Jeremy Wells

Jeremy Wells (born 19 January 1977) is a New Zealand media personality who hosts the Radio Hauraki breakfast show with Manaia Stewart, ''Seven Sharp'' alongside Hilary Barry, and ''Taskmaster New Zealand''.

Career

Wells first appeared on television in 1997 on MTV. He later appeared as Newsboy on Mikey Havoc's television show. Wells and Havoc went their separate ways when the show finished - Havoc fronting a show on TV3 and Wells hosting ''Eating Media Lunch'' on TVNZ. He also presented the satirical '' The Unauthorised History of New Zealand'' in 2005 and an episode of ''Intrepid Journeys'' in 2007. The ''New Zealand Listener'' described Wells' deadpan delivery as "newsnight-of-the-living-dead", saying he would be "compelling viewing reading the phone book."

Wells became notorious in November 2003 when an episode of ''Eating Media Lunch'' spoofed the current affairs programme ''Target'', which often used hidden cameras to catch unreliable tradespersons or workers. The spoof depicted two actors as ''Target'' camera technicians in someone else's home, caught on hidden camera in acts such as masturbation, defecation (on a kitchen stove), drug use and phone sex. One technician stripped naked, covered himself with cling wrap, and appeared to urinate on the other technician. Several viewers complained but, in March 2004, the BSA (Broadcasting Standards Authority) of New Zealand found the episode had not breached any guidelines.

Wells and Havoc satirically labelled Gore the gay capital of New Zealand in 1999, during ''Havoc and Newsboy's Sell-out Tour''. Returning to town to cover the 2008 election, Wells was confronted by 15 men angry over the comments. The group started harassing him at a petrol station, and followed him back to his hotel room. They harassed him for 90 minutes and he was trapped in his hotel room until the police were called. Gore District Mayor Tracy Hicks said Wells was "either very brave or very stupid" for coming back.

Wells spent 23 days travelling with the 108 members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in October 2010 and produced a documentary ''The Grand Tour'', a product of his own interest in classical music. The programme contains several interviews with the musicians and support crew, including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Wells co-hosted ''The Saturday Special'' with Steve Simpson on bFM; the show continued when both hosts moved to Radio Hauraki. In 2014, Wells changed shows to become a co-host of the Radio Hauraki breakfast show, alongside Matt Heath and Laura McGoldrick.

Since 2018, he has co-hosted TVNZ's ''Seven Sharp'' with Hilary Barry, and from 2020 he is the host and titular Taskmaster of ''Taskmaster New Zealand'', the New Zealand version of the TV series ''Taskmaster'', with Paul Williams as the Taskmaster's assistant.

In November 2020 he was named one of the best dressed men in show business on David Hartnell MNZM's Best Dressed List.

Personal life

Wells was born in Auckland, New Zealand, the son of sports administrators Sir John Wells and Sheryl, Lady Wells. He was expelled from the exclusive Wanganui Collegiate School in his sixth-form year for giving marijuana oil to a recovering drug addict, and later attended St Paul's Collegiate in Hamilton. In 2005, Wells was awarded a Bravo award by the New Zealand Skeptics for his "scathing look at the psychic and medium business, on ''Eating Media Lunch''".

See also

* List of New Zealand television personalities

References

External links

*

Jeremy Wells on Intrepid Journeys (TVNZ website)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Jeremy
Living people
1977 births
New Zealand radio presenters
New Zealand television presenters
21st-century New Zealand comedians
New Zealand male comedians
New Zealand satirists
People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School
Radio Hauraki
People educated at St Paul's Collegiate School
Comedians from Auckland