Takatāpui Talk

Send us Fan Mail 🌈 TAKATĀPUI TALK – INDIGENOUS VOICES GEOFFREY RUAINE | A TWO-PART SPECIAL Island roots. Untold stories. A life worth sharing. From growing up in Rotorua to the bright lights of Sydney and New York, and now the beautiful shores of Rarotonga. Geoffrey Ruaine has lived an extraordinary life. From drag and the legendary Carmen Rupe to becoming a nurse at 40, his journey is filled wit...

Send us Fan Mail 🐻🌈 MEET PAPA BEAR! This Sunday on Takatāpui Talk – Indigenous Voices , we're joined by Paul Heard, affectionately known as “Papa Bear.” From Auckland's legendary URGE Bar on Karangahape Road to the infamous underwear parties, bear culture, HIV/AIDS advocacy and decades of gay nightlife, Paul has lived through and helped shape an extraordinary chapter of our queer histo...

Send us Fan Mail TAKATĀPUI TALK: ELECTION SPECIAL — POLITICS, POLICIES & A LITTLE BIT OF FILTH! 🌈🗳️ Politics has never sounded quite like this! With the election approaching, Takatāpui Talk brings together a fabulous, outspoken panel for an unapologetically queer conversation about the issues affecting our communities across Aotearoa. Host Donald Hollingsworth is joined by Paul Heard, Steven...

Send us Fan Mail “This is my love letter.” ❤️🌈 Tonight on Takatāpui Talk — Indigenous Voices , we meet Krystal Kara , one of the wāhine stepping onto the stage for Miss Whakawahine 2026 . Krystal shares her whakapapa, growing up Māori, the whakawāhine who came before her, sisterhood, visibility and why Miss Whakawahine means so much more to her than beauty or a crown. For Krystal, this pageant is...

Send us Fan Mail Tiffany Twist | Miss Whakawahine 2026, whakapapa and finding her voice This week on Takatāpui Talk, Indigenous Voices , I sit down with Tiffany Twist for a kōrero full of humour, honesty and heart. Tiffany takes us from her childhood in Kaiti and Ruatōrā to 27 years in hairdressing, and shares how her relationship with whānau, faith and whakapapa has shaped the woman she is today....

Send us Fan Mail Nephi’s Story | Takatāpui Talk, Indigenous Voices After more than three decades, Donald reconnects with Nephi, a friend from his Auckland salon days. Together they revisit the late 1980s and early 1990s: the clubs, the fashion, their careers, and the people who helped them find their way. When Donald asks what Nephi remembers about herself at that time, her answer is simple and mo...

Send us Fan Mail In this beautiful and deeply personal episode, Te Warena shares her journey from childhood into a remarkable working life shaped by creativity, education and service. She reflects on growing up takatāpui, challenging the idea that our identities are something we are “influenced” into, before taking us through the many chapters of her career. At the heart of her kōrero is the extra...

Send us Fan Mail 🌈 TONIGHT AT 6PM | MACAU JOHNSON Tonight on Takatāpui Talk, Macau Johnson shares a kōrero filled with the highs and lows of life. From his childhood and studying Film and Television, to working on a recycling truck and becoming a Drag Race commentator, Macau speaks openly about the experiences that shaped him—including his extraordinary hauora journey. Honest, funny and real—this...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of **Takatāpui Talk — Indigenous Voices**, Donald Hollingsworth sits down with **Dr Huhana Hickey MNZM** for an intimate conversation about an extraordinary life. Dr Hu is Māori, disabled, lesbian, a lawyer, academic, human rights advocate and internationally recognised voice for disability rights. But behind those achievements is a deeply personal story o...

Send us Fan Mail RAWIRI TAHAU MAURIRERE ❤️🖤 This week on Takatāpui Talk , I sit down with hairdresser and creative Rawiri Tahau Maurirere for a kōrero that begins with his childhood and his journey into hairdressing, before opening up a much bigger conversation. Why are so many Takatāpui drawn to hairdressing, beauty, fashion and other creative industries? Can our choice of career also be about f...

Send us Fan Mail We are  honoured to welcome Mihirawhiti Searancke to Takatāpui Talk . From her whakapapa and identity to her years as a psychiatric nurse, activism, and reflections on whenua and land loss, Mihirawhiti shares a lifetime of experience and service. This conversation also touches on an important chapter of our history—one that reminds us why remembering our past matters for future ge...

Send us Fan Mail 🌺 NEW EPISODE | TAKATĀPUI TALK 🌺 This week on Takatāpui Talk , we're honoured to welcome Glory Haronga , the reigning Miss Whakawahine 2025 . Born and raised in Rarotonga, Cook Islands , Glory shares her journey of growing up Whakawahine, finding strength in her identity, the importance of sisterhood, community, and what it means to represent her people with pride. We also...

Send us Fan Mail 🌈 Takatāpui Talk | Amanduh La – Part Two | The Power of Drag, Identity & Legacy In Part Two of my conversation with the incredible Amanduh La , we explore the deeper meaning of drag—not simply as performance, but as an art form that creates joy, confidence and connection. For audiences, drag can be an escape from everyday life. It invites us to laugh, celebrate, reflect and s...

Send us Fan Mail 🌈 From Tokoroa to Paris, Italy and New York Fashion Week… this is the extraordinary story of Amanduh La. Growing up in the Mormon faith, discovering her identity, travelling the world as a model, and ultimately embracing the uniqueness that would become her greatest strength—Amanduh's journey is one of courage, resilience and authenticity. This conversation moved me so much...

Send us Fan Mail Jade Dayna Kanara Mills | Finding Sisterhood, Love & Identity | Takatāpui Talk Ep. 8 Today on Takatāpui Talk, I sit down with the wonderful Jade Dayna Kanara Mills —a proud Māori whakawāhine whose whakapapa connects her to Hokianga, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Tāmāra. Jade shares an extraordinary life story spanning decades. Growing up at a time when there was little understanding or...

Send us Fan Mail Steven Oates | Television, Radio, Pride & Community | Takatāpui Talk For decades, Steven Oates has been a familiar face and voice in Aotearoa's rainbow community. From his beginnings in radio and television to organising Pride events, fundraising, and creating Woof! , Steven has dedicated much of his life to ensuring LGBTQIA+ people could see themselves represented and ce...

Send us Fan Mail At a young age, Raureti Ormond is already helping shape the future of Takatāpui storytelling in Aotearoa. A playwright, performer, drag artist and creative storyteller, Raureti joins Donald for a thoughtful and inspiring conversation about identity, belonging, self-expression, and the power of being unapologetically yourself. Together they explore what it means to be seen, how cre...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Takatāpui Talk , Donald Hollingsworth sits down with dancer, choreographer and breathwork facilitator Taane Mete . Taane shares the story of a life shaped by movement — from childhood imagination and the freedom he found in dance, to performing with some of Aotearoa’s most respected companies, exploring drag, and eventually guiding others through breathwork, yog...

Send us Fan Mail For the first time on Takatāpui Talk , the host becomes the guest. In this deeply personal episode, award-winning journalist and broadcaster Claudette Hauiti turns the microphone on Donald Hollingsworth — internationally recognised hair and makeup artist, salon owner, and creator of Takatāpui Talk . Together they explore Donald's childhood in Rotorua, growing up Takatāpui, th...

Send us Fan Mail Claudette Hauiti — Media, Politics, Identity & Belonging In this episode of Takatāpui Talk , Donald Hollingsworth sits down with broadcaster, political journalist, media leader, sports enthusiast, and proud mother Claudette Hauiti. From her upbringing in Aotearoa to her years in the media spotlight and the halls of Parliament, Claudette shares a deeply personal journey of iden...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful and deeply personal episode of Takatāpui Talk, I sit down with playwright, storyteller and proud uri of Ngāti Hine, Czahn Armstrong. Together we explore identity, whakapapa, grief, whānau, creativity and the journey home to Te Ao Māori. From memories of his father and childhood in the North, to the origins of his play ĀE WOMAN — inspired by the true story of his g...

Send us Fan Mail Tonight on Takatāpui Talk we kōrero with Woshē Williams — a proud whakawāhine whose story is filled with honesty, humour, resilience, identity, and heart. 🌈 In this deeply personal conversation, Woshē speaks openly about becoming who she is, the relationships that shaped her along the way, and the strength it takes to live authentically in a world that does not always understand...