- Jordan Vandermade, former children’s TV presenter and Lotto host, has returned to auctioneering real estate.
- After a four-year break, he renewed his licence and joined Harcourts Hamilton, balancing TV commitments.
- Vandermade praises Hamilton’s affordability and opportunities, enjoying his new role and the city’s pace.
Jordan Vandermade has a new but oddly familiar job. The former children’s TV presenter turned Lotto man is back calling winning numbers as lead auctioneer for Harcourts in Hamilton.
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The 39-year-old has been gracing NZ’s TV screens for years, most recently as the man from Chemist Warehouse ads. He also had a side career selling houses in Auckland, but now, after a four-year hiatus and a move to the Tron, he’s throwing himself into real estate once again.
Vandermade started off hosting popular children’s show Studio 2 before landing a job as one of the Lotto presenters 16 years ago – a role he still cherishes.
The 39-year-old father-of-one told OneRoof that TV had been the one constant in his life and what continued to pay the bills when he decided to take a break from property in 2022.
His partner, Bianca, was from Hamilton and had wanted to be closer to family after the birth of their daughter, Quincy. For a while, Vandermade split his time between Auckland and Hamilton, but now he’s well and truly settled in his new digs.
Vandermade with his partner Bianca in 2017. The pair have settled into Hamilton life. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
Vandermade is known to most Kiwis as host of the Lotto draw. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The return of his real estate itch was a surprise. Without telling anyone (except for his partner Bianca), he quietly renewed his salesperson’s licence, which had lapsed.
He then reached out to his friend, award-winning auctioneer Mark McGoldrick, who had been leading Harcourts Hamilton’s auctions for the past few years.
“I said, ‘Hey mate, I just want to catch up and talk about how to get back into auctioneering, and I’m really keen to do it here in Hamilton’. And lo and behold, that one phone call – the first person I talk to – he said, ‘I need to catch up with you because I’m leaving’.”
Vandermade said what happened next was “surreal”. Within weeks, he was back calling his first auction in years. “It moved really quickly, but also very surreal how it came about. Almost divine intervention in a sense. It just felt right.”
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The owners of Harcourts Hamilton, Campbell Scott and Trent Finlay, had been supportive of his TV commitments and the MCing he does for Chiefs home games (which was quite fitting since Harcourts is a main sponsor of the Waikato / Bay of Plenty team).
Chemist Warehouse also moved their monthly production day for advertorials, so it didn’t clash with Harcourts auctions on Thursdays. Even his teaching job at Les Mills fits in because he takes mainly early morning classes before getting suited and booted and walking across the road to his auction job.
Although it’s still early days, Vandermade is pumped. “At the moment – I’m only three weeks in – she’s busy, sheesh she’s busy, but honestly, I love it. It’s what I’ve been hoping for.”
When he spoke to OneRoof, he’d just completed his second at the podium. “It was awesome to get that side of my new role out of the way and get back up there. It was great, I really enjoyed it,” he said. “I was pretty nervous – in a good way – and it was sweet.”
Vandermade broke into TV as a children’s presenter. Photo / Supplied
The host also did a memorable stint on Celebrity Treasure Island in 2023. Photo / Supplied
Vandermade said it was refreshing to be able to call auctions in Hamilton, where prices were more affordable. The born and bred Aucklander was surprised more people hadn’t made the move to the city.
“It comes to the price of property, it comes to the fact that traffic is amazing down here, a little bit slower paced to be able to allow you to ... enjoy the city,” he said.
He could drive up to Auckland in an hour and a half to present Lotto at TVNZ’s office and return the same day, but also get from one side of Hamilton to the other in about 10 minutes.
“You can really feel the energy in and around the city. There are some amazing developments in Hamilton East, the new performing arts centre [theatre], the Hamilton Hotel and the refurb of heritage buildings here.”
He could also vouch for how much more affordable house prices were, he said, because he and his partner had bought their first home together, and he knew the same property in Auckland would be hundreds of thousands of dollars more.
“And that’s the nature of the beast down here. It isn’t one of the major cities yet, but the opportunity to be able to purchase at a considerably lower level before it starts to spike and people start to catch on.”
- Click here to find properties for sale in Hamilton
