{"id":407586,"date":"2026-05-02T00:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T00:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407586\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T00:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T00:45:12","slug":"black-fern-portia-woodman-wickliffe-on-celebrity-treasure-island-and-life-after-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407586\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Fern Portia Woodman-Wickliffe on Celebrity Treasure Island and life after rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BlackBlack Ferns rugby legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is used to carving it up on the field, but she\u2019s facing a whole new challenge as one of the castaways on Celebrity Treasure Island. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

In February, Woodman-Wickliffe (Ng\u0101puhi) announced her retirement from international rugby for the second time, finally drawing the curtain on a career that had her at the very top of the game for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

Now she is stepping into the unknown, signing on for reality TV show Celebrity Treasure Island<\/a>, proving champions don\u2019t stop when the game does. <\/p>\n

Before filming, and standing just shy of where she was raised in Kaikohe, Woodman\u2011Wickliffe pauses and takes it all in, momentarily at a loss for words. Returning home, surrounded by familiar whenua, brings the scale of her journey into focus. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m speechless because I\u2019m just the girl from Kaikohe who chased her dreams and loved sports, and I\u2019ve gone off and done some amazing things and inspired some people. So to come back here on this beautiful land of M\u0101ori whenua makes me so proud.\u201d <\/p>\n

For the rugby star, the connection to the land is deeply spiritual, and she hopes her story can light a path for others growing up in the Far North. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of where I\u2019m from, and I want to shine some light on the people of the Far North because they don\u2019t always have a good rep. But it\u2019s so important to have big aspirations and dream big so that you have a pathway or have a vision to go somewhere,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think of my nannies, my grandparents, and I hope they\u2019re just extremely proud of what I\u2019ve been able to achieve. I think of all my nieces and nephews and my babies that are yet to come, and how much inspiration, hopefully, they can get from me as well. Not just to chase rugby, but just to chase our dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the Black Ferns, Woodman-Wickliffe won Rugby World Cup titles in 2017 and 2022, World Cup Sevens crowns in 2013 and 2018, Olympic gold and silver medals, and Commonwealth Games gold and bronze. <\/p>\n

She\u2019s also rugby\u2019s ultimate record\u2011breaker – the all\u2011time leading try scorer at Rugby World Cups with 20 (yes, more than any man), the holder of the most tries in a single Black Ferns Test with eight, and the Sevens Series\u2019 greatest try scorer with 256. <\/p>\n

To top it all off, Mattel even made an official Barbie doll in her image<\/a>, which featured her signature curly hair and t\u0101 moko.<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia Woodman-Wickliffe was immortalised in the form of her very own Barbie. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Growing up in a small town, Woodman-Wickliffe says her mother had a clear vision of the life she wanted for her \u201cprincess\u201d. <\/p>\n

But despite the rugby star finding success in rugby – and love with sevens player Renee Woodman-Wickliffe in 2013 – her relationship with her mum was in turmoil. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest challenge was coming out to my mom, with my wife, and the challenges that came with that were disownment and shame from my mum,\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n

Woodman-Wickliffe says she believes the estrangement was rooted in her mum\u2019s fears about what her daughter might miss out on – including the chance to have children.<\/p>\n

The couple married in 2022 and together are raising Renee\u2019s daughter, Kaia, forming a blended wh\u0101nau that Portia speaks of with pride.<\/p>\n

Eventually, she reached out to her mum, explaining that she wanted her in her life, but if she didn\u2019t accept her partner, there was no future for their mother-daughter relationship.<\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia and Renee Woodman-Wickcliffe on their wedding day. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to have a conversation with her and talk to her about the whole thing. That seemed really hard at that time. We got through it and with persistence, love, passion, and resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

With time, wounds healed and new bonds formed, but it remains a formative chapter in her story.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow my wife and my mum are like the same person – same personalities, same star sign, I have the same arguments with both, and they are best friends now. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I\u2019m like, \u2018oh s***, I married my mother\u2019,\u201d she says with a laugh. <\/p>\n

While she and partner Renee are used to being apart because of her busy rugby schedule, this separation is different: while on Celebrity Treasure Island, the pair won\u2019t be able to communicate at all. <\/p>\n

Woodman- Wickliffe says she knows she\u2019s going to struggle without her wife\u2019s support. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut she\u2019s proud because she knows I\u2019m here doing a really good thing for charity.\u201d <\/p>\n

The rugby star is playing for Te R\u014dp\u016b W\u0101hine M\u0101ori Toko i te Ora – the M\u0101ori Women\u2019s Welfare League – which she says uplifts and supports women and their wh\u0101nau. Grounded in kaupapa M\u0101ori, Woodman-Wickliffe says she was drawn to the charity because it empowers w\u0101hine to find their voice and step into leadership, no matter their background. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to represent M\u0101ori and specifically wahine and to be able to give back to a charity, a community like that, speaks so much,\u201d Woodman-Wickliffe explains. <\/p>\n

She says being M\u0101ori and drawing inspiration and strength from her culture has grounded her wherever she\u2019s gone, proudly representing M\u0101ori on the world stage. <\/p>\n

\"PortiaPortia Woodman-Wickliffe makes her mark on Celebrity Treasure Island. Photo \/ TVNZ<\/p>\n

Woodman needed to harness that strength once more as she was revealed as a secret captain on the show, alongside radio host Simon Barnett. The former Black Ferns Sevens leader admits she\u2019sapprehensive about playing captain again. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like being a leader and I didn\u2019t consider myself a leader throughout rugby,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo to be a captain of this thing projected all across the world, I\u2019m so nervous.\u201d <\/p>\n

But she plans on harnessing over a decade of experience being in a team to get the best out of those around her. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in a team environment, you\u2019re used to having different characters and different personalities, and you may not enjoy what they do sometimes, but you\u2019re going to believe in them and you back them 100%. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy job as a captain is to get that connection going and understand who we are as people and make them feel that they belong.\u201d <\/p>\n

But the competitive spirit that served her on the pitch is still burning bright. Woodman-Wickliffe says, even if it breaks her heart, she\u2019s willing to make enemies to bring home the $100,000 prize for her charity. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m going to have to do it, I will do it because I want our team to win and I want to win for my charity. But I will do it in the most loving and passionate and caring way possible,\u201d Woodman-Wickliffe laughs. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut when it gets to game time, we\u2019re on.\u201d <\/p>\n

Celebrity Treasure Island is streaming now on TVNZ 2 & TVNZ+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Black Ferns rugby legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is used to carving it up on the field, but she\u2019s facing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[74,95,7022,430,3623,156,33736,209739,2514,424,13840,37113,111,139,69,90,50635,33121,6327,12633,58228,6923,50636,1530],"class_list":["post-407586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-after","tag-and","tag-black","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-entertainment","tag-fern","tag-greatness","tag-island","tag-life","tag-like","tag-looked","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-portia","tag-rewriting","tag-rugby","tag-spent","tag-treasure","tag-what","tag-woodmanwickliffe","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}