Help! I can’t stop watching Celebrity Tipping Point NZ

Tara Ward revels in the nudges, riders and danglers of TVNZ’s latest game show.

I have a problem: I really love Tipping Point. Since the British quiz show started screening here over a decade ago, I have become obsessed with watching counters push other counters onto more counters. With every rhythmical nudge from the Tipping Point machine, I become more entranced, more hypnotised, more invested in the game. Tipping Point is somehow both dull and incredibly unpredictable – some counters will ride, others will spread and the anticipation of the final jackpot round cannot be overstated. I am obsessed with how slow the show is, yet eternally captivated by watching that single counter fall from a great height, over and over again.

Imagine then, my delight when TVNZ announced they were making a celebrity version of Tipping Point NZ, which started on TVNZ1 two weeks ago. Hosted by TVNZ presenter Daniel Faitaua, the New Zealand series began with a Christchurch special featuring broadcaster Jason Gunn, comedian Chris Parker and journalist Ali Pugh. Episode two had a Shortland Street theme, and featured Ria Vandervis, Kimberly Crossman and Dr Chris Warner (who is rumoured to be a fictional character played by actor Michael Galvin, but believe what you like). 

Jason Gunn, Ali Pugh and Chris Parker: allowed to push the button (Photo: TVNZ)

Tipping Point would be the perfect game for Chris Warner, who is a rider from way back – and boy, did New Zealand do Tipping Point proud. Even though there’s a lengthy official Tipping Point manual the show had to follow, the New Zealand version is far more energetic and over-the-top than the British original. That’s mostly down to the celebrities, who were fizzing at the bung to be in the Tipping Point studio. “Thank you for having me here on the Tipping Point,” said Parker, before revealing that as a young boy in Christchurch, he wanted to be a milkman when he grew up. Then Parker, Pugh and Gunn all started singing the Christchurch milk truck song, which was a completely normal thing to happen on New Zealand primetime television.  

But the game got real as soon as Gunn pressed that Tipping Point buzzer for the first time. The questions weren’t difficult (“what is the English name for the South Island city of Ōtautahi?”) but that Tipping Point counter did not muck around. Instead of a slow and satisfying ping-ping-ping down the grid like on Tipping Point UK, the New Zealand counter dropped with a sudden, jarring thud. It didn’t stop the winnings from piling up, and every $50 counter that dropped into the win zone was celebrated by the celebrities like it was $500,000. 

Daniel Faitaua and the Tipping Point machine (Photo: TVNZ)

Dreams came true with every clunky drop. Parker won a mystery prize of a pair of fish slippers, and in the next episode, Crossman won a set of temporary tattoos featuring Faitaua’s face. In between Faitaua’s questions about the first winner of NZ Idol (Ben Lummis) and what the body’s largest organ is (the skin), there were more double-entendres than pastry week on the Great British Bake Off. There was talk of nudges, riders and danglers, and the need for good spread. “It’s looking chunky down there,” Parker said at one point, moments before Pugh was eliminated. Pugh faced her exit bravely. “I’ve laughed a lot,” she told Faitaua, which is something the celebs never say when they’re kicked off The Chase. 

After 45 minutes of tipping and dangling, Gunn beat Parker to make it to the final round, while Galvin won episode two. To Galvin’s dismay, one of the categories in his final round was “medical”. “I’m not a real doctor,” he protested, but shh now, Dr Love, there’s a rider in drop zone four that’s begging for some lateral push. We had reached the pinnacle of every episode of Tipping Point: the jackpot round, where a large gold counter worth $10,000 is dropped into the machine. 

Tenser than the time a bomb went off under the deck while Chris Warner was leading a singalong of ‘Anchor Me’ (Photo: Screengrab)

The anticipation became feverish as the gold counter teetered on the edge and Faiatua commentated each drop with an increasingly desperate energy. “Is this $10,000?!” he asked, but the counter did not move. “Michael Galvin, HAVE WE GOT IT???” he pleaded, but again, the counter refused to fall. The Tipping Point machine is a cruel and ridiculous mistress, but after one final push, that big gold counter finally tipped into the win zone. Both Gunn and Galvin beat the machine, and their chosen charities were $10,000 richer for it. 

Tipping may have been the winner on the day, but Celebrity Tipping Point NZ is more than just a game show. It is a metaphor for the human condition. Put on your fish shoes and think about it: we can all push the button, but we cannot control the drop. Life is full of riders and sliders, but it’s the zone we choose that defines our experience. Who doesn’t want to escape the cluster and claim life’s fickle jackpot? Who hasn’t clattered their way down to the bottom, only to raise their face to the light and see a tattoo of Daniel Faitaua’s face plastered across their largest organ? Thank you New Zealand, I have officially found my own tipping point. 

Celebrity Tipping Point NZ streams on TVNZ+ and screens on Mondays at 7.30pm on TVNZ1.