Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National leader Judith Collins are in for possibly the most awkward interview of their respective campaigns.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National leader Judith Collins are in for possibly the most awkward interview of their respective campaigns.
Tonight when The Late Night Big Breakfast returns, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National leader Judith Collins are in for possibly the most awkward interview of their respective campaigns.
After a five-year break, the show is returning to television on TVNZ DUKE, with hosts Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte starting the season with an election special filmed back at the Target store on Dominion Rd, Auckland
"Let's just say TV making, is not an exact science and things didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped with the leaders," says Hart. "Jas and I may have been a little rusty from the lay-off."
Hoyte insists there is nothing funny about their political interviews.
"It's razor-focused 'hard chat' essential viewing, before you vote," he says.
Hoyte and Hart wrapped up their Radio Hauraki's drive-time show Daily Bhuja last year and would have reunited earlier this year on LNBB, however the March Lockdown hampered their filming. The show is now all go with some old faces and some new.
The pair insist they are back on TV because they need the cash and they are back filming at Target as it is the ultimate studio - and Hoyte needed a new lounge suite.
Jason Hoyte and Leigh Hart return on the Late Night Big Breakfast. Kim Crossman will stay in the kitchen.
"We can move from lounge suite to lounge suite, making the show feel like it has multiple sets and a huge budget," says Hart.
"I think in a year like the one we have all had, the people are crying out for some solid honest TV they can rely on for good information."
Seven Sharp's Jeremy Wells is back on the show as the outside shop reporter. So, too, is The Project's Josh Thomson, who returns to his role as floor manager and part-time salesman.
Joining the show is NZ's busiest lady in show business, Kim Crossman, who plays a very keen new team member who would love a seat on the all-male female panel.
"I am desperate to work my way up the ranks and impress them at every turn," says Crossman.
Fellow newbie, Hunt for the Wilderpeople star, Mike Minogue will be on the couch for the "women's panel", where he joins Hart and Hoyte to help to try and solve female issues.
Hart revs up the show's lack of wokeness by adding that Crossman will be sharing recipes from the kitchen and doing some infomercials.
This week Hoyte has been filling in for Wells on his breakfast show on Hauraki. Hart, meanwhile, says he would have loved to have been shoulder tapped instead of Wells for the role on Seven Sharp.
"Due to his 7pm commitments, we have reduced Jeremy's role to street interviewing, a gadget-corner segment and Jerry's animal of the week," Hart says.
Along with the politicians, expect to see former All Blacks captain Kieran Read and former Shortland Street star Will Hall on the show.
If you are a big star and you refuse an offer to come on the show, especially with the offer of a free lounge suite, the LNBB has a special segment.
"We have a whole section dedicated to celebrity guests who have cancelled that particular week, some big names include Sam Neil, Tom Hanks, and musical act Boney M," says Hart.
