Paul Henry tells Spy about the new season of The Traitors NZ and why he’s scuttled plans to sell his boat.

Legendary broadcaster Paul Henry has revealed fresh details about the new season of The Traitors NZ, explaining why he is no longer selling his boat and how he feels about the imminent birth of his daughter Bella’s twins.

The host of The Traitors NZ says there is a new look for the show’s second season, and a new mystery location. He also thinks it is good there are no celebrities this time on Three’s version of the hit global reality franchise.

“I am a little more extreme in my image and my style than last time, I am more embedded in my game, the show is much darker this time around,” Henry tells Spy.

In a game where he loves being in control, he is playing himself even more, which he says is reflected in his clothing and mannerisms.

His trademark cane and hats are back, this time accessorised with four fashion-forward styles of eyewear.

In episode one Henry looks dandy with a 70s-style tan suit and flower lapel, paired with Harry Potter-style glasses. However, it’s his steam punk tinted spectacles that are his favourite.

“They are the personification of the phrase ‘style over substance’ as I can barely see through them, but I wear them anyway because I like how they look,” he says.

The second season of the show has moved from the quaint hotel north of Auckland (the location of the first season) to a manor in the deep south, which Henry describes as very Wuthering Heights with a dark past.

Producers have got in line with the flavour of the show’s United Kingdom version, in a Scottish Castle, and found our own version in Timaru: Castle Claremont on Mt Horrible Rd.

At more than 130 years old, the manor has ghost stories including a haunted shower block and a chapel built in the mid-20th century by the Catholic Marist Brothers who bought the property in 1932 for use as a training centre for priests.

After 1980, the manor became an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre.

“The Claremont Manor house we are using is perfectly suited to a game based on deceit and lies, as is the weather of the South Island countryside – the mist hangs, hiding the truth in the valleys.”

Another change-up this season is producers ditching the combination of celebrities and influencers; this time all the players are unknown.

“I think it actually works much better because the audience will get to know these people without any pre-conceived ideas and the players also have no pre-conceived image of themselves,” he says.

Henry says without celebrity shadows in the mix, the players this time absorb themselves in the game much more quickly and they focus on the task at hand much more.

“They are all from vastly different walks of life, not knowing each other means they can strike hot when they arrive, and they are from vastly different walks of life.”

Henry is passionate about the “extraordinary” game and how much producers have ratcheted things up with harder challenges and prize money raised to $100,000.

“It will surprise the audience as they get to know the players, they get completely immersed in the psychological warfare of the game and as they play hard, their true personalities come out.”

He reminds viewers that when players are not being filmed, they are on their own in a room unable to watch TV, so they are all consumed by the “horrific” game.

Usually abroad, Henry is living through his first winter in New Zealand in years – he says some of the cold mornings have come as quite a shock – and his daughter Bella and her husband Julyan Collett are awaiting the arrival of their twins.

Bella finished employment with Three this week, where she has worked as head of hair and make-up for over a decade, and is preparing for her new chapter of motherhood.

He’s “so proud of Bella” and so thrilled about the twins.

“Everything’s going extremely well,” he says.

“It’s a textbook pregnancy but you have to be very careful saying that because things can spin on a dime but she’s 34 weeks now, so things are going well.

“I’m hugely excited and the reason that I haven’t gone back to Palm Springs is because I’m waiting to be here for the birth.”

He is also proud of his alcohol brand, The Henry, which he says is going fabulously, with Beverage Brothers now the distributor. He says they are already talking about new bottles and labels.

Also new is a change of heart about his famous boat. Late last year Henry made headlines for putting his $3.7m yacht Olive – named after his beloved late mother – up for sale.

“I’ve taken her off the market. There was a bigger boat I was looking at, but I realised as people started to enquire about Olive and get interested, perhaps the last thing, I need is a bigger boat,” he reveals.

“So, I’m really looking forward to a summer on Olive and taking her overseas next year.”