A year and a half ago Petra Bagust revealed to NZ Woman's Weekly her family were embracing a more humble lifestyle since she gave up the big bucks at TVNZ.
In the article, Bagust was championing the cause of Tearfund, where, admirably, her family would live on $2.25 each a day.
"Rather than making chickpea soup or baked beans on toast, I'll make recipes without breaking the $2.25 per person per day threshold," she told the magazine. "Our kids will notice the difference in food and we will donate whatever hasn't been spent on groceries to Tearfund."
Things have moved on. This week, Bagust's husband - the charming Hamish Wilson, a talented freelance cameraman - was filming the luxurious lives of the Real Housewives of Auckland.
We asked Bagust (who, when not caring for their three children, is an in-demand public speaker) how she felt about her husband working with the glamorous housewives. She did not respond.
Real housewife Anne Batley-Burton seems to love working with Wilson. This week she posted a picture with him on Instagram: "Cameraman extraordinaire!!! Wow! Look at that T Shirt!! What a pussy!"
Don't worry, the Champagne lady throws that word around a lot - her other name is the Cat Lady and in the past she has spent a fortune feeding the stray cats of Parnell.
The Real Housewives is in its second week of filming - there have been shoots at the housewives' homes and an outing to a fashion show at Soul Bar and Bistro, where their minders kept fans away. This week, housewives Gilda Kirkpatrick and Michelle Blanchard went shopping at Gucci and Louis Vuitton and, in a bid to gain more social media followers for the show's network, Kirkpatrick filmed a snapchat offering a $1000 Louis Vuitton voucher.
