Focus Live: Immigration, abortion and party funding - NZ Herald's Will Trafford has a one on one with Destiny's Hannah Tamaki.
Destiny Church's Hannah Tamaki will not appear on reality show Dancing with the Stars, MediaWorks has confirmed.
"Our announcement for this year's Dancing with the Stars cast is scheduled for the end of March, however we are taking the unusual step to confirm Hannah Tamaki will not be part ofthat lineup," a MediaWorks spokesperson said.
"It was originally planned for Hannah to take part in the show. We now recognise this was a mistake and we apologise.
"We have seen a very strong reaction, some of which has been extreme and concerning and MediaWorks does not condone bullying. We would be failing in our duty of care to everyone if we continued as planned.
"We will be reviewing our decision making processes to make sure we get it right in the future."
How the Herald on Sunday's Spy section broke the Hannah Tamaki story.
The Herald on Sunday revealed on the weekend that Tamaki was set to waltz her way onto our screens in the reality TV show.
Spy reported Tamaki and transgender personality Mary Haddock-Staniland were both being lined up for the show.
Destiny Church's Hannah Tamaki was to appear on the show. Photo / file
The news was widely panned, with loyal viewers hitting out at Tamaki's casting; with many saying it sent a terrible message given some of the widely-reported comments made by Tamaki and her husband, and Destiny Church founder Brian.
"Casting Hannah Tamaki isn't an edgy take, it's a smack in the face to some of our most vulnerable communities," one Twitter user wrote.
"So ridiculous. I definitely won't be watching this garbage," another said. Commenters on the NZ Herald Facebook page say they won't be tuning in if she is a dancer.
"It's a stunt and no I won't watch her," one person said.
A user also accused the show of "scraping the bottom of the barrel" to find contestants to compete on the reality show.
Tamaki and her husband have previously been outspoken about their negative views of the LGBTQ+ community - in 2015 he claimed "gay power" was taking over the world and that a whole generation of children will be bisexual because the "perversion of homosexuality is leading the charge".
Hannah Tamaki announced in November that her political party Vision NZ would ban "new mosques, temples, and other foreign buildings of worship" if elected.
In June last year Brian Tamaki offered up an apology to the rainbow community.
The New Zealand format of the reality show has had eight seasons. Contestants range from television personalities and actors to sports stars and politicians. They are paired up with skilled ballroom dancers and compete for charity.
