{"id":648197,"date":"2026-11-01T22:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T22:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/648197\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T22:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T22:28:10","slug":"former-shortland-street-star-reuben-milner-expecting-first-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/648197\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Shortland Street star Reuben Milner expecting first baby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheThe star says he’ll be over the moon as long as the baby’s healthy. Photo \/ Kirsty Joy Photography<\/p>\n

The two first met when Reuben moved north after Shorty to take up a job delivering early-intervention mental health programmes in schools. First bumping into each other at the gym where Rhiana worked, 18 months later, their paths crossed again at a school where Reuben was mentoring youth and she was a trainee teacher. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were talking online, then started hanging out together and one thing led to another,\u201d recalls Reuben. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe clicked,\u201d adds Rhiana. \u201cWe had the same values and cultures, and we just felt comfortable with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both are delighted to be raising their tamariki in the town they love. While Reuben was born in Auckland, he moved to Whang\u0101rei \u2013 where both his parents are from \u2013 at the age of 10. <\/p>\n

It was at Whang\u0101rei Boys\u2019 High School that his love of acting began, although he says he\u2019d long had a passion for performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum always called me a drama queen! When I was about six, she got me a duvet cover that said \u2018drama queen\u2019 on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taken under the wing of his \u201camazing\u201d drama teacher \u2013 and studying alongside his classmate and distant cousin Louis Davis, now New Zealand\u2019s top influencer \u2013 Reuben was encouraged to take part in workshops and school holiday programmes, which eventually led to him auditioning for Shorty.<\/p>\n

\"ReubenReuben (centre) in Shortland Street. Photo \/ Matt Klitscher<\/p>\n

Originally arriving on set in a guest role, the self-described \u201cgentle giant\u201d quickly became a core cast member before the decision was made to bring Jack out as gay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, I was about 18, so I was a bit against the idea, but I said yes because I really loved doing that job and wanted to continue being an actor,\u201d says Reuben, adding that late Shorty actor Pua Magasiva<\/a> helped him realise what a gift his character was.<\/p>\n

\u201cPua was a big role model for me. He used to say, \u2018Bro, who cares? I\u2019ve done so many auditions where I\u2019ve had to kiss boys and stuff.\u2019 Because he was such a well-known person and I was so young, I took that to heart and eventually I just didn\u2019t care what anyone thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over time, Reuben came to appreciate the perspective his Shorty role gave him. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a connection person who avoids conflict, but some of the stuff Jack went through opened my eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being an actor has also prepared Reuben for his new career as a real estate agent with Bayleys Whang\u0101rei. He says being a familiar face helps.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still get recognised as Jack. My mum and other people say, \u2018It\u2019s been four years now!\u2019 but I\u2019m like, \u2018I would\u2019ve been in people\u2019s living rooms for eight years at peak times while they were growing up.\u2019 When people come up to me now, I\u2019ll turn it into a conversation to let them know what I\u2019m doing. I\u2019m just happy to be back home and part of my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acting, meanwhile, remains in his heart. Whether it\u2019s local theatre or a possible return to the screen, Reuben isn\u2019t ruling anything out. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love it with everything I\u2019ve got. I\u2019ll always take it throughout my life and have a passion for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ReubenReuben with partner Rhiana Bates. Photo \/ Kirsty Joy Photography<\/p>\n

However, for Reuben \u2013 who has five nieces and nephews \u2013 and Rhiana, their focus is now firmly on first-time parenthood.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing Reuben with kids solidified that we were ready for the next step,\u201d says Rhiana. <\/p>\n

Reuben adds, \u201cI want to be a supportive dad who\u2019s there for every part of my child\u2019s life. I want them to be happy and to feel comfortable to come to me whenever they have problems.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The star says he’ll be over the moon as long as the baby’s healthy. Photo \/ Kirsty Joy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3376,6794,9828,156,13245,1888,9189,2740,22137,305,16718,22259,424,5158,5978,317598,317599,111,139,69,4517,61492,479,220944,161242,7812,5411,2737,5424,5412,1529,56524,1530],"class_list":["post-648197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-actor","tag-baby","tag-different","tag-entertainment","tag-expecting","tag-first","tag-follow","tag-former","tag-hannah","tag-have","tag-him","tag-jack","tag-life","tag-man","tag-might","tag-milner","tag-navigated","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-past","tag-played","tag-relationships","tag-reuben","tag-script","tag-seen","tag-shortland","tag-star","tag-street","tag-streets","tag-three","tag-tumultuous","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648197","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=648197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}