What did you miss?
Noel Edmonds reveals he is losing money with his business in New Zealand when the pouring rain puts people off coming to his pub. “We’re haemorrhaging money at the moment,” he says in ITV’s Kiwi Adventure.
The Deal or No Deal presenter, 76, set up life across the pond in New Zealand, leaving behind the UK forever in 2018. He bought up a £15m estate, River Haven, with 12 properties including a pub called The Bugger Inn and his own vineyard.
Inviting the cameras into his life, the TV star has filmed a fly-on-the-wall reality show Kiwi Adventure which is now streaming on ITVX.
In dramatic scenes in episode two, Edmonds is stood watching the downpours at the start of the season where he shares that the business is losing money as a result of the weather.
What, how and why?
He says: “When you come to New Zealand, you change your view about your relationship between the weather and the economy.
“We’re haemorrhaging money at the moment because you have to take staff on in anticipation of the guests coming. We’re going to have to have a spectacular November and December to balance the books.”
Ever the optimist, Edmonds doesn’t lose hope that things will turn out for the better. He says: “I believe in the cosmos. I believe everything happens for a reason.” Although, he does admit: “Just struggling at the moment to come up with a good reason here!”
It’s early spring and The Bugger Inn pub should have lots of customers but there is barely anyone in sight because of the rain — despite their best efforts of trying to get people to come in.
Earlier on, Edmonds had admitted it has been hard setting up his own business. He tells the cameras: “New Zealand is a great place to come to but it’s not the easiest place to set up a business. We’ve done a fascinating thing with the River Haven adventure. Will it be the move that sustains us for years to come? Watch this space!”
Why Noel Edmonds moved to New Zealand
Despite the struggles, it’s clear that Edmonds loves his new life in New Zealand with his wife Liz. “We were drawn here by the energy of the area,” he says.
Their new life in New Zealand is a far cry from their lives when they first met on the set of Deal or No Deal in the UK in 2006.
It’s been six years since they packed up their lives in the UK. The TV star has the chance to share why he decided to leave the UK for good in 2018.
He says in Kiwi Adventure: “When people say to me, ‘What do you miss at the UK?’ I find myself going back to why I left. Because all the things I miss about Britain are the reasons I left. By that I mean that the country changed so much, so fast, so fundamentally, that I found myself missing a quieter country… We are not trees so you can move.”
Edmonds reveals he aims to have no regrets when he “gets to the end”.
Elsewhere, Liz also explains the couple had not initially thought they would set up the business. She says: “None of this was planned. None of it was planned at all. There was no plan whatsoever to buy a vineyard and do this. I don’t know it was just a feeling of we could work on this, we could develop this.”
Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure airs on ITV1 and ITVX on Friday, 20 June at 9pm.
