No one can accuse them of not being able to keep a secret.
Queenstowners Regan Pearce, 45, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Regan Pomare, 31, Ngāpuhi, are about to make their reality TV debut as ‘Team Red’ on Three’s long-awaited Tracked.
Word on the street is the first episode may be dropping Friday, May 19.
Hosted by Hollywood hardman Vinnie Jones, Tracked follows eight international teams of two, surviving in extreme weather conditions while trying to evade capture from the world’s best military trackers — and fighting for the $100,000 winners’ prize.
Each episode tracks teams as they navigate their way from the ‘drop zone’ to the ‘extraction point’, fulfilling a mission brief while evading capture.
If teams get caught, or don’t make the extraction point in time, it’s game over.
Pearce and Pomare — back country hardmen who both have more than a healthy dose of competitive spirit — have known each other for a few years, having crossed paths playing each others’ teams at six-a-side cricket.
‘‘It was like looking at my younger doppelganger,’’ Pearce laughs.
He was encouraged to apply for Tracked by a mate in Wānaka, and though it appealed, he needed a teammate.
Pomare, his best mate, was the obvious choice.
Originally from Hamilton, Pomare spent eight-and-a-half years in the army and is used to living with his ‘‘house’’ on his back.
‘‘It wasn’t a far cry from what I was used to back in the day,’’ he says.
And, in a fortunate twist of fate, both men were already well-conditioned.
While Pomare likes to stay ready for anything, Pearce spent a year training for last year’s Coast to Coast — cancelled at the 11th hour due to Covid restrictions.
‘‘Literally two days after we got the news about Coast to Coast we got the phonecall to say, ‘boys, you’re in’,’’ Pearce says.
‘‘It was just perfect timing.’’
Going for it: Tracked’s Team Red, Queenstowners Regan Pomare, left, and Regan Pearce
Pomare, who’d just started his own building company, Ascent Homes, had to work out how to project manage remotely, but Pearce had to make the tough call to quit his job to make the most of the opportunity.
That, along with leaving behind his wife, Mel — who’s been ‘‘incredibly supportive and understanding’’ — and four young daughters, provided a huge amount of drive, though.
‘‘I sacrificed so much to go and do it … it gave me more motivation.’’
An added factor for ‘The Regans’ during the adventure was Pearce’s type-1 diabetes, a condition he was diagnosed with when he was 10.
Pearce, who’s working for B&A Digging, says a sensor in his arm was a ‘‘massive asset’’.
‘‘To be able to scan it and get an instant reading, knowing what that blood sugar was doing was critical for us to either move fast or … stop because I need something to eat.’’
It also meant the pair had to carry twice the amount of food as other teams, while Pomare also carried Pearce’s water for the duration.
Pearce says the hardest thing since they left Tracked has been keeping their result a secret from his mum, Wendy, whom he jokes
is ‘‘like the Christchurch Woman’s Weekly’’.
And while they have to stay mum a bit longer, both men are proud of what they’ve achieved.
Pearce went in wanting to win; make his family proud; return, no matter what, with Pomare as his mate; compete with integrity; and
enjoy every moment of the opportunity and experience.
‘‘I can tell you, I achieved four of five objectives.’’
As for the fifth?
‘‘You’ll need to watch to find out.’’
