Bree Tomasel on Celebrity Treasure Island secrets, her private life and what it means to call Aotearoa home – NZ Herald

“I’ll be forever grateful for what New Zealand has given me”

Bree Tomasel has “done a lot of reflecting” over the past year.

It’s five years since she first set foot on New Zealand soil, and the 34-year-old Bree and Clint host says that coming to Aotearoa “has been the best decision I’ve ever made in my whole life”.

The native Queenslander admits it wasn’t an easy decision to make the move across the Ditch, telling Reset, “I could have absolutely crashed and burned.”

“I could have come over here and fallen on my face and gone home with my tail between my legs, but what New Zealand has given me and what the people here have given me, I will be forever grateful for.

“The opportunities that I’ve had and the people that I’ve met – it makes me emotional, actually, thinking about it.”

Tomasel has co-hosted ZM’s afternoon radio show alongside Clint Roberts, hosted several seasons of Celebrity Treasure Island, been made 2022′s Television Personality of the Year at the NZTV awards, met and moved in with her partner Sophia Gould, and adopted two dogs – and she’s showing no signs of slowing down.

These days life is an “absolute chaotic mess” for the radio and TV host. The weeks leading up to the premiere of a new season of CTI include hours spent tweaking voiceovers, re-watching episodes, endless promo, and balancing it all with her day job.

“It’s quite full-on, especially the days where I’m doing radio and filming,” she admits.

“At one point I remember on Fans v Faves, filming went late so they had to put me on to a boat and I had to travel by boat down the ocean, back to our accommodation, run up the stairs where we were staying … and I literally still had my full triathlon kit on … sat down and logged in via Zoom to do a radio show. It was pretty hectic.”

She’s hosted the show since 2019, but would she ever compete as a castaway?

“I’m the most competitive person in the whole world,” Tomasel admits. “And I think the hardest part about hosting this show is that I always want to give it a go. So, never say never. I would absolutely love to give it a go one day.

“And I think I’d be horrible because people would just be like, ‘She knows too much, let’s get rid of her’. So it probably wouldn’t work out well for me,” she jokes.

She and co-host Jayden Daniels are not allowed to give the contestants any advice – and Tomasel admits it can be “really frustrating to watch”.

“There will be moments, like if something’s taking a long time, where you can guide people, but we’re not allowed to help.”

Daniels, 29, took over from Tomasel’s former co-host Matt Chisholm for the Fans v Faves edition of the show earlier this year, and reveals that she was “his rock” on the show.

“It’s great working with Bree. In my first season, Bree was the experienced one and therefore my rock when I was ever lost or felt uneasy,” he tells Reset.

“She’s super-caring and would even cook me dinner if I was working late. We feel like our own little team.”

For Tomasel, the feeling is mutual. “Jayden’s amazing, he’s such a kind, hardworking, genuine person,” she says.

And the pair are quite possibly the show’s biggest fans. “We’re just so engulfed by it. I’m such a fan of the show and I just live and breathe it, so it’s nice to have someone like him who is also like that.”

Treasure Island first hit our screens in 1997 and aired for nine seasons until 2007, with the first celebrity version airing in 2001. It was revived in 2019 with Tomasel and Chisholm as hosts. Following Fans v Faves, the 14th season is set to premiere soon on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.

It’s arguably New Zealand’s most successful homegrown reality TV franchise – so what is it that brings Kiwi viewers back every year?

It’s partly the drama, of course – and Tomasel reveals the upcoming season will provide it in spades.

“There’s a few people in this game who weren’t afraid to do some dirty work to get to where they wanted to go,” she hints.

“They didn’t care how they’d be portrayed by the cameras. They were just like, ‘I’m going to knife who I want to knife just to get to where I want to be’. Two particular contestants are so competitive that they run into each other and actually fall on to a part of the set and break the set completely. And I’m pretty sure it makes the edit of the show.”

But we’re also drawn in by the “absolute rawness” of the emotions on display, she says.

“You get the game element, which people tune in for and they love a good competition. But you also get these special moments where you see people you’ve watched on the screen or you’ve listened to, you see them in their rawest moments and Kiwis, I think, really connect with that – I know I do.

“That’s why I keep coming back, it’s that human connection. It’s so interesting to watch, because you might think you know a celebrity, but you haven’t seen them when all of their comforts are stripped away and you get to see them in a different way. I think that’s what keeps people watching.”

It’s also led to some unlikely friendships. “Like Susan Devoy said [of Lance Savali] on Fans v Faves, in the real world, we would never cross paths. But on a show like this, we do and we connect and it’s special.”

Tomasel herself had an “instant connection” with Dame Suzy. “And maybe it’s because she looks a little bit like my mum. I always say to her, ‘you’re like my mum, but a little bit tougher and rough around the edges’.”

Season after season, the cast become like a surrogate family for each other – not least because the weeks of filming can take a toll, with contestants, hosts and the crew away from home and their families.

“It’s really tough. Like, you’re living out of a hotel room. I mean, I sound like such a baby considering everyone else is living out in the wild,” she jokes. “FaceTime helps, but it’s tough. Especially when my partner’s up here and we’ve got two dogs and you know, it’s a bit chaotic.”

Tomasel has always been very protective of her relationship with Gould, recognising that her partner hasn’t chosen to be in the spotlight.

“I’ve always realised that I have chosen to put myself in the public eye and I’ve chosen this job and this life, and people I’ve dated haven’t,” she shares.

“I don’t want them to have to deal with – I mean, there’s amazing stuff that comes with it, but then there can be negative stuff too. We’ve been together for four and a half years. It’s kind of like, there’s stuff that should just be for you – some parts of my life I want to be for me, and for us.”

But she does reveal that they’ve been trying – like every other 30-something in Auckland – to buy a home.

“It’s tough. I’d love to buy a house here, but jeez, things are grim,” she admits.

“We’d love more land for the dogs. My dream would be to have a piece of land where you can have a heap of animals and not feel like people are on top of you. New Zealand definitely has some amazing places where you could do that. We are still looking at buying a house here – so, in terms of putting down more roots, we’re trying.”

But despite it all, she doesn’t hesitate to call Aotearoa home.

“It feels like home. Even with the s*** weather, I will take it. I love it. I love to call it home.”

And there’s only one thing that could draw her back to Queensland – her family. The years of separation during Covid were “really difficult”, she admits.

“Before Covid, I’d probably get back maybe four times a year if I was lucky. During Covid, I didn’t see them for two years, which was really, really hard. These days, I’m so bloody busy. I try and get back at least twice a year, but my parents come here and visit every year now, which is really nice.”

“Sometimes they stay too long, my mum came over once for five weeks!” she jokes.

Her parents love visiting so much they might end up moving across the Ditch in the future, she reveals.

“I grew up on a farm and my parents still live on the land. My dad just loves living in the country, and he thinks New Zealand is the most beautiful country in the world.”

Tomasel clearly agrees. It’s not just the food, or the weather (the past 12 months aside) – it’s the Kiwi people she loves.

“I’ve always been a fan of the underdog or the battler. Kiwis as a nation are this small country that always punches above its weight. They’re always in there rubbing shoulders with the best of them, and you forget how small the country is because they just achieve so much.

“And I love that drive and that determination that Kiwis have.”

It’s that determination that got her where she is today – but after five years, Tomasel just counts herself lucky to be here.

“I’m so glad that I came here and Treasure Island has been such a big part of that. I would never have got to do something like that back home.

“And I’m so excited for people to see this new season; we’re always so proud of them and this one’s no different. It’s been an absolute ride and I feel like there’s a lot more to go yet.”

Bethany Reitsma is an Auckland-based journalist covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2019. She specialises in lifestyle human interest stories, money-saving hacks and anything even remotely related to coffee.