PHOTO: Stars of Rich Listers, from left, former Miss New Zealand Holly Cassidy, former deputy PM Paula Bennett, and Annabel Marshall. Photo / Supplied
Fast cars, mega-mansions and cheesy one-liners.
According to NZHERALD new reality show Rich Listers purports to give a behind-the-scenes peek at the glamorous world of luxury property sales in New Zealand – but if you look a bit closer, the show is more “fictional” TV than reality.
It follows Kiwi real estate professionals – including former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett and former Miss New Zealand Holly Cassidy – as they attempt to buy and sell homes worth up to $42 million, but the deals aren’t real.
Some agents featured on the show have little to no experience selling top-end luxury homes, while the price of some homes are over-estimated by millions of dollars, including a $9m home claimed to be worth $20m.
The agents are also given fancy sports cars and licence to ham up their lines.
Alex Breingan, managing director of the show’s producer Stripe Studios, said Rich Listers reflects the “genre of reality TV”, but uses fictional storylines.
It aims to entertain audiences with compelling narratives, charismatic real estate agents and a range of luxury homes, he said.
“At the end of each episode we remind viewers that ‘the pricing and negotiations depicted in this programme have been created for storyline purposes and are entirely fictional’,” he said.
Viewers need to wait until the last seconds of each episode – once all the credits have rolled – to see that message flash up.
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Rebecca Trelease – an Auckland University of Technology lecturer in communications studies and former Bachelorette NZ reality contestant – was surprised to learn the storylines were entirely fictional.
She said while most viewers expected heightened drama in reality shows, they also typically expected some level of authenticity.
One Auckland real estate insider also said the show was rankling many other agents by over-glamourising the industry and making it look “silly”.
Ray White salesperson Cassidy said the agents in Rich Listers were selected because they had experience in front of a camera, such as doing Miss Universe in her case.
However, they were not actors and the show’s scenes were not scripted.
Instead, the agents are presented with scenarios, she said.
“They say, ‘This is what we want it to be, but you can be yourself and say it how you want to say it’,” Cassidy said.
“But of course as soon as you put a camera in front of people, they change.”
Examples of fictional storylines include in episode two where Ray White Howick agent Dave McCartney meets the owner of a Waiheke Island mansion with spectacular views of Auckland city.
Viewers are told the home’s owner has written musical scores for big budget Hollywood movies.
McCartney tells the camera he wants to secure the contract to sell the home because it’s a big time “Hollywood” listing.
He and Bayleys Ponsonby agent Annabel Marshall then fly to the home by helicopter to discuss a possible sale.
Marshall tells McCartney she’s got an interested buyer and what’s the price.
“Wow, no foreplay, I like it,” McCartney quips.
He tells her the seller wants $20m for the home. But Marshall is not impressed and advises her buyer it’s worth no more than $18.5m.
The episode ends without making it clear whether a deal is completed or not.
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In real life, however, the Church Bay Rd home sold for $9.2m in June – or almost $11m less than the price quoted on the show.
Bayleys Waiheke and Great Barrier agent Mana Tahapehi – who does not appear on Rich Listers and is not associated with the show – was the listing agent who successfully sold it.
McCartney and Marshall played no part in the sale.
According to the NZHERALD
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