A heckle from Rove in the front row

Rove says his New Zealand audience is one 'we really value and cherish'.

Rove: Ow!

Herald: Hello?

Rove: I just hit myself in the head. I was so vigorous in answering the phone. I wasn't concentrating, trying to multi-task but I'm a man and we don't do that very well, and I just sconed myself. That'll be my excuse now if I don't seem in any way entertaining or interesting. I had some great stuff, really really good stuff.

Sure, sure. The show broadcasts in Aussie on a Tuesday night, and we get it on a Friday night. Is that to ensure we're at the same level of drunkenness as you guys?

It might explain some of the popularity in New Zealand on a Friday night when people have a few beers or wines under their belt. Being a bit earlier in the week in Australia - maybe we're still recovering from the weekend.

Are you surprised at how well the show's done here?

I must admit initially I was a little bit ignorant as to how Australian TV shows are regarded in New Zealand but as it turns out, it was really warmly embraced, hence me coming over for a visit and doing the stand-up tour and now with Pete coming over. It's an audience we really value and cherish - even if we can't bring the TV show, we can just bring ourselves over for a little high every now and again.

Any plans to cross the ditch again?

No plans on paper. Pete [Helliar] is over soon. I was over twice last year and loved it, had a ball. But when you've opened with the Sky Tower it makes it very difficult. Anything from there is going to have to get a whole lot scarier.

We have a nice shark tank you could get into.

I'm more than happy to jump into a tank of sharks.

How do you cope with ratings pressure?

Dr Showbiz cures all your aches and pains. Also, every year we want to make sure that we don't get complacent and we don't rest on our laurels and just assume that it's business as usual, that we try to keep challenging ourselves every year and keep it as exciting for us as the people at home.

Does that explain the vasectomy episode?

When it first was offered to us, we almost shot it down straight away. Then we thought, 'Why are we saying no straight away? Because we think it's grubby or gratuitous?' We realised that's why they approached us, to lift the veil, to show people it's not something scary, to shoot down any of the myths people might have about what it entails. And it really divided people, which I was very happy with.

How's married life treating you?

Pretty good actually. It's Belinda [Emmett]'s birthday today so this morning went well considering I had to go, 'Happy birthday, now I have to shoot off to work.' Our first episode was on Valentine's Day and instead of saying 'Hey honey, let's go out for Valentine's Day' I had to say, 'Sorry I have to go to work and talk to Pamela Anderson.'