When the Covid-19 lockdown was announced in March, former TVNZ Breakfast star Rawdon Christie once again changed gears in his career.
Christie was everyone's friend over breakfast for five years, before getting the axe in 2016.
Since then he has spent most of his time working at conferences and running his own media relations business.
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"When the lockdown was announced in March, most of my work for the year was wiped out," Christie told nzherald.co.nz.
"I enrolled at the Open Polytech and now, five months later, I have my Real Estate licence."
Christie, who started his TV career as a journalist with the BBC in the UK, was snapped by Auckland's largest real estate agency, Barfoot and Thompson, which had previously approached him about joining as an agent.
"I've just started working for Barfoot & Thompson in my local suburb and I absolutely love it," he said.
Christie, his wife Jo and their three teenage children, live in one of Auckland's most sought-after suburbs, Remuera, where homes typically sell well above the $1 million the mark (this year one prized home in the suburb fetched $8 million at a recent Barfoot and Thompson auction).
That's not all the 50-something Colin Firth-lookalike achieved during the lockdown.
"I also gave up the beer, got on the bike and lost 10kg," he said.
This hasn't been missed by his Instagram followers, many of whom have responded to his post wondering if he's found an anti-ageing serum.
"There's been no digital enhancement and the hair's my own!" he said, excited about the new step in his career.
"I've been a teacher, a broadcaster and a business owner … but working in real estate is my most natural 'fit'. I spend all day helping people in my own community with some huge decisions and making the buying and selling of property a positive experience."
Christie said he had always been interested in property but it was his friend Peter Thompson, managing director of Barfoot and Thompson, who really spurred his interest.
"I've always had a huge amount of respect and time for Peter and I liked Barfoot and Thompson's high ethical standards."
"Serendipity" helped, Rawson says, as one of his last MC gigs before March lockdown was with the NZ Realtors Assocation, a national network of real estate agencies that includes Barfoot and Thompson.
"I was listening to inspiring people involved in the industry, so it was a very easy decision to call up Carolyn [Vernon, Barfoot and Thompson Remuera branch manager] and say are you still interested?"
He admits his timing isn't brilliant. "I started last Monday. It's a great day to start a relationship-based business when you can't even get into the office. My colleagues keep apologising over Zoom meetings," he says dryly.
"But I believe if it's going to be easy, it's not worth doing. I've always relied on self-motivation, and there are so many systems to learn and properties to research."
Christie joins a range of famous faces to flip houses. Former Shortland Street star Angela Bloomfield and former league player Manu Vatuvei recently revealed their career changes joining former sports reporter Hamish McKay, TV personalities Sally Ridge and Jayne Kiely, former league player Logan Swann and Headless Chickens' singer Fiona McDonald in the industry.
And Shortland Street's "Dom", Shane Cortese, has been successfully calling auctions on Auckland's North Shore for several years now.
