Nicola 'Nix' Adams and Pio Terei, both from Northland, only knew each other for two weeks before appearing on screen together. Photo / Supplied
Pio Terei and Nicola "Nix" Adams had only known each other for two weeks before joining together for Terei's new show.
But the pair - who both hail from Northland - hit it off straight away.
"As soon as he walked in for lunch I stood up and said 'look at this famous fulla,'" Adams said.
"He goes 'ah whatever' and we gave each other a hug. So right from the get-go it was like, this is who I am and threw it out there and he caught it in his pocket."
The new show - Terei Tonight - is a talk show hosted by the comedian on Māori Television which features Adams, who built a following on social media after sharing hilarious, honest and relatable videos.
Terei, born in Rawene and of Te Rarawa descent, said the show came about after he was discussing the possibility of a chat show featuring New Zealand celebrities talking about real issues.
"That seems to be the way it's gone and it's a formula that seems to be working," he said.
Adams was brought on board after a producer mentioned her to Terei, who had just watched her on Marae.
For Adams, who is from Kaitaia but was brought up in Whangārei, it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. She has nearly 250,000 followers on Facebook and more than 90,000 on Instagram.
But she initially started doing videos as a way to talk to someone when she was making changes in her life after turning to drugs when her 16-month-old son died.
"I pretty much bailed on my kids and my husband and turned down the roads of drugs and prostitution for four and a half years. That was in Perth.
"My husband thought 'me and these kids aren't going to sit here and watch you spiral, so we're going home'."
Adams was stuck in Australia because of pending court dates while her kids were in New Zealand. She ended up in prison in Melbourne, and there she realised she needed to change.
"I thought 'I need to get my shit together, I need to get home, I've got kids who are waiting for me at home' so I made that decision right there and then that I'm going to go home and try and be present in the kids' life. And I did."
When Adams was released from prison she begged the courts to help her get a job and a gym membership, and they did.
She voluntarily worked in a caravan in front of the courthouse five days a week for three months while attending drug and alcohol counselling, and whatever else the courts wanted her to, until she was allowed to return to New Zealand.
During those three months she also started posting videos online.
"I had no friends. It was just someone for me to talk to, to talk into my phone."
A video of Adams making a cake in the microwave with Pepsi and Oreos started going viral - at the time Adams didn't even know what viral was.
"I'd never bloody been an online person really. Then I had people messaging me saying my video was going viral and I said 'what is viral?' And they said look at it, and everyone in New Zealand is sharing it.
"I thought, I wonder if my husband is going to see it then."
She started doing videos of herself talking on the way to her voluntary job or the gym. She didn't care if people commented, she just wanted people to share them in the hopes her husband would see she was sober and let her see the kids.
"Two months in I got a message from his mother saying 'we're watching every single one of your videos, keep going these babies are waiting for you when you get home.'"
And that was all the fuel Adams needed.
She has been back in New Zealand for two years now, is sober, has visitation to her kids and now stars on Terei Tonight.
She said she "nearly died" when the team from the show reached out to her.
"I was like 'have they sent this to the right person?' I was shocked.
"If you constantly turn down opportunities, opportunities won't come knocking. So for me it was a no-brainer, even though TV scares me."
• Terei Tonight airs Tuesdays at 7.30pm on Māori Television and online at Maoritelevision.com
The company employed a lot of immigrant workers as contractors now owed money.