The former Deal or No Deal presenter now owns an estate with a vineyard in New Zealand, which will be featured in a new ITV documentary series.
A woman who worked with Edmonds in New Zealand has revealed what he’s like off-camera(Image: HGL/GC Images via Getty Images)
Noel Edmonds‘ off-camera personality has been revealed by a woman who worked with him on his River Haven estate in Ngatimoti, New Zealand. The presenter left the UK in 2019 after being voted out of I’m A Celebrity, and bought a £15m estate in New Zealand complete with 12 properties including a pub and his own vineyard.
Edmonds’ estate will be featured in a new ITV docuseries, Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure, which will see the former Deal or No Deal presenter hard at work and making his new life on the other side of the world. Julie Crook, who lives nearby the River Haven estate but is originally from the UK, worked with Noel on his vineyard after she volunteered to help him harvest his grapes.
Their time on the vineyard was followed by cameras for the ITV series, where Edmonds’ TV personality shone through. But Julie said that Noel was just as nice when the cameras were turned off.
She told the Express: “He’s just the kind of man who goes out of his way.
“He doesn’t put it on just for the camera, he’s just a really nice guy. While we were working on the vineyard, he was giving us water and ice pops, and he got to know everybody’s name and even when you go to the Bugger Inn for a meal, he’ll just come over and just have a chat whether you know him or not, and some Kiwis don’t even know that he’s a celebrity.
“He doesn’t shy away from hard work either, he was getting his hands dirty.”
Julie also addressed the backlash that Noel and his purchase of River Haven has been receiving since he moved.
Some locals have even claimed that the star is ‘colonising’ the small Kiwi village of just 2.500 people, after he spent £15 million on the expansive estate of 12 properties.
Noel Edmonds worked with Julie on his River Haven vineyard in New Zealand(Image: Julie Crook via Express)
Julie said: “I disagree with what the press and locals are saying, because they just don’t get it.
“I think what he is doing is great, because this is a tourist area, because it’s on the way to the Abel Tasman.
“It’s just bringing tourism into Ngatimoti, which is where his vineyard is, and it’s a little rural village.
“He even donated $10,000 to the local school because they were in debt, he is so nice.”
She admitted that the “clever” TV personality has a very dry sense of humour, which Kiwis don’t tend to understand.
She said: “They don’t get him and as an immigrant from the UK, we have the English banter so I understand it, and Kiwis don’t get that sense of humour, and it can come across as a bit weird to them.”
Fans can tune into Noel and his wife Liz integrating with the locals in the first episode of their new docuseries, with some special moments including him describing his wellness routine, his golden statue outside of his pub and Noel revealing he “was an emperor in a past life”.
The first episode of Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure aired on ITV1 and ITVX on Friday, June 20.
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