Purr-fect fit for cat couple

AuthorIlona Hanne
Published date10 February 2021
Publication titleStratford Press
Jan and Lindsay (Linz) Franklin are two of the five groups of Kiwis selected to be part of the New Zealand version of Travel Guides, screening this month on TVNZ 2, an experience they say has been “unforgettable”.

Jan and Linz sent in an audition video for the New Zealand version of the popular reality TV show late last year, after Linz kept seeing adverts on television for people to apply.

“The ads kept showing and they got my attention. I thought Jan and I should have a go, so eventually I paused the ad, got the website details and we went from there.”

As they started filling in the online application, they saw they needed to include a video, so quickly filmed one in just one take just before they went to bed, says Jan.

Introducing themselves as “crazy cat people” who are “a little bit nutty, a little bit fun” in the video, Jan and Linz promised the producers not only would they be “fun to watch on telly” but the cameras would be sure to capture “plenty of face pulling at each other” if they were to be successful in getting selected.

Soon after submitting the video, Jan and Linz were invited to the next stage of auditions, done via video call and Jan says they took the opportunity to continue showing producers their “fun side”.

“For the first video call we were dressed in our onesies, so they interviewed us while Linz was dressed in a penguin onesie and I was in a unicorn one. When it came to the next video call, we thought we couldn’t just be normal so we went for a superhero theme, with Linz as Spiderman and I was Supergirl.”

While the producers haven’t told them if it was the fact they own nine cats, the nuttiness, the costumes or the promise of face pulling, the Franklins did make it through and became two of the 13 people set to feature in the show.

Within six weeks of submitting the first audition video, Jan and Linz were on a plane headed to their first location ready for filming to begin.

“It was pretty fast, from first hearing about the show to being there, with cameras following us around, mics on us and doing all these crazy things.”

Linz says not only was the timeframe tight from acceptance to filming, but the filming schedule itself was fast paced, with a total of six weeks travel and filming over a three-month period.

He says being part of the show appealed to them as they are both already keen travellers, having visited around 15 or so countries over the past decade.

They didn’t know where they would be going or what sort of activities...

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