He has wowed millions of TV viewers in the UK, taken on a big bank and loves working out in the dark. Now Noel Edmonds has brought his positive energy to a tiny town in New Zealand, where he has reportedly bought up NZ$30m (£14.5m) worth of property and is making his mark on the community.
Edmonds, 74, who found fame presenting shows such as Noel’s House Party, Top of the Pops and Deal Or No Deal, moved to New Zealand in 2019 – first to Matakana, north of Auckland, and then to the South Island in 2022.
He lives with his wife, Liz, in the small rural community of Ngātīmoti. An investigation by the media outlet Stuff this week found that the couple had spent $30m on 12 properties in the area.
One is Edmonds’ River Haven estate, which contains a cafe, pub and vineyard and regularly holds events for car enthusiasts as well as the occasional fundraiser, including for the local school.
Edmonds is famously a proponent of the benefits of “positive energy” to fight cancer, soothe plants and comfort pets. In 2016, he offered a pet counselling service, calling cats and dogs to offer them words of affirmation and positivity. He has published a book titled Positively Happy: Cosmic Ways to Change Your Life, has claimed that he is visited by two orbs the size of melons that he believes are his dead parents, and at one stage carried around a lifesize mannequin named Candice Cannes.
The entertainer says he is “busy making a difference” in Ngātīmoti. But one exchange with a local cycling group suggests some differences are more welcome locally than others.
Stuff reported that in August, Belinda Crisp, a contractor to the local council, visited River Haven with a colleague to discuss the possibility of Edmonds allowing a cycle trail – backed by the council and central government – to pass through his land rather than alongside a highway.
Crisp said she told Edmonds the cycle trail would bring thousands of cyclists to his business every year, but Edmonds objected.
“He started saying how dangerous [the cycle trail] was, there had been no consultation with the community, the entire community was up in arms,” she told Stuff. “He accused us of wasting ratepayer money when businesses in Motueka are going under. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He stood up and pointed at us both: ‘You two need your heads cut off and your brains replaced’.”
Stuff’s reporters listened to a recording of part of the exchange and said Edmonds could be heard telling Crisp and her colleague: “All hell’s gonna break loose, right. And while you still have this attitude, you are not welcome here. Don’t even think about having a coffee, having a slice … you are our enemies.”
Edmonds confirmed to Stuff that he had banned the council contractors from the property, saying Crisp was “not our sort of person” and the council should be supporting struggling businesses, not a cycle trail.
Tim King, the mayor of Tasman district, which covers Ngātīmoti, said Edmonds’ views on the cycle trail were “disappointing” but added that it was not the first time the council had run into challenges with individual landowners over the project.
“Some people are really accommodating and others, for a whole range of reasons, aren’t or are rather difficult to deal with,” he said.
King said people could make up their own minds over the tone of the reported exchange between Edmonds and the council’s contractors for the cycle trail, but it was not the sort of language he would condone.
“You can make your point about whether you want or don’t want something without using the language reported to have been used in conjunction with it,” he said.
King said he had not had any personal interactions with Edmonds. “Given his views of councils and local governments, I’m not anticipating an interaction with him any time soon,” he told the Guardian.
Edmonds told Stuff he and his wife had “tried to just tread gently” when it came to assimilating into the community. “I’m sure we upset some people, I’m sure there are people … who are still upset – nothing deliberate, we’ve tried to listen,” he said. “I could have come to New Zealand and bought a large house and just sat in the garden, but it’s not my style.”
When the Guardian sought comment from Edmonds, he said: “We’re so busy making a difference there is no guarantee any questions will elicit a response, but feel free to try.”
When the specific issues raised in Stuff’s story were then put to Edmonds, he turned down the opportunity to answer them by phone or email and said they were best discussed in a face-to-face interview at River Haven, which was not possible for the Guardian in the timeframe.
Edmonds provided the following comment: “My quote for publication borrowed from 100’s of visitors to River Haven last weekend: ‘Utter Bollocks’. Have a great day.”
Edmonds and his wife became New Zealand residents under the investor category by investing NZ$10m (£4.8m) in shares and bonds over three years.
The investor category has come under public scrutiny in recent years for allowing rich foreigners to leverage their wealth and power to gain entry into the country. In 2017, the government faced questions when the billionaire PayPal founder, Peter Thiel, was granted citizenship despite not fulfilling the usual residency requirements and having spent just 12 days in the country.
The criteria have since been changed, now requiring applicants to invest NZ$15m over three years, and preventing investments from going entirely into low-risk investments, such as government bonds.
