Tara Ward recaps the return of Seven Sharp.
Yesterday Breakfast returned to our screens after a long summer break, and as day turned to night, another stalwart of the TVNZ schedule also came back to us. Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells plonked themselves back on the Seven Sharp couch to begin another year of news, lifestyle and entertainment stories, and kicked things off with an episode filled with aging rockers, young champions and a 95-year-old legend from Taranaki. Hold onto your facial hair, here’s everything you missed from last night’s episode of Seven Sharp.
Jeremy has a moustache
There’s an elephant in the room, and it’s sitting on top of Jeremy Wells’ top lip. Jeremy was sporting an unexpected moustache, having clearly joined the proud tradition of celebrity summer facial hair over the holidays. Nobody dared to mention that thick thatch of lip fringe until the first ad break. “You did tell me you were going to shave it off,” Hilary scolded her co-host, but the mo was still firmly on Jeremy’s dial when the show returned after the ad break. Later, Jeremy offered up his own thoughts. “I was thinking it needed to get Tom Selleck-y,” he told Hils Baz. The moustache has been approached for comment.
Hils Baz has a flip chart
The economy is still quite shit, so Hilary Barry tried to fix it with the one thing the government hasn’t been brave enough to try: a flipchart. She talked to New Zealanders on the street (including comedian Jeremy Elwood) and asked them to tick which of the big issues they’re worried about the most, like cost of living, housing or climate change. We then heard from economist Brad Olsen, who tried to make everyone feel better by saying things were starting to improve. There was a lot of talk about bottoming out, and Hilary asked if the phrase “survive to ‘25” was now “‘26, it’ll be fixed”. “No,” Brad replied.
Inglewood turned 150 years old
The small Taranaki town is celebrating a big birthday this month. The star of the show was 95-year-old Mary, who has lived in the same house in Inglewood for nearly all her life. “I’ve never really known anything else but Inglewood,” Mary told us. “It’s home.”
New Zealand’s newest world champion is nine years old
Sarah Wadsworth is disc golf world champion and a world record holder, and she’s only nine years old. This little legend met up with reporter Jendy Harper to throw some frisbees round a Christchurch park, and showed the nation how talented she is, despite only having picked up the sport three years ago. “In America, she’s very well-known,” Sarah’s dad told us. “I want to become the youngest pro in the whole world when I’m 15,” Sarah said.
Meanwhile, in the studio:
Shihad are on their farewell tour
Ben Hurley interviewed New Zealand rock legends Shihad, who have called it quits after 36 years together. As they discussed their reasons for breaking up (“rather than continue with different seasons of efforts and commitment, we decided it’s far better to leave something fully realised,” drummer Tom Larkin explained), they also chatted about the irony of quitting when they’re healthier and playing better than ever before. “What’s it going to be like playing that final song at the final gig?” Hurley asked. “We’ll find out when we get there,” Jon Toogood said.
The place to be tomorrow (today): Featherston
“Maybe visit the Moana wetlands, it’s a wetland of national significance,” Hilary suggested.
Please send Seven Sharp a letter
Seven Sharp continues to rage against the dying of the light, and they’re trying something different this year: they want mail. “While the rest of the world goes digital, we want people to write to us,” Jeremy announced at the end of the episode. It might cost $2.30 for a stamp these days, but you can send your thoughts on Jeremy’s moustache to PO Box 3819, Auckland, which is the very same postal address that I used to send letters to 3:45 Live in 1990. “I can’t wait to rummage through the sack,” Jeremy said. Those were our people today, that was Seven Sharp last night.
Seven Sharp screens Monday-Friday at 7pm on TVNZ1 and streams on TVNZ+.