New Zealand rugby sevens star Ruby Tui already won over BBC viewers a few days ago with her charming interview at the Tokyo Olympics.
On Tuesday night she repeated the feat, this time on Australian television.
Tui, whose Black Ferns team won gold in Tokyo, spoke to Channel 10's lighthearted news show The Cheap Seats from her quarantine room in New Zealand.
I'll concede, dear reader, that there isn't much to this story. We shan't be winning any Walkleys here. But I'm also a Kiwi, and Tui is hilarious, and her hilariousness deserves to be known as widely as possible. Let's just say it's in the public interest, or something.
Anyway the conversation between Tui and co-hosts Melanie Bracewell (another Kiwi) and Tim McDonald was very tongue-in-cheek. Laugh-a-minute stuff.
Things got a bit spicier when some trans-Tasman rivalry was injected into the discussion.
"I do want to say, you're chatting to Tim, my co-host here. He's been talking a bit of s*** about our New Zealand Olympic team and I wondered if you had anything to say to that?" Bracewell asked.
"Well, I just – can you just repeat the question?" Tui said, reaching over and grabbing her gold medal from off screen.
"I couldn't hear. I think the gold's got something in it," she added, holding it up to her ear.
Ruby Tui celebrates after winning gold. Photo / Getty
Mic drop.
"Hey Ruby, can we have a closer look at that? I think that says 'property of Emma McKeon,'" McDonald countered, quick on his feet.
(If you've been living under a rock, Australian swimmer Emma McKeon won four gold medals in Tokyo.)
Laughing, Tui held her medal up to the camera to give him a closer look.
"She has more value around her neck right now than our entire production," said Bracewell.
For the record – and I say this with, ahem, no bias whatsoever – New Zealand has six gold medals in Tokyo so far, which is one gold for every 816,000 people. Australia has 15 gold medals at a rate of one for every 1.69 million people.
Currie had an impromptu chat with Tui after New Zealand's 36-0 victory over Russia in the Olympic quarterfinals.
"Yeah, the Russians are cool people, man. They are a bloody tough, tough team. They weren't at the last Olympics, so this is huge for them. Massive congratulations to Russia," Tui said.
"I know the score might have made it look easy, but it was not easy. Don't be fooled. Lots of running. My GPS blew up – that's how hard it was. So respect to Russia."
She ended the interview by brushing off the bad weather.
"What rain? Where's the thunder? We're at the Olympics. Let's be happy. Let's compete safely and peacefully. Peace and love. Love you guys," Tui said.
That's a super quick summary. I'd show you all the praise she got on social media, but practically every post includes video footage of the interview, and we have strict rules regarding which Olympic footage we can use.
So trust me when I say this one rando's tweet is representative.
Here's a clip. Warning for some relatively mild language.
This interview with Ruby Tui is tremendous, haha, what an absolute legend. #bbcolympics
Back to her appearance on Channel 10. Bracewell continued the interview with a covid joke.
"Now, being at the Tokyo Olympics and the words 'gone viral' don't really sound good together. But you did it! What's the feedback been from everyone?" she asked.
"Yeah, OK. You're Kiwi, you know, I thought that was low key out the gate. Because I felt like we were just having a chat," said Tui.
"If you talk to anyone in New Zealand, that is straight up what it's like. I didn't even know we were live on TV, I was just giving her – and then she started asking me questions. I was like, 'Oh Jo, we're like, on TV.'"
McDonald jumped back in.
"Ruby now that you've won the gold medal, do you have any sponsors? Have people been inundating you with requests to plug products?"
"Mate, I'm on a show called The Cheap Seats, so ... I'll have to come back to you on that," she retorted.
"Will there be a ticker-tape parade down in Auckland do you think?" McDonald asked.
"Is there going to be a parade, is what he's saying," Bracewell clarified.
"Oh thanks Mel. Sorry, his accent's really strong. Those Aussies, man."
There was a more serious element to the interview when the hosts asked about the pressure the Black Ferns were under to win gold.
"Congratulations again on the gold. There's probably no greater pressure in sport than representing New Zealand in rugby. What was the feeling like when you won the gold?" asked McDonald.
"Yeah, there was a bit of pressure. Probably no one put on more pressure than ourselves," Tui told him.
