Bachelorette Naz Khanjani has solidified herself as the villain of The Bachelor NZ.
Bachelorette Naz Khanjani has solidified herself as the villain of The Bachelor NZ.
The Bachelor's Naz assumed the mantle of New Zealand television's greatest villain this week - but she's certainly not the first.
In fact, reality television has a fine history of showcasing Kiwis at their scheming worst. And no, we're not just talking about last year's X Factor debacle.
We've cast our minds back through modern television history to bring you New Zealand's best reality television villains.
Popstars: Carly Binding
It was 1999 and reality television was in its infancy here in New Zealand. But Popstars quickly captured the country's imagination and gave us our first taste of unscripted drama.
NZ pop group True Bliss (front L-R : ) Carly Binding, Joe Cotton, Keri Harper and (back L-R:) Erika Takacs and Megan Cassie.
And there was plenty of drama. None more so than when the group's contract with Polydor fell over and the project's whole future looked in jeopardy.
Tension was already building between the attention-hungry Carly Binding and Erika Takacs but New Zealand wasn't prepared for the shouting match that ensued. Tears and F-bombs, flowed with abundance with the nation firmly on the side of Takacs.
The pair kissed and made up in later episodes but Binding never managed to shake the label of being the bitchy one.
Flatmates: Vanessa
By today's standards, Flatmates is more documentary than reality television but in 1997 it was ground-breaking. Essentially a Kiwi version of MTV's Real World, Flatmates saw six 20-somethings put together in a Wellington flat while the cameras rolled.
For the most part, it was pretty boring stuff. Spats over washing-line space and supermarket shops. But the series reached fever pitch when the flatties threw a house party, which ended in a violent tussle. Outspoken Vanessa started wrestling with a guest, screaming at him to leave the house. Police were called and the house was trashed. One thing became clear, you don't mess with Vanessa.
Celebrity Treasure Island: Louise Wallace
We're not going to lie, our memories of this series are hazy but we do remember Louise Wallace. And she was scary. Maybe we were coloured by her stern persona on The Weakest Link, which saw her regularly paralyse contestants with her death stare, but Wallace in survivor-mode was equally terrifying.
Louise Wallace, on Celebrity Treasure Island.
She was known as a troublemaker and cited in one Herald story as turning the whole series "into a catfight". Wallace herself admits there are two sides to her, saying she is "Jekyll and Hyde, completely".
With Wallace tipped to join the cast of The Real Housewives of Auckland, we're predicting she will once again step up as the reality villain.
The X Factor: Willy Moon & Natalia Kills
This might be the worst thing to ever happen to someone on a reality TV show in New Zealand. Scratch that: this could the worst thing to happen to someone any any TV show in New Zealand.
Willy Moon and Natalia Kills gave contestant Joe Irvine a dressing down over everything from his song choice to his clothes. They were accused of bullying, sacked from the show and quickly exited the country. Little has been heard of them since.
As for Irvine, in an interview with the Herald last weekend he admitted he wasn't yet over it and had written a song about it. "I wish her and Willy well. I just hope they never do anything so stupid and uncalled for again," he said.
New Zealand's Next Top Model: Dakota Biddle
She asked for marijuana on the set of a smokefree advertising photoshoot, admitted she was considering adult entertainment, and called a fellow contestant a fat arse" and a "self-centred bitch".
Dakota Biddle, Elza Jenkins, Michaela Steenkamp, Nellie Rose Jenkins and Danielle Hayes. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
Yes, Dakota Biddle was the Naz of New Zealand's Next Top Model, pushing up ratings in 2010 with her erratic behaviour that had one of the judges of the show accusing her of "multi-personality disorder".
It wasn't until afterwards that Biddle realised how she had come across on the show. "It was like a horror show for me," she told Fairfax. "My family didn't take it well. They called me an embarrassment."
