PHOTO: Stars of Rich Listers season one, from left, former Miss New Zealand Holly Cassidy, former deputy PM Paula Bennett, and Annabel Marshall. Only Cassidy is returning for season two. Photo / Supplied
According to ONE ROOF the real estate reality show Rich Listers is returning to New Zealand screens this year – and this time one of the stars is a bona-fide rich lister agent.
Real estate agent Paul Neshausen, whose listings include $10m-plus properties in Auckland’s blue chip suburbs, confirmed to OneRoof that he was taking part in the show.
Neshausen is known to Aucklanders for his “big money energy” billboards around – and producers will be hoping he brings that energy and credibility to the show, which came under fire last year for showing deals that hadn’t actually been struck.
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Rich Listers executive producer Alex Breingan, whose company Stripe Studios developed the series last year for Bravo TV, told OneRoof that filming had already started on season two, with some of the stars of season one returning for another go.
In addition to Neshausen, confirmed agents for season two include former Miss New Zealand Holly Cassidy, her grandmother Cheryl Whiting, Karl Matakatea and David and Dominique McCartney
Fans of season will be sad that break-out comic and East Auckland agent David McCartney has lost his sparring partner, West Auckland agent Diego Traglia, who told OneRoof he wasn’t coming back for a second round.
Also dropping out are former deputy prime minister Paula Bennett and Ponsonby agent Annabel Marshall, with both citing work commitments as their reason for passing.
Breingan said Whiting would be taking over Bennett’s role as “matriarch”, adding that her “good energy” with Matakatea, a highlight of last year’s show, would be seen again.
Another new cast member is Aman Gulia, another top Auckland agent. He told OneRoof that it didn’t matter if it was a $5m deal or a $700,000 deal, he wanted to show real people and real transactions. “It’s got to be sympathetic to sellers who may be struggling now,” he said.
Alex Breingan said he had already started filming for season two. “We’ve been filming Holly in Sydney and Karl in Kapiti. And we’ve got some new talent,” he said, adding that he didn’t know who would make the final cut.
Agent Paul Neshausen at his home in Auckland’s St Heliers. Photo / Fiona Goodall
Agent Aman Gulia wants to the show to be sympathetic to sellers who may be struggling right now. Photo / Fiona Goodall
“That’s reality TV. Nobody’s a trained actor, you don’t know until you’re filming. They’re real people doing a real job – you can do all the research in the world and then they can freeze on camera. Most of the story is in post-production.”
They key thing that will change in this season is that the deals will be real. The show came under fire last year for being more “fictional TV” than “reality TV”.
The New Zealand Herald reported that some of the agents on the show had little experience in selling at the top end of the real estate market and that some of sales were done by other agents or were fictional.
“That’s my decree to the team is that it is real, it’s all their [the agents’] property,” Breingan said. “And because it’s the second season, they have more access and it can be more real.”
McCartney said that he would be focusing on properties in his east Auckland and Howick patch, some of which sell for well under $2m.
“It was the big thing for me, it’s my true story, in my area. Yes, we can be national or international, but everything I do is local. I’m very excited to talk about what I’m doing this year.”
Television talent and designer Hamish Dodd, himself a star of several reality TV home shows, including Dream Home Dilemma, is producing season two of Rich Listers, Breingan said.
He told OneRoof that he had already sold season one to broadcasters in Europe and Canada, and that he was heading to Los Angeles to crack the US market.