Drew Ne'emia

Drew Ne'emia
Born	(1985-05-28) 28 May 1985 (age 39) Wellington, New Zealand
Years active	1988–present
Television	McDonald's Young Entertainers[1]

Drew Ne'emia (born 28 May 1985) is a New Zealand television presenter and director. In 2022, he announced that his last name is Ne'emia, not Neemia, as had been previously used.^[2]

Early life

Ne'emia attended Hutt International Boys' School.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Ne'emia has been involved in the New Zealand entertainment industry since the age of three, doing television advertisements which led the way to various children's television drama series. His first major role was in the television series The Legend of William Tell. He was a Super Trouper in the television series McDonald's Young Entertainers for its duration of three years until 1999.^[1]

Ne'emia hosted Sticky TV^[3] a kids/teen program, on TV3 from 2006 on which he worked with Sam Wallace, Julia Bloore (née Wright), Erin Simpson and Kanoa Lloyd. He officially left the show on 1 May 2009.

Ne'emia co-hosted Drew and Shannon Live on Four (previously C4) until 2012. Drew and Shannon Live was a popular music and entertainment based show from 4.30pm-6pm weekdays. Previously Ne'emia hosted 'Select Live' on C4.^[4]

As a singer, Ne'emia performed on numerous occasions at Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park.^[5]

In 2013, Ne'emia teamed up with New Zealand rap group Smashproof singing the hook on the single "Paint Fade".^[6] The song was number 1 on the overall iTunes chart for two weeks. "Paint Fade" went on to make the top 10 on the 'Official New Zealand Top 40' chart, peaking at number 6.

Ne'emia began directing in 2014.

In 2022, Ne'emia was a contestant on the second season of The Masked Singer NZ, where he finished in second place.^[2]

Personal life

In 2016, Ne'emia began training with New Zealand heavyweight boxing legend David Tua. In November 2016, he debuted in the boxing ring, winning by unanimous decision. His next bout will be scheduled mid 2017.^{[needs update]} He has reportedly dedicated his life to martial arts.^[7]

In 2022, after being unmasked on The Masked Singer NZ, he announced that his last name is actually Ne'emia.^[2][8]

References

1. "Flashback Friday: Where in the world is Drew Neemia?". Stuff.co.nz. 7 February 2019.
2. Reitsma, Bethany (2 October 2022). "The Masked Singer NZ: Unicorn crowned the winner - but who is she?". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
3. Shows - Kids - TV - FOUR Archived 27 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Sticky TV. Retrieved on 2012-05-02.
4. "Presenter grows up". The New Zealand Herald. 16 April 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
5. Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park. www.christmasinthepark.co.nz
6. "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Archived from the original on 13 March 2017.
7. "The Kiwis who tasted fame and found a new life after the limelight". Stuff. 7 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
8. "Guys, we've all been saying Drew Ne'emia's name wrong this entire time". 3 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.

External links

• Drew Ne'emia at IMDb