‘You can’t even compare us’: Madeleine Sami on taking over from Paul Henry on Traitors NZ
Madeleine Sami is sticking her fingers in multiple pies. Photo / Michael Craig
Madeleine Sami’s new role was meant to be filled by Paul Henry. However, as she tells Mitchell Hageman, there’s (at least) two things she has that the controversial host doesn’t.
Chowing down on gluten-free Weet-Bix in a small Melbourne bedroom, Madeleine Sami is deciding if she should get a later or earlier flight back to Auckland.
“I think the later one is the only one I probably can get away with because all the earlier ones mean I have to leave rehearsal so early,” she tells a PR rep on the other line.
You can’t fault her work ethic. Sami is almost everywhere these days, although sometimes you might not see her because she’s behind the camera directing. Right now, there are no cameras in sight. She’s rehearsing for a play for Melbourne Theatre Company called Losing Face, which starts late next month. She describes it as a “perimenopausal Weekend at Bernie’s”.
“What’s not to love about those two things? I mean, we don’t love perimenopause, but the combination of those two things, that’s something that I would like to see,” she says, her trademark blunt humour on full display.
Sami splits her time between Auckland and Australia, which means real life needs to be structured – including co-parenting Billie-Jean, her daughter with her former partner Pip “Ladyhawke” Brown.
“I’ve got a super supportive family, and we’ve got a good system going on where it’s like, ‘okay, who’s doing school drop-offs this week?’ And my daughter’s going to come over here to join me for a little bit in the school holidays and stuff, so she gets a fun holiday out of it.”
It’s a juggle, but the pull is the work she’s getting on both sides of the Ditch.
“You never get bored when you’re trying to master it all,” she says with a laugh. “I do love to stick my fingers in all those pies.”
The former Onehunga High head girl used to run into a brick wall to make people laugh as a kid, she tells me. Today, she’s smashing through metaphorical career walls as one of our premier artistic exports.
Bursting on screen as Dr Shivani Naran on Shortland Street in 1998 when she was still a teen, in her latest role she is taking over Paul Henry’s hosting spot in the latest season of The Traitors New Zealand.
In between, there have been starring roles in Aussie outback comedy thriller Deadloch, local pregnancy comedy Double Parked, Taika Waititi’s pirate caper Our Flag Means Death and the upcoming comedy The Sanctuaryfrom Saturday Night Live UK duo Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore.
Sami’s directing chops are nothing to scoff at, either. She co-directed and starred in 2018 film The Breaker Upperers with Jackie van Beek. It’s still one of the top 20 highest-grossing Kiwi films of all time, earning more than $1 million at the local box office.
For someone with decades of experience, Sami, 46, admits things were rather uncertain in the beginning, particularly for a woman who wanted to make people laugh. After all, Billy T James was the pinnacle of New Zealand comedy, and Sami says there was a feeling no one was going to be funnier than him.
“When I first got into the industry, there was a lot of cringe around New Zealand TV and New Zealand culture. I think shows like Outrageous Fortune really kind of broke through to the New Zealand audience and reflected us back to ourselves in such an entertaining way that we were able to go, ‘hey, we can make really good work about ourselves and enjoy it’," she says.
“And now we’ve got so many world-class comedians on the world stage, your Rose Matafeos, your Guy Montgomerys, your Laura Daniels and your Joseph Moores, who are just smashing it with our real distinct brand of New Zealand comedy.”
Although it “sounds cliché”, she credits her mother, Christine, for inspiring her to persevere.
“We didn’t grow up with a lot. I grew up pretty poor. It would have been really easy for Mum to go, ‘no, you’re not getting into the arts, you’re going to be a lawyer or a doctor, and you’re going to make money so you don’t grow up poor’. But she never stopped us. She always encouraged us quietly to do whatever we loved.”
Her new role pushes the boat out once again. Sami hadn’t seen much of The Traitors before signing on to replace Paul Henry; she’s not a huge fan of reality TV, though she’s no stranger to hosting, thanks to The Great Kiwi Bake-Off.
Based on the Dutch series De Verraders, Traitors follows strangers living in a mansion together, earning a prize pot of cash through challenges. All the while, three traitors are scheming to murder (eliminate) the the faithful each night, while the faithful try to banish anyone they think might be a traitor. Think Survivor meets Cluedo.
“I love that it’s a game of strategy and deception. I love that people go in with a desire to win and then betray each other in their desire to win. I love that it starts as a fun game, and then everyone gets emotionally invested and gets very intense. It’s the wide spectrum of human emotion, and it’s chaos to watch, but so much fun,” Sami says.
She got the call-up to host the show’s third season “in the very last second” after Henry was named as host of The Chase New Zealand – and eventually a board member of TVNZ. Traitors NZ screens on Three.
“It was all very last-minute because Paul jumped off, and then there was a flurry of [the production company] trying to see a bunch of people and fill that position. It was a bit out-of-the-blue to be auditioning, so when I got the call, I gave out a little squeal,” she previously told the Herald.
Taking over from Henry wasn’t a challenge, though. She had her own flavour to bring to the table.
“I feel like Paul and I are just quite different. I mean, you can’t even compare us. We’re such different energies, and we have such different skillsets,” Sami says.
“I didn’t really feel that pressure because I just thought, you know, there’s no point. Whatever I do, I’m going to be different to Paul. I mean, I’ve got boobs, for example. Paul doesn’t. Or maybe he does, I don’t know actually, I shouldn’t judge.”
And for anyone who thinks the drama is scripted, the host assures me the contestants control everything you see – and she has just as many secrets to keep as those traitors and faithfuls.
“There’s actually not a lot of talking on set because we have to be quite quiet, and not a lot of interaction between the contestants because we can’t give anything away,” Sami says.
“It’s like, turn the cameras on, get them rolling, and then we’ll see where we all go, and we’ll find out whether we end up in the conclave tonight or not.”
But the real question is, could she compete – and would she be traitor or faithful?
“I’m a moderately successful – and occasionally – award-winning actress, and I would not want to – nor do I think I could – use my skills for evil. But if I had to be on this show, I think I could be a good faithful or traitor, I’d enjoy each opportunity. I’m just glad in this situation, I don’t have to choose, because it’s intense.”
For now, Sami’s intensity is focused on her career, and what comes next. Much like her new show, anything could happen.
“I’ve been [working] for a very long time. I just love to keep working, love to try different things, and love to challenge myself. I really just want to entertain and be part of a good story.”
Just watch out to any pies she might get her hands on.
“It’s a funny expression, isn’t it, sticking your fingers in all the pies. You’d better eat those pies afterwards – I feel like that’s what my mum would say.”
Season 3 of The Traitors NZ premieres on Three and ThreeNow on Sunday.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.