Straight Up: Former Black Fern Melodie Robinson on women's rugby, world firsts and Celebrity Treasure Island

Melodie Robinson: ''I'm not sure if people notice, but I never wear my hair straight anymore. No way.'' Photo / Getty Images

Melodie Robinson is a woman of many firsts. The former Black Fern, who won two World Cup titles during her time with the team, went on to become the world's first female rugby commentator, and the first New Zealand Māori to have a role model Barbie doll made in her likeness.

These days, Robinson is TVNZ's General Manager, Sports and Events, where she is leading their strategy for coverage of global sporting events.

In a wide-ranging chat with Niva Retimanu and Beatrice Faumuina on the new season of the NZ Herald's Straight Up podcast, Robinson chats about being a pioneer in sports and media ahead of the kick-off of the Women's Rugby World Cup at Eden Park.

While they talk at length about her wide-ranging career, Robinson has most recently garnered attention for her role in the ongoing season of Celebrity Treasure Island.

She said her decision to take part in the latest season came as a result of losing her dad during lockdown.

''He was in Cairns during the Auckland lockdown. We couldn't get him back. 'I know that heaps of other people have experienced this over the last couple of years. Being Māori that's significant.

"He was a whāngai too, so was raised in Akaroa instead of Little River where his mum and dad were. And so you need to bring your people back to the marae, to be buried... in their home.

"We had an online tangi, which is interesting in itself, because with tikanga, photos of the deceased is not the done thing.

''So we had to have a bit of a discussion with the family, which ended up in my sister telling everybody. 'F off, we're doing it'."

Robinson's family managed to have another in-person funeral for her father in February.

Melodie Robinson, with fellow broadcaster Laura McGoldrick, speaks to the crowd during the Rugby World Cup 2021 Draw event at the SKYCITY Theatre in 2020 in Auckland. Photo / Getty Images

Robinson says her father's passing emphasised the importance of taking advantage of life.

This led to her agreeing to take part in Celebrity Treasure Island, something Robinson says she would have rejected if she was in her "right mind".

"When you are involved in commentary or presenting you're very much in control of what you say [and how you present yourself].

"[But in] reality TV. You see yourself at a 360 angle. You never [normally] get to see yourself from behind. Oh no, my god! And then, reality TV is designed to put you under a bit of stress.

"I'm glad I did [Celebrity Treasure Island] because to see Warner [Bros.] in action, they are a machine. I did find it super challenging."

Also challenging for Robinson was transitioning from playing rugby and reporting politics into live rugby commentary.

"[It was] announced at the SANZAAR broadcast meeting that they were bringing in a young Black Fern. Fox Sport and Super Sport were like, 'nah'. They did it anyway.

"For the audience, suddenly this young girl is commentating rugby, a game that's 'a man's game'. And so when I turned on Radio Sport the next morning it was just all the audience ringing up and abusing me."

Robinson was determined to prove she was up to the job.

However, even the provided clothing, makeup and hair stylists showed that the systems around sports media were unprepared for her.

"They didn't even have female clothes for me to wear, and their sponsorship was with [menswear store] Rodd and Gunn.

''The owner there, Mike - what a fabulous guy, he went 'Oooh, we don't have any clothes for you. Right. Let's make some clothes for her'. So they actually made jackets for me."

That wasn't the only way it was made clear that Robinson didn't fit the established mould.

"I had many comments about my naturally curly hair. One producer said to me, 'We have to Caucasian-ise you'. We had a lovely head of makeup. She hadn't come across curly hair like mine before so I'd end up with this big bush of crap.

"So I'm not sure if people notice, but I never wear my hair straight anymore. No way."

Robinson's true north remains rugby and she's excited about the growth and growing following of the women's game.

"It's been an amazing transition. Men now love women's rugby. They see it as a different product to the All Blacks, and they really appreciate it.

''So let's hope that ends up in ticket sales for the Woman's World Cup."

• Straight Up with Niva and Beatrice iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes come out on Saturday mornings.

• You can find more New Zealand Herald podcasts at nzherald.co.nz/podcasts or on iHeartRadio.