The answer? "I can't be f***ed doing it in the studio because studios are boring."
She continues: "Also I'm better out in the field, I'm better thinking on my feet. I was like, 'We have to just do one person a week, let's just jam that idea with TVNZ and see if they can roll with it' and they did."
Unleashed has been signed up for 12 episodes. The format is simple: "I basically just go to someone's house once a week - a politician, famous actors - and just give them shit for like, two hours".
Moa's first participants are politician Paula Bennett and actor Martin Henderson, who are surprisingly up for Moa's shenanigans.
"It's amazing how kind and generous Kiwis are with each other, you wouldn't get that in America, I don't think - or anywhere else," says Moa. "You know, Martin Henderson cooked me a feed and we were in his bach. They're very kind."
"We do something different for most episodes; I sing with Sam Neill because he wanted to do a song on his ukulele, I'm going tramping with Helen Clark tomorrow - in the bush. Get it?" she laughs.
No matter how outrageous things get - "it goes way off the rails" - Moa says she's learned how far she can push people and when to pull back.
"I genuinely don't want to offend people. I want them to see the irony and the beauty of interviewing someone that you respect and admire, but also taking them to task on stuff. Like my interview with Paula Bennett - we don't have the same political leanings and I wanted to let her know that I'm not gonna agree with everything she says - except for when she's talking about drinking Cody's and being hoe-bags," she laughs.
"But you know, I genuinely care about the people I'm interviewing and want to get great reactions from them and for them to almost come out of themselves and be someone different for a day, and I have a good skill of bringing the crazy out of people - just ask my wife.
"It is real wild. I loved All Talk but it wasn't me, it was only half me. It's cool because this is the show I always wanted to do."
LOWDOWN:
Who: Anika Moa
What: Anika Moa Unleashed
Where: TVNZ OnDemand
When: Two episodes available now, new episodes each Wednesday
