As Josh Kronfeld puts his body to the test, his courageous wife Bronwyn faces challenges too. Photo / Robert Trathen
As Josh Kronfeld puts his body to the test, his courageous wife Bronwyn faces challenges too. Photo / Robert Trathen
Whether it’s on the rugby field or in the tussle of a reality TV competition, former All Black Josh Kronfeld knows what it takes to win.
Once considered one of the best openside flankers in the world and the only person to win Celebrity Treasure Island twice, his body has paid the price.
Past injuries, plus his wife Bronwyn facing her own health battle, meant that when he was offered the opportunity to compete for his third title on Treasure Island: Fans v Faves, he almost turned it down.
“I’ve got the ankles of an 80-year-old and arthritis,” tells the 51-year-old.
“I can’t walk or run very well these days. I’ve never had an issue with ageing, but it’s a bit frustrating how your body slows down when you get older.”
While Bronwyn was also concerned about how Josh’s body would hold up, she knew how much he would thrive on the TVNZ 2 series.
“I thought, ‘Are you going to be able to do that?’ But there was also a side of me that thought, ‘Josh really loves that competitive team environment,’ so I knew it would be nice for him to have that again. You’re only young, well 51-young, once!”
With added encouragement from his sons Cassius, 13, and Arlo, 10, and the prospect of a chance to win money for his chosen charity, Josh, who took out the 2004 and 2005 seasons of the show, eventually accepted the challenge.
“The kids were encouraging me,” he tells. “I don’t know whether it was good or bad encouragement, but they were keen to see me do it. And my charity was a driving factor.”
Kronfeld is the only person to win Celebrity Treasure Island twice. Photos / Woman's Weekly
While Josh has struggled with his ailing joints and the repercussions of multiple head injuries for the past 13 years, Bronwyn has been battling a mysterious illness of her own that made her feel like she’d lost her mind. Now that she has finally reclaimed her health, it has prompted a massive life change for the self-described “workaholic”.
“We were worried about Josh having early-onset dementia for a while,” shares Bronwyn, 51.
“We had the tests and he was all good, but I said to the doctor, ‘I feel like we need to worry about me.’ I thought I was going to end up with dementia or Alzheimer’s. I’m now trying to find a better balance and look after myself – it’s all about self-care.”
Ever since she welcomed her eldest son Cassius more than a decade ago, Bronwyn has felt like she wasn’t in control of her emotions.
She would often cry multiple times a day over the simplest things. But as the owner of Toni&Guy New Zealand, and one of the top hairdressers in the country, she assumed the rigours of running a business while balancing life with a newborn were to blame.
As the years went on, she continued to self-diagnose the issue, assuming it was the hormones from welcoming her second baby or that perimenopause had set in.
But her symptoms escalated and she began passing out so frequently that she’d sometimes get concussed. Forced to stop working, she knew something was seriously wrong.
So she was truly relieved in 2021 when she thought she’d finally found the cause of her problems. She was diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.
It was so severe that she had to undergo a hysterectomy to treat it and is scheduled to have her ovaries removed later this year after developing a cyst.
Once she had healed from the surgery, Bronwyn’s joy was short-lived as her changeable moods and stomach issues still persisted.
With added encouragement from his sons Cassius and Arlo, and the prospect of winning money for his chosen charity, Josh eventually accepted the challenge. Photo / Robert Trathen.
Unable to make his wife better, Josh was determined to ensure she didn’t have any added stress.
“I just wanted to make her feel like everything was okay,” he tells.
“She had no idea why these things were happening, so my goal was to make things easier for her at home so she could just relax.”
It would still be another year of searching and testing before Bronwyn and her doctor discovered what had plagued her for so long – a massive overgrowth of E. coli in her gut.
Everyone has a low level of the bacteria in their gut, with the healthy amount under four percent, but Bronwyn’s levels were in the 80s. Symptoms can vary from stomach pains and nausea to brain fog.
“It was pretty hideous. They tried to put me on antidepressants, but I knew I wasn’t depressed.
“We found that I was being malnourished because I couldn’t get the nutrients that I needed and it also caused leaky gut. I couldn’t stop crying; I couldn’t handle anything. Then as soon as I changed to eating massive salads and taking probiotics, within six hours I felt like a whole new person.”
Josh adds: “Literally overnight you could see the change in her mental health. It was mind-blowing”.
“I just wanted to make her feel like everything was okay,” Josh says.
Photo / Robert Trathen.
Not only has Bronwyn had to adopt a strict keto diet to manage the symptoms, but she has also made huge improvements to her mental health by practising mindfulness and seeing a therapist.
It has been a long road, but Bronwyn’s family was with her every step of the way.
“My boys were amazing and Josh was such a great support,” she says.
“They all look out for me. The kids will have a sweet treat and I’ll be like, ‘I want one,’ and the kids will say, ‘Mum, don’t’.”
NZ Woman's Weekly
Although it has been almost 20 years since Josh last competed on Treasure Island, he considers himself a threat in the competition and is sure that as the only returning star who realises what it takes to win, he has a big target on his back.
“Everyone knows I’m mentally quite hard,” says the rugby star and physiotherapist.
“So if they’ve been watching any of the old stuff, they’ll know that getting rid of me is a good idea!”
Bronwyn and Josh got together 14 years ago before marrying in a romantic ceremony in Rarotonga in 2015. Photo / Woman's Weekly
“I really want to get my hands on those first two seasons he did,” she says.
“I think it would be great for the boys to see Dad in that mode. One of the reasons I was attracted to him was that he’s not afraid to put himself out there and isn’t worried if he makes an idiot of himself.”
This year, Josh, who played 54 tests for the All Blacks, is competing for the Race4Life charity, which grants wishes for adult patients in palliative care.
The former television presenter has worked with the charity for many years, helping to create special moments for people in their final months and days. It’s something he has been quietly involved with since the early days of his rugby career.
When he was playing for Otago in the 90s, Josh was contacted by a fan who was nearing the end of her life and wanted to meet her rugby hero. He obliged and that special moment sparked the start of his decades-long work.
“I’ve been there with people in those final few days many times and it’s humbling that people would want to spend their last moments with you,” tells Josh. “For some people, seeing someone at the end of their life is a difficult scene, but I’ve come to understand that there’s something very special about it.”
Although he retired from rugby in 2003, there’s a chance we may see a new generation of Kronfelds in the All Blacks squad one day, with his sons following in his sporting footsteps. Photo / Woman's Weekly
Although he retired from rugby in 2003, there’s a chance we may see a new generation of Kronfelds in the All Blacks squad one day, with his sons following in his sporting footsteps.
While they’re both passionate about rugby, Cassius, who has cerebral palsy, has stepped away from the game after being confronted with the brutal reality of playing contact sports.
“Arlo loves it,” shares Josh. “If he’s playing video games and I ask if he wants to go throw the ball, he’ll jump at it. But Cassius blew his ACL [the ligament that stabilises the knee joint] when he was 10 and has been averse to getting back into sport since then, which is frustrating, but you can’t push.
“I just have to help him find his way.”
Bronwyn adds: “It’s a shame because he’s got the physicality of Josh, but he gets frustrated when his body lets him down”.
"The only moment where I feel, ‘I’d love to be doing that’ is when I’m coaching some kids and I’ve been trying to teach them a new skill and it all goes to plan and they score. Photo / Woman's Weekly
Despite having seen how injury has affected Josh over time, and even Cassius, Bronwyn is still supportive of the boys following their sporting dreams.
“If you’re watching and something happens, you feel sick,” she tells.
“But when I talk to Josh, he says he would still do it all over again. You don’t even need to be a sportsman and you could have a freak accident. Josh taught me, especially with Cassius and his cerebral palsy, not to wrap the kids up in cotton wool. We’ve got to let them live.”
The All Black has never regretted his decision to retire, but sometimes when he’s watching his kids on the field, a part of him wishes he was out there with them.
“I’ve never missed it – I knew I was done,” Josh admits, “but the only moment where I feel, ‘I’d love to be doing that’ is when I’m coaching some kids and I’ve been trying to teach them a new skill and it all goes to plan and they score. When they come off the field all jovial, that’s when I get the buzz and I think, ‘That would have been cool to be part of that.’”
Josh is competing in Treasure Island: Fans v Faves, which premieres Monday, January 30 at 7.30pm.
