The stars of TVNZ1’s The Casketeers have a new baby. It's not an actual baby, a new hearse or even a new leaf blower - it's a book.
The hit TV show is centred around Tipene Funerals, an Auckland funeral service run by husband and wife duo Francis and Kaiora Tipene.
Kaiora said the couple have received requests to hold funeral services overseas since the show landed on Netflix in 2018.
“The response from across the world has been beautiful,” Kaiora said. “Actually, we’re getting requests from overseas where people ring up and they’re like, ‘My son’s passed away. What would it take for you to come over here and look after my son, ‘cause we absolutely love you.’”
Kaiora said some people have become starstruck while coming across the couple during funeral services, especially towards Mr Tipene.
“Halfway through the aisle, you know, as you’re transferring the casket, you got fans on the side that want to stop and say, ‘Hey! Can we have a selfie?’ and you’re like, ‘OK, not now,'" she said.
“’Let’s place the casket up and we’ll have a selfie,’” Francis added.
The Tipenes' new book, Life as a Casketeer, delves deep into the funeral directors' personal lives, including Kaiora’s battle with postnatal depression.
“Sharing those experiences, I felt helped me through that journey as well,” Kaiora said. “I like to think that I’d be able to help others.”
“The postnatal depression that my wife went through, it was quite a shocking thing for us. It was like, ‘Oh my goodness! We just wanted to really normalise it and say, ‘Kete pai, we get the flu, the kids had just had the chicken pox, you’ve had postnatal depression, we’re gunna sort it out. It’s OK,’” Francis added.
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