When they first appeared they captured the public's imagination as a cartoonishly villainous couple who hid hearts of gold behind an impeccably manicured facade.
Then they told some poor joker to go f**k himself.
With barbed tongues, a stinging stream of endless insults and a fanciful and nonsensically confused sense of logic the pair brought a little too much realness to the reality genre.
It was uncomfortable viewing. It was bullying. It wasn't very nice. As a result we didn't just run them out of town, we ran them out of the whole damn country.
But it was hands down my favourite reality moment of the year. Because for the first time ever, reality TV actually got really real.
- Karl Puschmann
The Bachelor: Attack of the koala
The inaugural series of The Bachelor NZ served up so many magical moments this year but none was so sweet, so perfectly timed and co-ordinated, as the koala that pooped in Matilda Rice's belly button. A thousand scripted takes could not have produced that moment. It was reality gold. She accepted the moment with grace and good humour, securing her place in Art's heart.
Of course, special mention has to go to the second best reality moment of the year, also from The Bachelor, which produced the fart heard around the world. I was overseas when news of this momentous reality faux-pas spread and reveled in the fact, for once, foreigners knew something about our small nation other than the All Blacks. "New Zealand? Where girls fart!" Oh, the pride.
- Joanna Hunkin
Baked beans and bok choy on Come Dine With Me
Some of the meals were appalling. Baked kumara and marshmallows, anyone? How about those burgers served with blackened buns? But the absolutely awesome nadir of the local version of Come Dine With Me came when cold baked beans were spooned straight out of a tin and onto a bed of bok choy and noodles.
The horrific concoction had been promo-ed by TV3 for days, and came in the Campbell Live replacement show's first week when yoga enthusiast Sarah served the bok choy parcel to real estate agent and Hugh Hefner-wannabe Tony. Yes, it was a prank, but it's also the moment I fell in love with the show, and it's a crying shame TV3 have cancelled it.
- Chris Schulz
Find Me a Maori Bride
When the courier arrived and performed a wero in reception using his barcode scanner as a mere. Still makes me chuckle months later. Yes, I know FMAMB was a mock reality show. It still felt realer than most.
- Russell Baillie
• Do you have a favourite reality moment from this year? Join the conversation below.
