This morning’s edition of The AM Show was the final one for co-hosts Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson. Tara Ward watched the pair bow out with typical grace and grumpiness. 

It took seven minutes for Mark Richardson to crack a smile on his last episode of The AM Show, and it was the mention of a nudist club that made the magic happen. Along with his newsreader co-host Amanda Gillies, Mark departed Three’s breakfast show this morning, and after five years of early starts, the pair went out in style.

The mood was light, the giveaways were flowing, and Amanda had Christmas cards for her colleagues. Mark loved that his card had the three wise men on it because he obviously has the wisdom of three men, but fellow host Ryan Bridge wouldn’t read his card on air in case Amanda’s message was too personal. “Mine’s full of swear words,” Mark said, and they all laughed, maybe because it was true.

The farewell tributes began with a look back on the pair’s most memorable moments. Amanda reflected on reporting the Christchurch shootings in 2019 (“it changed me as a person”) and of publicly sharing her regret at not having children. As for Mark, there was the time in 2017 when Jacinda Ardern pointed her finger at him after he argued it was reasonable to ask women in a job interview if they were pregnant. “She had a lot to learn at that point in time,” Mark said, ever deep in retrospect.

Then they showed the 2019 moment when Mark accidentally outed Ryan, a rewatch that brought Ryan to tears. “I’d let you down through not thinking,” Mark said of his throwaway comment, but always the optimist, reckoned Ryan had grown “in leaps and bounds” as a broadcaster since. Ryan mentioned the positive feedback he’d had from the public afterwards. “You’ve got a much better trimmed beard too,” Amanda said, so you know, it’s all good now.

Tears don’t stop The AM Show from tackling the big issues, and by 7am, “turkey or ham for Christmas dinner?” had the nation divided. We crossed live to the Chatham Islands, enjoyed a political panel with Simon Bridges and David Parker, and interviewed two thirds of Sol3 Mio. Ardern sent in a perplexing gift of three coffee mugs that featured a self portrait of her shocked face. “Is she saying we’re mugs?” Mark asked. They discussed it among themselves; the answer appeared to be yes.

The show sped through the regular news and weather bulletins, but the farewells were never far away. A viewer thanked the show for making her laugh again after the death of her husband, something she thought she’d never do again. The message brought Amanda to tears, and was a timely reminder that however dour Mark is and however hectic the show can be, breakfast TV is a vital companion to many. Seeing these faces every morning means a lot to viewers, and this was a chance for them to say their goodbyes too.

As the show slid quietly into its last half hour, Mark and Amanda delivered their final news and sport bulletins. There were tears even before entertainment editor Kate Rodger crossed live to tell Mark and Amanda that “you are my Everest and I feel like I have summited you”. At 8.53am, Amanda cried her way through her farewell poem, and I cried too, while Mark just winged it. He reckoned The AM Show had “lit a fire under his backside” for news and current affairs, and after two years in his new radio job, he’ll stand in the general election.

We were already upset, and now we were out of time and Mark wasn’t taking any questions. Who knows if he was serious, but as The AM Show credits rolled for the last time in 2021, the team celebrated the end of an era with more tears and hugs. Mark and Amanda had given viewers five years of news stories, questionable takes and dirty jokes, but they saved the best gift until last: an absolute pearler of a Mark Richardson grin. Tools down, teeth out, and thanks for the memories.

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Three Great Kiwi Bake Off bakers stand before us, but only one can be the winner. Will it be Courtnay, Alby or Jasmin? Tara Ward watches the grand finale to find out. 

Friends, lovers and ladyfingers, The Great Kiwi Bake Off is over for another season. We’ve hoovered down nine weeks of poo cakes and patisseries, and after three tense rounds of tiny treats and tall cakes, Alby was crowned the winner. Despite an intense start that threatened his chances of victory, Alby didn’t give up. His mix of sophisticated and unusual flavours won the judges over, and he left the GKBO kitchen with a new glass trophy and a hearty smile.

Judges Sue Fleischl and Dean Brettschneider were thrilled for Alby too, but I did worry about them when they set eyes on Alby’s 40-egg whopper of a matcha cake.

Do not stand at my cake grave and weep, FleischlSchneider. You’d think two people whose job is to eat baking all day might look a little cheerier, but perhaps Sue and Dean were reflecting on their own Bake Off  journey. Maybe Sue had changed her mind about how good cassata was, and maybe this was the moment Dean realized he never wanted to see an eclair stuck to a cake dangling from a wooden plinth ever again.

Praise the pastry gods for the unfailingly upbeat presenters Hayley Sproull and Madeleine Sami, and the brave finalists Courtnay, Jasmin and Alby, who stared green marzipan in the eye and lived to tell the tale. The GKBO finale was their baking Everest, and they knocked the bastard off. Let’s stuff our faces with ten of the best moments from this season’s grand finale.

1) Alby’s redemption from vexed to victorious

Thirty minutes into the finale and Dr Alby was having a shocker. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to plate something,” he panicked after his buttercream split four times, which apparently is four times too many.

But when Alby gets knocked down, he gets back up again, and there’s nothing more inspiring than a doctor healing himself with cake. Alby bashed out a flavoursome technical bake and a whopper of a matcha cake that Dean called “eclectic but well balanced”. It shows that when life gives you split buttercream, just bake the shit out of some green tea and you too shall be embraced by sweet Sue Fleischel.

2) Dean’s face when Jasmin announced she was making a ‘hanging cake’

Dean knows a lot about baking, but is it his dream to see cakes hanging upside down on a hook? His expression would suggest not. Would they have pulled this sort of stunt on New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker, back in the day? Again, the eyes say no.

3) The moment Courtnay asked Sue how big her mouth was

Fun fact: petit fours means “little ovens” in French, and those little suckers are supposed to be eaten in two bites. Rules are for breaking, and if you can eat them in one, France will salute you and give you a chateau with a moat. We never found out how big Sue’s bite was, nor did we find out if mirror glaze lets you see directly into your soul. Anyone? It’s fine.

4) The figurine Hayley and Madeleine made for Jasmin’s cake

If 2021 were a tiny person made of fondant, this is exactly what it would look like. Look, we’ve all been Fondant Man this year, and sometimes we just need a few quiet moments slumped under some dangling eclairs to collect ourselves.

5) This shot of Courtnay hooning around in a convertible car

Not sure why this was in the finale, but absolutely loved it.

6) Cassata: the technical challenge nobody knew anything about

Technical challenges are supposed to push the bakers beyond their comfort zones, and old mate Sue Fleischl saved an absolute doozy for the finale. She asked the bakers to make a cassata, a traditional Italian cake layered with sponge and ricotta cheese. None of the finalists had heard of it before, but well done GKBO for getting the phrase “curds and whey” back on primetime TV in 2021.

7) The apron Jasmin’s children gave to her for good luck

No, you’re crying and I am Fondant Man, slumped in the corner weeping into my curds and whey yet again.

8) When the three finalists stopped baking to get on the plonk

The cynic in me says the booze was a sneaky New World product placement, but the rest of me that is made purely of gingerbread and good wishes says this was a heartwarming moment that captured everything GKBO stands for. One hour into a five hour bake, Courtnay called everyone together to raise their classes to their GKBO journey. Nobody toasted to Christina’s poo cake from week one, though. Never mind.

9) When friends and family arrived and Alby told Pera how much her advice helped him 

Confirmation again that Pera is a true angel, and that GKBO is the nicest show on television.

10) The news that Christina is still making poo cakes

Never change, Bake Off.

Season three of The Great Kiwi Bake Off is available on TVNZ OnDemand.

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