I can hardly believe it’s already the fifth season of Hawaii Five-0! I was at the very first premiere working for Hawaii News Now … no one knew what to expect. Doing a red carpet premiere for a TV show is unusual and none of us had ever done one before! lol We were all designated a general “area” and “assignment” – I was in front of the stage interviewing the crowd. I got to interview the producers – Peter Lenkov, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. As the chevy cars and trucks arrived I was able to make the announcement of their arrival along with Billy V from the Sunset on the Beach stage. I felt like a chicken running around with its head cut off! Scurrying here and there. Photographers actually caught me in the act – bare foot – running in a dress… what can I say? I’m a local girl at heart

 

 

The highlight and the absolutely most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to me LIVE was interviewing the star, Alex O’Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett. I wasn’t pegged as someone on the news team that would be interviewing the big stars but I guess I was in the right place at the right time. I was standing on the red carpet and Alex walked up… all of a sudden, through my IFB (ear piece), I hear my producer yelling in my ear! He’s screaming “grab him! grab him!”… I was so startled, I literally just obeyed my orders and reached out to grab his arm. My heart was pounding… this was LIVE… and I had not prepared questions for the stars since I didn’t anticipate interviewing them. The rest was a blur… it was thrilling and awesome and one of those moments I’ll remember forever.

 

 

That night I ended up also interviewing Al Harrington and Jimmy Borges – two local actors that were in the original series and have bit parts in the re-boot. The night was a whirlwind! It went by so fast and was such a blast! The crowd was amazing… thousands upon thousands of fans showed up from around the world. Truly a cool event and moment.

 

LIVE from the Red Carpet Hawaii Five-0 Premiere

 

 

The second year I was tasked with doing weather from the location of the iconic balcony shot in the original series (at the Aston Waikiki). A completely different experience but just as thrilling! The view from above of people flowing into the venue like little ants, the sunset over the ocean, the view of Diamond Head… it really doesn’t get better than that!

 

 

That night my husband was along for the ride and was tasked with taking photos of me with any stars we came across. lol! I actually had the guts to ask Alex O’loughlin to kiss me on the cheek! By this time, we knew each other a little better as I had done a feature story on him and his stunt work on the show.

 

 Hawaii Five-0 Stunts are Movie Caliber

 

 Bonus Alex O’Loughlin Stunt Interview

 

After shooting the interview for that story, we ended up sparring and he taught me a couple of stunt punches and kicks. At one point he was so quick, he actually grabbed my leg and then started dancing with me! lol Super fun shoot and I totally realize there are tons of Alex fans that would kill to have been in my shoes! ha ha!

 

 Behind the Scenes – Stunt “Lessons” with Alex O’Loughlin

 

Anyway, so I asked him to kiss me on the cheek and he TOTALLY did it! The funniest thing though is that I posted the photo on social media and it went crazy… I guess I was the envy of every one of his fans. ha ha! Usually if something goes “viral” the social media team at HNN will re-post it on the Hawaii News Now FB page but for some reason they shared all of my other behind the scenes photos but not that one. I asked one of the web guys and he told me that he didn’t post it because he thought it was a photo of my HUSBAND! lol It’s true. People have totally come up to my husband and asked him if he is the actor from Hawaii Five-0 – we got a really good laugh out of that one! My hubby could be Alex O’Loughlin’s stand in double. (Below: Alex O’Loughlin top photo / Hubby bottom photo)

 

 

Over the years, I got to go behind the scenes and interview the make-up artists and the stunt team but my FAVORITE story of all time for Hawaii Five-0 was interviewing local boy, Mark Dacascos who plays the infamous Wo Fat. What a gem of a person. The complete opposite of his character on the show. Here he is showing me how he stays fit…

 

 

I could not believe how kind, generous, sweet and open he was with me. He is such a gentleman, he’s multi-faceted, multi-talented and an amazing family man and father. I was completely BLOWN AWAY by this man’s personality and charm. It was the hardest story to write because there was sooooo much to talk about and I only had 3 minutes to do him justice.

 

 The Marvelous Mark Dacascos

 

I also got a private martial arts lesson with Mark & his father, martial arts master and living legend, Al Dacascos… I’m a lucky girl! Truly cool to get pointers from such talented martial artists.

 

 

The third time I went to the Sunset on the Beach premiere for Hawaii Five-0 – I was 9 months pregnant. I was no longer working at the station but one of my best friends, Erika Kauffman puts the entire event together each year and I figured she might want an extra hand – so I volunteered my hubby ;0) ha ha! He ran around helping where he could while I tried to find shade and said hello to friends that I had not seen in such a long time. << PS – Erika has done an absolute amazing, fantastic, phenomenal job of putting this event together in past years. She is the silent hero that no one really knows about but everyone should be thanking. If you see a beautiful blonde running around like crazy this weekend say “Erika, you’re amazing! Thank you! You’re doing a great job! Kudos!” or something like that. I’m sure it’ll make her day  >>

 

 

It was HOT that year – when you’re preggo it feels even hotter – so we hid in the air conditioned comfort of the Aston Waikiki roof top party for much of the night. When night fell we went back down to the venue to watch the premiere and enjoy some time with our friends. On the way, we ran into Alex and his wife surf model Malia Jones (also 9 months pregnant – side note: Growing up in Hilo, I idolized her!) a friend in the crowd captured this amazing moment of Alex recognizing me and noticing our similar “predicament.” A picture speaks a thousand words!

 

 

I missed last year’s premiere – life has taken me to other islands, my hubby and I had an infant son and we were preparing to move from the Big Island to Maui – but I enjoyed watching it on TV. This year, I just figured I’d be doing a repeat of that until a production company contacted me last week to work the red carpet for them! I am beyond excited to see my old friends at the station again, reconnect with cast and crew members of Hawaii Five-0 and to work the red carpet again! It is going to be a blast! Life sure is swell! #lifesswell Here are a few more photos & video of my Hawaii Five-0 adventures and encounters.

 

 The Glam Of Gore: Hawaii Five-O’s Make-up Team