Tara Ward travels to the Coromandel to watch the reality show’s first day of filming.

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It’s a warm, grey day in March, and Duncan Garner is up to his elbow in a hole. The well-known broadcaster is lying on a beach, flinging sand into the air in a desperate attempt to dig up some treasure. “This is like trying to find an honest politician,” he shouts, while nearby, current Labour MP Carmel Sepuloni digs her own hole and drag artist Spankie Jackzon announces she’s getting sand in the most unlikely of places. “Oh, the glamour,” Spankie jokes.

It’s a lot to take in from the sidelines, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Celebrity Treasure Island. A few months ago, I was part of a small media team invited by TVNZ to watch the first day of CTI filming, held at a remote location in the Coromandel accessible only by boat. The celebrities had spent the past two days sitting through media interviews and hours of promotional filming, and by the time we arrive, they’re fizzing with nervous energy. “Let’s do this!” Jackzon yells, as the castaways race across the sand to… dig themselves a hole.

Celebrity Treasure Island, of course, is the beloved New Zealand reality show that takes well-known personalities and pushes them outside their comfort zone to win $100,000 for charity. This is the only show where you’ll find a political journalist digging a hole next to a current politician, or reality TV star sharing a bunk with a former league player. CTI is a great leveller, because it doesn’t care what these celebrities do in the outside world. In this moment, on this beach, they’re just a bunch of people, up to their armpits in sand.

As a wall of camera operators chase the celebrities from hole to hole, it becomes clear that this treasure won’t be uncovered quickly. After several minutes of unsuccessful burrowing, the producer tells the castaways to team up and keep talking. (Note to self: always talk about your hole on CTI). Co-host Bree Tomasel stands on the sidelines, hyping up the contestants by making jokes about mounds and pretending to give Spankie CPR when the digging gets too much.

While the celebrities dig, we’re treated to a sneak peak at Team Wētā’s camp. The rustic wooden building is nestled under an enormous pōhutukawa tree, and this season, the castaways will strategise in comfort on the old lounge suite – complete with a glass-topped coffee table – that sits on the front deck. It feels like we’ve stepped into someone’s vintage camping holiday, and if you didn’t have to spend your days digging holes, this would be an idyllic place to spend three weeks.

Inside, several wooden bunk beds with hessian sacking for mattresses fill the room, and in keeping with this season’s 1960s camping theme, Kiwiana knick-knacks are scattered everywhere. A cricket bat and ball is propped against one wall, a Buzzy Bee hangs silently from a bunk, and there’s even some vintage swimming togs pegged on the clothesline out the back. These delicious little details might not even make it to screen, but it shows how much love and thought goes into the world-building of the series.

In fact, infomercial queen Suzanne Paul probably won’t believe her eyes when she arrives at Team Aihe’s camp, located over on the next bay. Paul told me that on her first CTI season in 2003, the celebrities slept on “pieces of foam on the beach”. In 2024, her camp sits on a cliff top with sweeping views out to the Pacific, and even has a bath. We make the 10-minute trek over to Camp Aihe, along a rugged track that takes us through thick bush and past the elimination arena with its incredible hilltop vista. Paul and her teammates are digging in the sand too, and from our vantage point on the hill, they look like tiny pink ants scattering all over the beach.

Back at Team Wētā, league player Wairangi Koopu finally digs up the treasure. The team celebrates, mostly because they want to stop digging, but there’s bad news. The producer needs close-ups, wide shots and drone shots, and he instructs the castaways to keep pawing away at that sand. “I’m a politician, not an actress,” Sepuloni jokes to Tomasel.

Even though the lengthy challenge will only play a small part in episode one, Garner joins in with his teammates, chucking his arms deep into the sand, one more time. That’s the magic of TV and the power of CTI. These celebrities know there’s no treasure to be found, but it’s still game on.

Celebrity Treasure Island screens Monday-Wednesday on TVNZ2 at 7.30pm and streams on TVNZ+.