Teal Mau has run a salon in Wellington for more than 25 years and is running for a seat on council to support local businesses. Video / Ethan Manera
A flamboyant Wellington hairdresser who rose to fame thanks to his skills in the kitchen has announced he wants to be a Wellington City Councillor.
Teal Mau and wife Sophia were contestants on reality TV show My Kitchen Rules in 2017. The pair were dubbed fan favourites and placed third.
Mau said he was “quite disappointed at the time” not to win but was uplifted by the support from Wellingtonians.
He said the couple “couldn’t walk around the street together” without being recognised.
Jump forward eight years and the pair are embarking on their next team challenge - a spot on Wellington City Council for Teal with Sophia his campaign manager.
The 59-year-old Vietnamese-Cambodian refugee plans to run for the city’s Pukehīnau Lambton ward in October’s election on a platform of supporting businesses doing it tough in the city.
“I feel that now more than ever business owners need to have a voice”, he told the Herald.
Wellington salon owner Teal Mau is running for Wellington City Council with wife Sophia as his campaign manager. Photo / Ethan Manera
Mau will officially launch his campaign on July 4, Independence Day in the United States, which he said signifies him standing as an independent candidate.
Running Wellington’s Mau Hairdressing in the city for more than 25 years, he said businesses are crying out for help and need to be better supported by the city council.
The father of two said the number of young Wellingtonians leaving the city makes him angry, and the council hasn’t done enough to make the capital an attractive option to the city’s youth.
“We see so many projects - I’m not against it, but I think timing is really important and treat it like a business in some way [...] because ultimately it’s the younger generation that have to pay those debts, and that’s just not good enough.”
Mau featured on reality TV cooking competition My Kitchen Rules in 2017. Photo / Supplied.
Other priorities include the city’s public transport system and improving the culture around the council table, which he said saddens him.
“The way that they engage with each other, I think it’s very frustrating.”
He wants to take his shears to council’s expenditure, with a focus on “smart, accountable spending” as well as revitalising the city centre and better engaging with both businesses and residents.
Mau arrived in Wellington in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam with his parents and six siblings.
The family moved into a home in Mt Victoria’s Pirie St.
“We all slept downstairs near the kitchen because it was a lot warmer, we struggled as a family,” he said.
Teal Mau (front right in the brown shirt) with his family in Vietnam before moving to New Zealand. Photo / Supplied.
He believes it was his humble upbringing that gave him his work ethic.
The couple now live on Wakefield St above their inner-city salon with their 13-year-old daughter.
During his time on My Kitchen Rules, many fans noted Mau’s striking resemblance to Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp. The council hopeful said it is “flattering” but noted he doesn’t style himself off the US actor.
He later sent a message saying his answer to that question is “parley” - a term that is part of the pirate code in The Pirates of the Carribean movie franchise and used by Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp’s character.
Wellington salon owner Teal Mau is running for Wellington City Council. Photo / Supplied.
Mau said his decision to run for the Lambton ward comes from his view the CBD “is the engine of our Wellington City”.
As for who may take the top job round the council table come October, Mau isn’t endorsing a mayoral candidate but said he would welcome whoever emerges as the successful winner.
He said he doesn’t belong to any political party and would accept and work constructively with anyone around the council table, which he believes isn’t what is happening currently.
Ethan Manera New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
