. And over the last five years, they've been battling over the custody of their children. Brad Pitt has very, very happily, reportedly,

won joint custody. He's happy with the result of joint custody for their six children. Because she was going for full custody, wasn't she? Yeah, she was. And she said she was annoyed because the judge didn't let their six children testify in court. But they did have child service professionals

interview the kids. So they sort of were involved in some respect, but they didn't appear in court, but they did have child service professionals interview the kids. So they sort of were involved in some respect, but they didn't appear in court. But Brad's stoked. Angelina's not. It's been a five-year battle. You can kind of understand why you wouldn't want the kids standing up in court and doing that. Yeah, I guess so. You don't want to put that pressure on.

I mean, that thing's been going on so long, all of the children are in their 50s. I know. That battle. It's been going on a while. I know. They've done so well to adopt all those kids, haven't they? Yeah, it's pretty awesome. What a selfless thing to do.

Yeah, for sure. They've got six of them, the more the merrier. And that is spy for more. You can head to the hits.co.nz. Well, not the more the merrier. The more the costly, actually, is probably what you're saying. And probably a bigger people mover van, to be honest. Yeah, true.

To everyone pulling a sickie today, you're not fooling anyone. Jono and Ben, breakfast on the hits. Now, tomorrow is Gumboot Day, and from I Am Hope, we've got Mike King with us in the studio. Great to see you again, Mike. Good morning, beautiful men. Wow, this is a fancy studio, isn't it? I remember you guys used to broadcast out of a cupboard.

Yeah, that's right. We just used to have fake microphones on toilet rolls. Right. Now we've got cans on strings. Oh, yeah, I know, I know. Welcome to the good life. Big time, baby. Big time.

We had, every winner we had on the show was Mike King, just putting on a different voice. Like, g'day, guys. G'day. How you been, Mike? I've been great, actually. You know, really, really embracing

the Gumboot Friday vibe that's starting tomorrow. So it's been busy, hectic, but good. Tell us about it, because I was reading that the meaning behind Gumboots has to do with mental health. Yeah, it's totally about mental health. So a young lady called Josephine Nathan from the far north came to me in 2018. She said, we should have a day called Gumboot Friday, a fun day to raise money for mental health. And I go, well, what's the hook? And she said, well, having depression is like walking through mud.

80% of people with depression don't say anything, and they feel like that no one cares. So if we all put on gumboots for a day and walk through the mud with them so they can recognise there are people out there that care. So it's a fun way of raising money for mental health because, as you know, every mental health charity driver is emotional blackmail. So it gets the dollars back.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know how many people die every year? Do you really need that cup of coffee? So this was a fun way also that kids could get involved in, you know, and kids can feel like they are positively helping each other because 100% of the money we raise goes to free kids counselling. Oh, that's awesome. And it's awesome that there are a generation of kids

that you've played such a pivotal role in getting that message out to schools and into the curriculum and to have this generation of kids talking about mental health which just was not a thing yeah no it's it's you know what what i've discovered is our kids today they um they're proactive about their mental health mental health's like their environment my generation goes we've got to get that bloody, bloody plastic bags out of the bloody water. Kids are like, no, we've got to stop putting it in the water in the first place. Yeah, right. So it's a real shift. This is how it has all changed.

So, so far we've given 15,500 free counselling sessions up and down the country. And just over 40% of those are 11 and under. So our kids, see, I love that reaction because you go, oh my God, straight away. Why did you say that? And I'll tell you why. Because the only way that young people can get counselling now is to go to a doctor and be stigmatised mentally ill. And then they go on an excruciatingly long waiting list and then they get put in front of a burnt-out mental health professional. Our kids don't want to see counsellors when they're mentally ill. They want to see them to stay well.

This is that proactivity that our young ones... But they are so young, you know. Well, you know, when you think about it, it's so obvious, right? The reason they want to talk to someone neutral, 80% of kids don't ask for help because they're worried about what their parents are going to think, what their parents are going to say, what their parents are going to do. And in 90% of the cases, they're the only ones with a burnt out or with an overactive inner critic and they make everything about themselves. So talking to someone neutral allows them to be fully cognizant

and fully open with what is going on and counsellors are that neutral person that can put everything in perspective. Often what counsellors do with our kids is they put them in the shoes of the other person and they help to normalise it. This is a normal thing that you're going through. So it's really, really, really helpful for our kids

and they come away with the weight of the world off their shoulders. That's awesome. So you're actually doing a huge thing for Gumboot Day tomorrow. Well, I'm going to try. I'm going to start at midnight tonight. Me and my young friend, we're going to be walking 100 kilometres around the domain. We're figuring it's going to take us 20 hours to do the 100.

You're not going to stop? No, we're going to walk the whole 24. In gumboots? In gumboots, trying to raise $100,000. That will go towards our $5 million target. But if you're in the domain, if you're around the domain tomorrow, all kinds of activities are

going to be happening. Bring the kids. We've got inflatable obstacle courses. We've got bouncy castles. We've got the Thai Happy Gumboot Throwing Association. They're going to be there so you can have your gumboot throw officially mapped out. Awesome. There's all kinds of things culminating in a 654-people haka

at 6 o'clock led by the legend himself, Buck Shelford. Oh, that's awesome. Buck Shelford. So everyone can come down tomorrow. There's food stalls down there. There's going to be free sausages. There's going to be bands. So people can obviously bring some cash down and donate as well.

But if they can't get down there, we can do it online as well? Yep, you can do it online. You can do it anywhere you see a Gumboot on account. You can do it via Givealittle, our bank account details, and all the information's on gumbootfriday.com, which takes you to gumbootfriday.org.nz. But gumbootfriday.com is easier. There was some troubles getting the domain name,

but we got you sorted. Now, Mike, we were just talking before the interview and you said you feel wildly underprepared for this 100 kilometre challenge. Well, you know, my fit friend, he's a gym rat, right? He goes, right, bro, we've got to get out there and we've got to train. We went for a leisurely 5K stroll.

I ended up blowing out a car. I ended up with blisters on the bottom of it, but I've got it sorted. I've got it sorted now. No more training. Just going cold. Hey, Mike, congratulations again. I know you hear this all the time from people on all the great work you've done, mate. Like, honestly, who would have thought 20 years ago when you were a comedian that you'd end up at this stage? Yeah, I mean, my whole life I wanted

to be a comedian and I actually thought if I ever got to be a comedian, all my dreams would be fulfilled. But who knew that that was just going to lead into something with real purpose? And, you know, I'm privileged to be able to do this. I love doing this and I love catching up with you guys who are still the funniest guys in New Zealand. I actually had Stuff ring me the other day and say, hey, we've got these questions about comedy. I went, yeah, I'm not a comedian. You have to ask someone else.

Go ask Jono and Ben. Don't ask us. Don't ask us. Every time they say comedian with us in an article, they put those speech marks on it. Oh, they do. They're like, well, don't say comedian. It's fine.

Just don't put it in. Don't do this. Oh, you're a comedian now. Oh, yeah. No, it's awesome, mate. You really are. It's very lucky to have you. And we appreciate all the great work you do.

And tomorrow, get out and support I Am Hope, the Gumboot Day. Yep. Down the domain if you're around. Come on down. We apologise in advance. Sorry about that. Sorry about that.

I'm sorry to rope you into this. Sorry you've been dragged into this. Jono and Ben. Breakfast on the heads. The heads. The heads. We were at our flu injections yesterday. Did you get yours, Ben?

Yeah, I did. Work provide them, which is another nice thing they do, right? Free flu injections. Mmm, very good. With eight different strands of the flu, the lovely injector was telling me. Oh, right. Yeah, did you know that? No, I didn't know that.

They inject you with the flu to make you immune to the flu. Right. Because your body, I guess, fights it off naturally. Okay. I shouldn't really be discussing this. I don't know why I got myself into this hole.

Producer Humphries in here, have you got a fact? Oh, you're just turning over a camera. Oh, right. You came in here and I was like, oh, yeah, Jono just turning over a camera. Oh right, well I'll keep, he came in here and I was like, oh yeah, Jono's saying more stuff

that's not true. Yeah, we should probably get, maybe a doctor or a scientist on to explain that. But I had the injection and,

jeez, no matter how old you are, the joy of being offered a lollipop. Isn't it amazing? Did you get a lollipop? She offered me one but I said no.

Oh, you're a grownllipop? She offered me one, but I said no. Because you're a growing adult. Well, I took her oven. I sifted through all my favourite colours. What do you go? What's your favourite lollipop colour if you were to pick one? Oh, I never really think about that too much. Maybe the pink?

I go purple. Oh, purple's pretty good too. I think I went red yesterday. Oh, red's good. What flavour is red and purple? I don't know. In these cups. Are they all the same kind of, you know, like I don't...

It's like the New Zealand lollies. What flavours are they? Everyone's like, I love the red ones, I love the... Some are quite different. Like the white ones. Oh, that's the mint one. Yeah. Are the white ones minty?

Yeah, or there's something, I don't know. I thought they'd be like lemonade-y. Yeah, the white ones are minty and they're like, no, why have you chosen? They're the Turkish delights of the Air New Zealand lolly world, aren't they? I don't even know if they're still there. They might have gone. The lollies?

No, no, no, the white ones. I couldn't remember seeing them on the last time on the flight. Although, can I say I love all lolly colours equally. Right. And lollipop colours equally. Okay, I don't discriminate. But purple, I just picked a purple yesterday after much consideration. But anyone judges you when you're coming down sucking on a lollipop colours equally. Okay, I don't discriminate. But purple, I just picked a purple yesterday after much consideration. But anyone judges you when you're coming down sucking on a lollipop.

Well, I don't think yesterday, though, because a lot of people, you know, you kind of told, you could see all the people, they had the flu jab. They were all chewing lollipops. Are we talking about this? Why are we talking about lollipops? First thing in the morning. I'm just saying, mate, it's September 6th. You got anything else?

What else do you want to bring to the table? It's either blood, moon or lollipops. First thing in the morning. Oh, I'm just amazed. It's six. You got anything else? What else do you want to bring to the table? It's either blood, moon or lollipops. We made our choice. Did your flu jabs hurt or were they all good? Nah, not too bad. Mine didn't hurt like one bit. It was so good. I called mum afterwards.

I was like, mum, my flu jab didn't hurt for once in my life. Yeah. It was so good. Are you going to get vaxxed up? With the COVID? Yes. Yeah, when we can. Well, it's been delayed.

Hippo's delayed it. Oh, really? Yeah. He's like, oh, when we can. Well, it's been delayed. Hippo's delayed it. Oh, really? Yeah. He's like, oh, there's been a bit of a shift in plans. We're going to delay it a bit. Oh.

But then everyone's like, why are you delaying it? He's like, it's not a delay, but it's a delay from the original date. He's moved it back. It's not a delay.

I'm pretty sure they call that a delay in the dictionary. Oh, so what's happening? Maybe he hasn't got enough lollipop supply for the country. Maybe that's the thing. Maybe he hasn't got enough lollipop supply for the country. Maybe that's the thing.

Maybe he should go to Gilmore's. Yeah. Want more Jono and Ben? You can catch up with the boys anytime. Just search Jono and Ben on Facebook. The A to Z of New Zealand. Something we do on the show is call a different town and city in New Zealand. We're trying to get through every town and city in our beautiful country,

and we're doing it alphabetically. Today we're at Meri Meri, which is located basically halfway between Hamilton and Auckland, and there's not much to be merry-mery about Meri Meri apart from the dragway, a perfectly placed and located dragway, a.k.a. the Bogan Disneyland. Is there anything else? I don't know if there is anything else. It's the middle of nowhere. There's this dragway, and we have an affiliation with Meri Meri Dragway, a.k.a. the Bogan Disneyland. Is there anything else? I don't know if there is anything else. It's the middle of nowhere.

This is Dragway, and we have an affiliation with Medi Medi Dragway, don't we? Yeah, we just went filming there a few weeks ago. Yeah, and on the weekend, mullets from all across the country are naturally drawn to the musk of burning rubber. And I think we've got Millennial Max to tee up a dear friend of ours, Gary,

who operates Medi Medi Dragway. We'll give him a bell now. Now, if I want to pass Dragway, Gary speaking. Is that our old mate, Gary? It bloody well is. How are you, Gary? John Owen being here, mate. Hey, guys, how you doing? We're doing all right.

How are you? Vibing, eh? Now, I understand our wonderful millennial producer, Max, has filled you in. He did. Apparently, he did a little bit of an update on towns and stuff like that, bits and pieces or something. Yeah, that's kind of the gist of it. We're basically calling every town and city in New Zealand,

and we're doing it alphabetically. And today, it's Medi Medi. Now, you live at the dragway, do you, Gary? No, I don't. I live about 10 minutes away, Harrisville. So who gets the house? Because we were out there a couple of weeks ago doing some filming out there.

There's a house in the middle of... There's a little cottage up the top. Yeah. He's sort of our... He's an elderly gentleman. We sort of pro-ratty, bit of a groundsman sort of thing. Oh, the groundsman lives up there.

So he lives at the Dragway, which would be a noise complaint, too, on the weekendman lives up there. So he lives at the dragway, which would be a noise complaint too on the weekend. Yeah, he runs up every night. I'm calling noise control. Now is the dragstrip his driveway? Like, does he back out of the... He's got to turn his hearing aid down. Now, Gary, many, many, would you say this is a place, a paradise that people should come and visit?

Hell, yes. Especially the drag strip. Don't worry about anywhere else. They've just got to come down to the drag strip. What else is there? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Nothing else counts. Yeah, I was trying to think. Because it's pretty much halfway between Auckland and Hamilton, isn't it? Roughly? Roughly, yep. That'd be about right. Yep. So those that live in the town are undecided on whether they support the Blues or the Chiefs

or whether they can just hedge. Oh, no, no, no. Definitely Chiefs. Oh, definitely Chiefs. Oh, I said Chiefs down. I'm talking about the Blues. But by the way, anyway, what's the Blues? What I found interesting about Gary's drag strip, it's also an emergency landing strip

for airplanes. That it is. That's incredible. Have you ever had planes land on it? We have. During a race meeting, we organise them. Then we race the car against the plane. Oh, do you? Yeah. Who wins? The car. But I imagine in the air

the planes always win in that one. Mind you, some of the cars I have seen footage of, they do end up flying, don't they? They do end up flying up in the air and, yeah, disintegrating. Do you panic as the operator of the drag strip when you see a car flying in the air and flipping backwards?

Yes. You do. You always do. When there's an incident, you always panic. You don't worry about the car. You buy another one. You buy another. You're worried about the driver, yeah.

Well, we were out there filming, as we said, a few weeks ago, and you guys do have a lot of health and safety. You have a fire department, the ambulance. Basically, everything is on standby to make sure everyone is as safe as possible. Correct. And, hey, this is 2020. You have to have all those things in place. Gary, you're a year behind.

It's 2021, Gary. It's 2021. I'm still behind. There's a whole pandemic. It's 2021. I'm still behind. There's a whole pandemic. I don't know if Gary's got to yet. Yeah, I just did my hair in a row. Oh, Gary, you're a good man. Now, if anyone wants to come to the drag,

because it's actually a wonderful family day out. We were there and I was like, geez, my family would love being covered in rubber and watching these burnouts and watching these races. When's the next event? Our next event is a little street meeting and that's on the 13th of June. It's a fun day out. It really is.

It is. And you're all wonderful, friendly people out at Midi Midi Dragway. So go along, I'd say. One of our favourite moments, Gary, was when we ran into some people there and were like, do you come here often? And they were like, no, no, we thought there was a fire and we came to check it out There's a family of concerned motorists Something was on fire. They turned up and then realized it was it was a burnout competition

The irony of them coming and thinking is a father watching a burnout and then I think the car is he caught fire Listen Gary love your work, mate. And you look after yourself. Will do. Thank you for calling. Morning. This show contains traces of Jono and Ben. The Hits with Jono and Ben for breakfast.

Scrolling through your feed. All right, time for my favourite part of the show where I have to do none of the heavy lifting. It's my friend presenting Scrolling Through Your Feed, Benjamin Ross-Boyce. Now, last night, you would have seen it all over social media. You'll see it now if you wake up this morning. Everyone took photos of the Blood Moon, it seemed.

The lunar event of a lifetime, they're calling it. The Blood Supermoon. It's a great photo on the New Zealand Herald this morning. That's a great photo. Yeah. That's a great photo. They're taking on a high-resolution lens there. Not like Juliet and her friends who are like,

oh, my God, check out the blood moon from their phones. You're right, John. But you think the old zoom-in function would work a bit better on the iPhone? Yeah, although I did see some people posted comparison shots, and this is not an ad in any way, but Samsung versus iPhone quality, and Samsung was actually really good. But I'm an iPhone user, so I will back in.

What loser was posting comparison shots between... Not only are they staying up until 11.11 for it, then they're like, I'll do a comparison between the two pieces of tea. I think it was like 8 o'clock last night, the kids were outside, they were having a look at the moon, and then they were jumping on the trampoline at home, and it was quite bright, even

from the moon, you know, like it was a really, really bright moon and that was before it started turning the reddish colour. I don't want to talk down the blood super moon but I thought it was

going to be closer. Oh, the actual moon? Naturally closer, not even having to zoom in on cameras. Yeah, because it's the closest the moon's going to be. They were like,

this is the closest it's ever been to Earth. You're going to look up and it's going to be right there. That's what I was hoping for. Like looking through your curtain sort of thing. Yes.

But it was nothing like that. Yeah, like, oh, it's still up there in the sky. But if you believe in star signs, it could be an emotional time for the fire star signs at the moment because of the moon. So the Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are the ones that I reckon are most affected by the super moon. An Aussie astrologer said,

we need to be mindful of our emotions right now, particularly those star signs. It can bring out the crazy in people and I reckon a lot of relationships will potentially end around this time because of the blood super moon. Wow. So that's what, yeah. Do you live your life by star signs? No, no. No, my

friend, she was obsessed with them. She'd read them every day on the back of the Herald and stuff and then one time I was like, it's time for a career change. So she's like, I'm going to leave my job. And Jen and me were like, don't leave your job. Oh, because of the... Yeah, she's like, time for a career change.

Leave your job. Didn't end up getting another job. You ended up having to go on the dole. Oh, no. So we were like, how's your star sign now? She's back in employment now. But yeah, don't live your life by the back of the e-card. I mean, some people believe it,

but yeah, it's interesting. Even like when you read the descriptions of what your star sign's meant to be. Sometimes I'm like, I was reading it to my daughter the other day, she said, what's mine?

And we read through it and we were like, nah, nah, nah. You know, it's all her personality traits. What are you? So I'm a Virgo. So some is me, but yeah,

but with my daughter it was totally wrong. So what's a saying you should do today? Oh, today's a lucky day for the Virgo. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, there you go. Quick, guys.

Go to the TAB, put all of your life savings on horse number six at Trentham. Oh, at Trentham. That's what it's saying. All of it. All of it. Every last dollar it's saying here. Every last. And you will not regret it. There you go. Every last dollar it's saying here. Every last. And you will not regret it.

There you go. Lucky day for Virgo. You might not be back in tomorrow. And that is scrolling to your feed this morning. Jono and Ben, or as they're known in the office, those two. Jono and Ben, New Zealand's breakfast on the hits. Bye. Thanks to Disney's Cruella in cinemas May 27th

and on Disney Plus with Premier Access May 28th. Her parents wanted her to work with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB and she's ended up working with John Owen Benn. That's almost like wanting to wear a Louis Vuitton dress and ending up in a plastic black rubbish sack. But I'm glad you're happy at least, Juliet. Thank you very much. You look great in that rubbish sack. Thank you.

So ahead of the Friends reunion tonight at 7pm on TVNZ2, the Friends cast did sit down and do a couple of interviews before the reunion aired. And one of them, they talked about the very strict rule they had on set for the whole duration of filming, which is probably a very sensible rule about dating. There was a rule that we had. It was really important to the six of us that we kept a friendship.

And if we were hooking up or there was any strangeness going on, that might mess with things. And we are really good friends to this day. And so the same rule we apply for this show. No hooking up. I mean, I've tried it a couple of times with Ben. It's a no-go. There's a lot of sexual tension.

But hey, we all agree. No hooking up. We all agreed, didn't we, Duke? Yeah. Be humphrey. No hooking up on this program. Very strict rule. But that was Matthew Perry speaking.

And you might have noticed he had a little bit of a slurry speech there. I was trying to brush over it, the poor guy. I was like, he's clearly had a few. I know, no, but that's what people initially thought. But it turns out his slurred speech in the Friends reunion and in this interview was because he had to have an emergency dental operation, which left him slurring his words. He's recovering from dental surgery or something.

Well, that's a good excuse I can use in the future. Hey, hey. I'm sure it was a dental. I'm sure it was too, Juliet. I can use in the future. Hey, hey. I'm sure it was a dental. I'm sure it was too, Juliet. I'm sure it was too. It just seems odd that you would have a dental procedure and then immediately run back and do an interview. But, hey.

True. You can't unschedule these things, you know, for dentists. And if it was an emergency as well. Yeah, yeah. But then you'd be like, hey, where's Matthew Perry? Oh, he had an emergency dental thing. Oh, okay, well, that makes sense. He's not here.

Yeah, I see. No, but anyway, good on him for turning up. He's committed to that role. He is. And celebrity chef Pete Evans, he was on, was it My Kitchen Rules? Yes, My Kitchen Rules was his kind of- Paley O'Pete, don't they call him? Yeah.

And he's said some wild stuff in the past, hasn't he? Yeah, he's known for, you know, he's got some very controversial opinions on coronavirus. And he's quite a conspiracy theorist, they say. Yeah, he wouldn't be trusting the 5G towers, would he, Evans? No, no, he wouldn't be. And he has found himself in hot water again. He's been fined 85 grand for what they call unlawful advertising. So he's basically been advertising these therapeutic

or like wellness products that you shouldn't be advertising in Australia specifically. One of them, he's like, yeah, this will help with coronavirus. It's like, no, that's something called a biocharger. It's just all a bit weird. And so he's been fined 85 grand by the authorities in Australia because he's just talking more smack, basically. You know he's married to Nikki Watson.

You wouldn't know Nikki Watson. What did you do? She was a model, a New Zealand model. Nikki Watson married Pete Evans. Are they still together? Yeah, I think they are. Yeah. Go through a lot of tinfoil making their hats.

But, geez, My Kitchen Rules really stuck it out with him for a while, didn't they? Yeah, they did. All through his controversial comments. Yeah, and then they finally picked him to the curb. Yeah. But yeah, now he's 85 grand poorer and then a spy for more.

You can head to thehits.co.nz. Two dads just trying to fill some airtime. Some might say it's pointless, but the main thing is it fills in some airtime for us. That is the main thing. Jono and Ben, breakfast on the hits. Don't forget tonight, 7pm on TVNZ2,

the Friends reunion is on. You can catch it. Our Friends Reunion continues tomorrow with the guy who orchestrated the set. That'll be some others you vaguely recognize But it won't be Russ or Rachel, it's just all the extra guys Yeah, Joe and Ben's Friends Reunion With some actors from the show Joe and Ben's Friends Reunion

All the ones you barely know Joe and Ben's Friends Reunion. All the ones you barely know. Jono and Ben's Friends Reunion. And we are the radio. Want more Jono and Ben? You can wake up with the boys' weekdays from sex on the hits. And via the iHeartRadio app. Jono and

Ben on the hits breakfast. Friends of Skinny.