Pop CultureSeptember 24, 2019

Important: Anna from MAFSNZ has written some absolute belters

Senior writer

When a Married at First Sight NZ contestant is a singer/songwriter, we simply have no choice but to listen to their entire back catalogue.

It’s always exciting when a Married at First Sight NZ contestant has dipped their toes into some other public-facing arena. Bel Clarke gave The Bachelor NZ a go that time. Samuel Levi enjoyed a stint as the watch baron of Instagram. Haydn Daniels wrestled in school halls. But none are quite as impressive as 2019’s Anna Saxton, a singer/songwriter from Cambridge who has reminded us no less than three times that she has visited Randy Jackson’s mansion in LA (that’s Los Angeles, or “la la land” to those in the biz).

Choosing to sing her wedding vows to Jordan, a sweetie stockcar driver from Foxton, Anna made her passion for music clear right from the start of the series. “I promise to be respectful, honest, supportive,” she crooned. He came extremely close to Jim Halpert-ing into the camera as she continued. “I promise to encourage inspire in all I give. I promise to be open, caring and laugh with you – all these promises, I promise to you.” Jordan stood stunned. Randy Jackson got chills all the way in his mansion, right in the heart of the City of Angels.

“Wow, she’s beautiful and she can sing,” Jordan said later, wide-eyed in his post-match interview. “But at the same time, I had no idea what to do.” Here’s what you do, Jordan. As soon as you get home, you jump onto YouTube and you watch every single glitzy Anna Saxton – or Saxi – music video and look for clues as to how your future relationship might pan out.

Or, you can just let me do it for you?? Fine, I’ll do it!!

‘Lipstick’

It’s a big one, folks. Big tune, big fringe, extremely small patch of cornrows, extremely difficult to decipher lyrics.

This punchy power anthem speaks to the some of the hurt that Anna has alluded to already on the show – “her heart isn’t bruised, it’s just a little bruised right now.” She sings of this fabled lipstick being like her warpaint in difficult times. I would like to point out that Anna did not wear a skerrick of lippy on her honeymoon with Jordan, which suggests that her walls have come down and her heart hath arnica applied.

‘Sex Craze’

This is the raunchy rooter anthem of a generation. We’ve got a sensual writhing lizard man, we’ve got a studded belt, we’ve got people being splattered with what I can only assume is ultra-violet reptile jizz. Thoughts and prayers to anyone else out there who has found themselves caught in the midst of an unheralded sex craze (James and Carmen). Hope Jordan packed his blacklight.

‘White Light’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ys_y-w1K5k&feature=youtu.be

White Light > White Lines.

‘Death Terrain’

A truly stirring song written in 2012 when Anna appeared to be going through her most emo of looks. I don’t want to undermine that journey, but I do want to highlight the lyrics “we got to start somewhere, got to die somewhere, so why not here?” because that is me every time I have a story due. But ‘Death Terrain’ hasn’t just touched me and me alone. “I also love to sing and have brown hair,” someone says in the comments.

‘Stuff You’

I think my Real Pod co-host Jane Yee speaks for us all when she says “anyone who can fit ‘douchebag’ into a song deserves to be famous IMO.” How about douchebag in one of the very first lines?! Jordan should take serious note here though. If he crosses her, Anna is most definitely going to write a whole album about how he can get absolutely, royally, stuffed.

And, as much as I love the idea of our first MAFSNZ break-up album, I hope I never see the day that happens.

Married at First Sight NZ airs on Three Sunday 7pm and Mon-Tues 7.30pm

Keep going!

Pop CultureSeptember 23, 2019

Three removes episode of Guy Williams’ show after serious allegations surface

Alex Casey

Senior writer

Following serious allegations emerging online, episode two of New Zealand Today has been removed from ThreeNow along with all relevant clips.

Mediaworks have removed episode two of Guy Williams’ comedy series New Zealand Today from its streaming platform ThreeNow after being informed of recent allegations involving a person briefly featured in the episode. All content relating to the episode, including a clip which was trending at #1 on New Zealand Youtube and had over 500,000 views, has also been taken down.

The allegations were first raised directly with MediaWorks, who immediately took steps to remove the episode, before surfacing online last week. They detail a serious crime of a sexual nature, which The Spinoff understands was also filmed and uploaded to the Pornhub website. The Spinoff has been unable to verify the claims, but a spokesperson from Mediaworks confirmed that the allegations were serious enough for them to take immediate action.

“Once we were made aware of what was being alleged, we removed episode two of New Zealand Today from all platforms,” a spokesperson said.

The NZ on Air-funded series, airing at 9.45 on a Friday night, follows “volunteer journalist” Williams as he travels the country to meet infamous New Zealanders who have made headlines. Episode two, which aired on August 30, saw Williams head to Gisborne to meet Mongrel Mob member Coey Irwin, one of the founders of hugely popular Facebook group, Heil’s Kitchen.

Irwin, who features heavily in the episode and is not the subject of the allegations, explained the genesis of the 100,000-strong healthy eating group. “Fry your food not yourself,” he said, “because I was that guy that fried himself once upon a time and lost everything.” The pair then deliver clothing and food to the homeless, concluding with parody cooking show Coey’s Kitchen.

The episode, which later featured a seance in Marton, has been removed from ThreeNow and the segments taken down from Three’s social media channels. A duplicate clip of the Mongrel Mob segment, uploaded on September 5, has over 100,000 views, with many users in the comments questioning why the original clip from the Jono and Ben channel has been removed.

Episode two has been removed from Three Now

This is the second time in a month that Mediaworks has been forced to remove content based on serious allegations surfacing. On August 29, Stuff revealed that Married at First Sight NZ groom Chris Mansfield had an outstanding domestic violence charge in the United States. The woman who he is alleged to have assaulted told the Herald that he strangled her while she was pregnant.

A spokesperson from MediaWorks said that they were “shocked” by the allegations at the time. “We can confirm that prior to commencing filming, every participant is subject to a New Zealand criminal record check, participates in a psychiatric assessment and must have been deemed by a professional psychologist to be fit to participate in the format.”

As a result, Mediaworks made the unprecedented decision to edit Chris Mansfield’s storyline out of the 2019 series entirely.

Pornhub has been approached for comment regarding the removal of the original clip, and NZ on Air regarding the removal of the episode. Host Guy Williams declined to comment. New Zealand Today continues to air on Three at 9.45pm on Friday nights, and is available to watch on ThreeNow.