TV star forced to pay up

Rod Cheeseman. Photo / Supplied

A former TV3 presenter has refunded an $80 taxi fare he charged to a company card three months after jumping ship to TVNZ.

Former Sunrise sports presenter Rod Cheeseman used the TV3 taxi card to pay for a ride to his West Auckland home.

Cheeseman, who now fronts TV One's Skoda Game On with Bernadine Oliver-Kerby, said he used the card because he had no money on him.

Cheeseman said there were no issues with TV3 over using the taxi card. The cards allow companies to pre-pay taxi trips, and are registered in each staff member's name, so transactions can be traced.

"They called me and said, 'You used your card' and I said 'Yeah, I did' and paid it back," said Cheeseman. "I was stranded in the middle of nowhere and had nothing else to pay with. I didn't even think it would work."

Cheeseman said the incident was not a "big deal" and he maintained a good relationship with TV3.

A TV3 source said using the card was "a bit stupid" but there was no need for further action.

Yesterday, Cheeseman turned hero for a Gisborne family when he found and returned a passport and $1000 in New Zealand and Euro dollars that had been stolen from a car near the Viaduct on Friday night.

It belonged to 17-year-old Penelope Kipatrick who yesterday flew to Germany. Cheeseman couriered the money and passport to her family in Gisborne. Penelope flew out with an emergency passport.