Jason Gunn

Jason Gunn (born 26 December 1968) is a New Zealand television host. He is known for The Son of a Gunn Show, What Now, Dancing with the Stars, Wheel of Fortune, and The Rich List, and also the afternoon show on radio station Classic Hits FM. He currently co-hosts More FM’s Drive show with Lana Searle.^[1]

Early career

Gunn said he learned many of his presenting skills in his first few months at Christchurch from the experienced children's TV crew and presenters around him.^[2] He hosted 'After School' (1989) and co-hosted The Son of a Gunn Show (1992–1995) and Jase TV (1992) with his sidekick Thingee, a grey puppet with bulbous eyes. Gunn and Thingee also starred in Jase and Thingees Big Adventure, a straight-to-video kids movie based on The Son of a Gunn Show. Thingee infamously lost an eye during one Son of a Gunn broadcast, though given the show was pre-recorded there is argument that it never appeared on the actual show but only in a blooper reel.^[3]

Present career

Gunn became the co-host of the Classic Hits FM Breakfast show for Christchurch in 2009. In July 2012, he moved to a nationwide networked show with co-host Dave Fitzgerald. While other Classic Hits nationwide shows are broadcast from Auckland, the afternoon drive show "Jase and Dave" is broadcast from Christchurch.^[4] However, citing family reasons, he resigned from this position at the end of 2013 and broadcast his last show on 20 December 2013. In August 2016, he was the host of the New Zealand version of the UK show You're Back In The Room.

A patron of the National Youth Theatre Company of New Zealand (NYTC), Gunn also runs a production and facilities company, Whitebait-TV, in Christchurch with his wife, Janine Morrell-Gunn, for which he writes, directs and produces for television, including children's show, What Now and oversees the production of television commercials.^[5]

Filmography

• Wheel of Fortune (2008–2009)
• The Rich List (2007–2008)
• Dancing with the Stars (2005–2009)
• Bumble (2000)
• McDonald's Young Entertainers (1997–1999)
• New Zealand's Funniest Home Videos (1993–1995)
• The Son of a Gunn Show (1992–1995)
• Jase TV (1992)
• What Now (1991–1993) (2003–present as production manager, creative writer, and director)
• "New Zealand Celebrity Treasure Island" (2001)
• After School (1988)
• Small Talk
• After 2 (1989–1991)
• Look Who's Famous Now
• You're Back in The Room (2016)

References

External links

• Jason Gunn at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Gunn biography on NZ On Screen