Rugby is in the blood for James Gemmell, with his father Bruce a former All Black halfback, and brother Fraser a former New Zealand Barbarian and captain of rugby at Oxford University.
James had his own successes in rugby, including captaining the prestigious Auckland Grammar School 1st XV and representing Auckland in numerous age grade rugby sides. During his time at Grammar, James played with the likes of Doug Howlett, Ben Atiga, Brent Ward, Isa Nacewa, and current Italian winger Kaine Robertson.
After finishing high school James backpacked around Europe. At Auckland University he continued to play rugby while completing a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics.
Although work commitments have forced James to give up playing rugby himself, he still loves the game and is looking forward to heading to France as part of TV3’s Rugby World Cup team. In the last two years he has presented the Women’s RWC, the Under 19 and Under 21 World Champs and the Churchill Cup for TV3.
James got into television production through his work on TV3’s midweek sports show Sporzah! and into presentation when he was asked to report on female wrestling for the show. His piece was well-received with the network and he then went on to present the adventure/reality series The Summit.
Since then he has presented a number of specials for TV3, including Fight For Life, Registered Master Builders Placemakers House of the Year (2005 and 2006), World Mountain Biking Champs and various horse racing events.
Despite no longer playing rugby, James still enjoys keeping fit with distance running. He enjoys travelling and hopes to continue seeing the world.