Mela Cleave and Geoffrey McKeagg will be glued to the TV this week to catch a glimpse of themselves on their favourite show.
Shortland St scenes filmed in Rotorua in May are screening tomorrow and Friday.
The Rotorua Intellectual Disability Empowerment in Action [IDEA] Service users are Shortland Street mad.
In late May they were both chosen as extras for Rotorua scenes.
Geoffrey said it had been an "awesome" opportunity for he and Mela.
"I'm so excited about being on TV. I wasn't scared at all.
"It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it," he said.
Geoffrey was impressed he got to meet four of his favourite characters during filming too.
"I really like TK [Benjamin Mitchell] the best but it was nice to meet Libby [Fleur Saville], Craig [Renato Bartolomei] and Huia [Nicola Kawana] too," he said.
Mela was also rather swayed by the young actor known as TK on the show.
"He's my best friend now," she told the Daily Post.
All Mela was prepared to divulge was that the pair were acting as tourists lining up for a ticket to ride Rotorua's gondolas.
As for the rest of the plot, "you will have to wait and see," she said.
Idea Service employment coordinator John Cunningham said playing the part of extras in the popular New Zealand series had been an opportunity of a lifetime for the pair.
"It has given them a different experience in life. It's not something everyone gets to do," he said.
"It's good for people with disabilities to be seen and noticed.
"All their peers are excited and looking forward to seeing them on television too."
Scenes were filmed at several locations including Skyline Skyrides, Te Puia and the Royal Lakeside Novotel. The Novotel is hosting a special screening of the first episode tomorrow night.
The Rotorua extras featured in the episodes have been praised on the Shortland Street page on TVNZ's website. "One of the features of the Rotorua scenes were the fantastically professional local extras who provided essential background as conference delegates, tourists and other travellers," the publicity for the episodes states. The episodes centre on an international emergency medicine conference being held at the Novotel.
The Rotorua storyline is the first Shortland Street has shot outside Auckland since the show visited Fiji two years ago.
- Additional reporting Mike Mather
Is it you or is it me? Spot the local on TV
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.