Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - We Chat To A Winner Of Chase NZ!

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

Andy joins the show to spill behind-the-scenes secrets from his winning appearance on The Chase New Zealand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to Hello Fresh Cookies, he delicious dinners, the whole family will love because nothing beats dinner time. Joining us right now in the studio, friend of mine for many years, Andy, thanks for coming in, Andy. Morning, thanks for having me. Now, Andy, you were on the Chase New Zealand, one of the first contestants on the Chase.

Yeah, yeah, it was a good time, quite a surreal experience. Yeah, because I caught up with you, I'll be seeing you a couple times in the last couple of months. Now, you sort of let me to believe this might be coming out. But I walked away from that, March going, I don't think he did very well. Great poker face for me. Yeah, last night you guys did great.

Yeah, that was the hard part was it was filmed a while ago. So, you know, having to kind of keep that secret. And, like, we'd told lots of people that we were on it. But my partner, Mika, is terrible secret people. So she'd told lots of people that were on it. So when I initially, like, you know, finished up, I told her we lost. Oh, really? And then waited for her to tell everyone.

She had told that I lost. And then I told her I won so that she'd already done the dirty work. Even though you told her not to say anything, you knew she would leak it. Oh, she's notoriously bad. That's great. So what was it? I mean, you know, the chase is such a huge show. And it's amazing New Zealand's got its own version.

What was it like being on there? Yeah, it was quite a weird, like walking onto the set, having watched so many episodes of it. Yeah, it's got a weird experience. And then the first time going behind that desk and sort of sitting in that position was even weirder. Like, you see it so much. And then to suddenly be there, I think we all kind of just had this moment of like, oh, this is actually happening. So when you're on, your episode was on. There was a really lovely moment.

Paul Henry, the host, was talking to you, and you brought a special memento. Have a listen. And Zara, I just love this. Zara gave you a card for luck. Yeah, she made me a little card. She said, take this on the TV. Oh, I've brought it to some a little good luck charm.

Oh, that's so nice. What do the stickers say? You are loved. Keep on smiling. And for some reason, this one just says meeting. There'll be a meeting later. I guess that's a meeting with her to divvy up the money

I love that Yeah that was the first thing she did When I sort of Explanation she loves TV As all kids do But sort of explained I'm gonna be on TV I'm gonna go away for a few days

And I'm gonna record a TV show And she just made this card And said take this on the TV And I was like Okay take it with me So sweet Did you tell her that you lost as well How she was secret keeping

I can't remember I think she'd forgotten about it I got back And she just wanted to know I bought her a treat from the airport So it didn't matter Now, you, your team and you did amazingly well. There's a little bit of bits of audio here of you, just gnailing question after question.

Your time starts now. Cherry Garcia is a well-known ice cream flavour by food company Ben and Who? Jerry's. Correct. Fans of which super rugby team are known as the Landers Army? Highlanders. Correct. In which decade was David Longley first elected Prime Minister?

80s. Correct. Yeah, just like Andy. I was watching that going, he's not. that smart. Yeah, I was going to say, you're going to tell them what you told me. You were like, I'm really surprised I didn't think he was that smart. I knew you're like, you're actually really good at, you do a lot of pub quizzes, I know

that, and you are, when you're, like, when you're research and know stuff, you know, you really get in deep. But I was like, your knowledge, your wide variety of knowledge really impressed me. Well, the, I mean, those first two, I just knew from life, but the third one, I actually, I did like three weeks with research. Did you? Did a notebook and, like, just studied everything. that David Longie question.

That was the first page of research. That was the only thing it helped me on. All the research I did, that one question was the only thing. Yeah, because that's the thing. I guess you have no idea what they're going to ask you. Yeah, but yeah, so what did you decide to research? New Zealand Prime Ministers, obviously. Yeah, that's the hard thing because you watch the British UK,

and obviously they're asking about, like, King Henry the 8th and, you know, King Edwin and stuff like that. And so you go, well, maybe they'll bring that stuff up. But they're being a Kiwi show, I knew they'd bring up lots of New Zealand stuff, but how deep were they going to go? So I was like going into, like, who was the first New Zealand? Zealander to win an Olympic medal back in like 1912 and stuff like that. Good on you for doing research.

Well, I mean, you won. You got money out of the chaser, so that's epic. It must have helped you in some way. I think it's been such a long time since I've had to cram like that, almost like for an exam. So doing that and watching lots of episodes of the chase, I think it definitely helped in terms of like the speed of being able to recall things. And like we do the alpha quiz and people always play at home and then when they get on

air and there's the music and the ticking clock and people don't do as well under the pump what was it like standing in front of the chaser like did you clam up i think i've i've done bits of tv over the years and so i've been in tv studios so for me i think the studio environment felt very natural to me um that probably definitely helped yeah and i'd met paul henry once before years ago um but which he wouldn't remember but that kind of may be a little bit more relaxed that i kind of i knew that i could take the mickey out of him and he takes it and gives it back and that kind of thing

the odds were in your favour I know how much should you retain like it was a question last night what century did the Art Nouveau design movement first feature in what century now this is one of the few

that you got wrong do you remember what century it was it was the 19th and I think I said 17th yeah well there you go hey well there you'll retain some knowledge from that as well there were some questions last night

came up and I was like I don't even Brett McKenzie what song did he win an Oscar for I didn't remember Yeah man or Muppet I do not remember that question being asked

Oh, really? You're blacked out. It just goes by so quickly. And so that's why, like, that first round, I think I got nine. And at the end, he goes, how many think you got? And it's just like, it goes by so quickly. Yeah. You don't even get to see any of the questions written during that because you're just focusing on Paul.

Yeah. And so it just goes by so fast that you just forget so much of it. Now, this was the end. You, Andy, and your team on the New Zealand version of the chase. This is what happened. You have not been caught. You have won $43,000, $10,750 each chaser. inaugural winners on the chase new zealand so many congrats to you enjoy the money i really am happy

for all four of you that's also you guys got to split that that's incredible yeah it was you imagine walking away with that sort of money yeah well i didn't i'd looked up um super nerd who we're up against i looked him up it's funny if they calls him super nerd i was like i'm bullying him when i say that but it's his nickname uh it's it is his name uh i looked him up because he was the one i want to go up against because he's he makes me laugh and he's quite weak in sport and I'm quite strong in sport so I was like oh he'd be good and so I looked him up and he's got a win percentage

of like 76% or something like that so it was like the odds are against us and so I think none of us really expected to win so we actually got there and partway through that final chase he got on a roll and I was just like no it's gone we've lost it and then it was like that last pushback that I think Ashley and Wendy figured out

it was like okay we've got a shot now now that we've kind of got that last pushback would you recommend it for people you know having gone through the whole experience yeah it was such a good time like the crew they were amazing they made us feel so welcome yeah it was just so much fun and even by the time i got i was third one up and so by the time i got to my turn i was like i've had such a fun time ready if i if i get eliminated i won't actually be that disappointed because you always

at the end of the show people like lose all their money and they're like have you had a good day and they're like yeah i've had a great time and i'm always like liar you lost all the money i reckon they're being genuine it's so much fun uh so what about the feedback uh because you know i get my mom doesn't text me that much to be honest and all of a sudden I get a text going your friend and he's on the chase I mean this is big in the boomer community I mean this is great you know but yeah and she's texting me about that you know like yeah have you found lots of people text your messaging yeah it was cool there was lots of people when it was on who were messaging me people I haven't heard from in years like I stayed I stayed with years ago that'll be the question now

because it's a dollar yeah yeah so it's been really cool yeah hearing for people and kind of getting into chats again with them that I haven't talked to in years. Oh, wow. Very, very cool. It's our claim to fame now, you know, like, hey. My friend's been on the show. You know, Chase. It's better than some of the other stuff that we've made over the years on telly, I guess,

in some ways. You've actually done proper telly. Something you'll be proud of now. Yeah, yeah, it's good to finally be proud of something. Also, you're partly responsible for this mess. Yeah, we can probably go into some stuff, but he probably is, we'll change, Megan. Now, look, he's on a proper show. He's winning money, Megan, you know.

Andy, the first winner, one of the first winner, winners of the Chase New Zealand. Well done. Thank you very much.