TV adventurer scouring NZ for 'wasted' talents

Phil Keoghan, pictured in Auckland yesterday, reckons Kiwis will be ideal for his new show. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Chris wants to be a stand-up comic. Tim offers to sell beer glasses to a brewery, and William has a plan that will change lives - but won't reveal it.

They were among 30 hopefuls who auditioned yesterday before New Zealand-born TV adventurer Phil Keoghan. In two minutes, they had to tell the host of The Amazing Race how they would use 72 hours and a little cash to turn a dream into reality.

Keoghan will travel the country over the next week to hold 10 similar auditions. A version of the show, called No Opportunity Wasted, has already screened in his adopted home, the US, but he reckons Kiwis are ideal for the show.

"We all know a Burt Munro-type of New Zealander," he said. "We've celebrated them for years but now it's time to show them off."