‘Honestly, I don’t miss anything,’ states Noel Edmonds, aside from family and friends. The experienced broadcaster left his career in the UK behind and relocated 11,500 miles to New Zealand with his wife Liz, feeling no remorse. ‘In reality, I was already missing things even while living in Britain. I longed for a sense of community and a more relaxed lifestyle,’ he explains, suggesting that these elements had vanished from the country before his departure.

‘What don’t I miss? Congested roads. The pressure on education, healthcare and infrastructure. We don’t have those problems here.’

Noel departed from the UK in 2018, during his recovery from a series of challenges, including prostate cancer, a marriage breakup, and a financial scandal that nearly led him to consider ending his life. Now, he’s reappearing on television with “Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure,” an insightful and entertaining ITV series that follows his efforts to start anew with a pub, restaurant, and vineyard in Ngatimoti, a small spot on the South Island.

Some are dubbing it a contender to Clarkson’s Farm, and much of its appeal lies in Noel’s openness about his peculiarities. The series begins with him seemingly unclothed in a garden shower, set against a backdrop of snow-topped mountains, chanting, ‘I am healthy. I am happy. I am loving. I am loved. I am – Oh Jesus!’

No, the 76-year-old hasn’t converted to Christianity; he’s just been shocked by the icy water. He sets great store by keeping his energy positive – and needs it in the face of locals who have posted their opposition to his plans online. One called him ‘a coloniser’ who has ‘come in like the Lord of the Manor’. Another wrote, ‘He thinks he’s this big, famous person. But people don’t give a s*** about that here.’

They were upset by reports he’d sacked 17 locals with a day’s notice after taking over River Haven, a pub, restaurant, cafe and vineyard. Noel calls the reports ‘hurtful’ and ‘inaccurate’ and says on camera, ‘I’m so committed to New Zealand that I’ve invested tens of millions of my hard-earned dollars here. All I’d ask, from the bottom of my heart, is give us time. Don’t judge us too quickly.’

There’s been a lot of adjusting to do in this rural landscape, and he’s not afraid of sounding like Alan Partridge with his verdict on local drivers. ‘They drive too fast. You can pull out onto an empty road, and 30 seconds later, there’s a ute [a kind of pick-up truck] right up your backside. They’re not aggressive, just not very courteous. But maybe that’s why New Zealand’s produced so many great racing drivers. They must start their training on the school run.’

There are only two main roads on the island anyway, he says. ‘If there’s a landslip? That’s it. A journey that should take five hours can suddenly take a day – or not happen at all. But I like that. Life in Europe has become so frenetic. Moving here was a big decision. Liz and I didn’t know a soul. We rented a house and hoped for the best.’

Any Brits around tend to remember him from the very old days. ‘A woman came into the pub and said, “I used to watch you on Swap Shop. Have you done anything since?” I think she was impressed when I filled her in.’ Noel Edmonds conquered Saturday-night telly with Noel’s House Party in the 90s, spawning the pink-and-yellow-spotted Mr Blobby. Then there was Deal Or No Deal, one of our longest­-running game shows.

He built a successful production company then saw it reduced to bankruptcy by bankers who were later convicted of fraud. Lloyds apologised and paid a reported £5 million in compensation, but that took a long time. Noel was living with prostate cancer and his second marriage broke down, which he says on the new show made him consider suicide. ‘I used to look down my nose and think, “Why would anybody want to take their own life?” If you’ve been in that dark space you’ll never be critical, because it is a space where there is no reason.’

He shows the cameras a huge statue of a kneeling knight in the grounds of River Haven, which is there to remind him of coming through those days. ‘The knight is not kneeling in defeat. He’s praying before he gets up and defeats the dark force, the enemy.’

Some clocks at his new home are set to the exact time on 6 October, 2006, when he met Liz, the make-up artist on Deal Or No Deal. ‘Liz was sent to me. She’s my earth angel. Her energy is my life blood. I believe it was a gift from the cosmos.’ Liz, who is 20 years younger, smiles and tells the cameras, ‘I thought, “Somebody has to look after him.” My little bit of care in the community!’

They were married in 2009 and already thinking of moving to this side of the world when he entered the Australian jungle for I’m A Celebrity in 2018. Liz says on the new show that she has recently lost her father and has left a mother behind in England who is unable to travel. ‘I had my parents’ blessing. They said, “You go. We’ve had such a wonderful life. You have to go and live yours.”‘

Despite the opposition, Noel, who is stepfather to two grown-up sons and has four daughters from his first marriage, tells Weekend many locals have been friendly. ‘From the moment you walk in their door you’re part of something. Sharing food, ­stories, community. It’s beautiful.’

Some object to the earthy sense of humour that sees his pub The Bugger Inn serving Tits Up Lager and Dickens Cider, but others love it, like the local who rides in on a motorbike to declare, ‘He seems a good bugger.’

Noel still has a fine head of hair and looks younger than his years, which the show’s narrator Rob Brydon attributes to ‘a meticulously planned age-defying health and wellness regime’. We see Noel lying under crystals the colours of his chakras, which apparently vibrate at a healing frequency. And his routine involves ‘Nutrition, structured water, pulsed electro-magnetism, exercise done slowly and quietly, visualisation of body energy and meditation.’

Then there are the cold showers, saunas and a hyperbaric chamber: ‘A little bit of oxygen, three times a week. I’m rocking!’

He must know some people will make fun of him, but this man who is usually intensely private is also very clear on screen about why he has let the cameras in. ‘Maybe people who have had negative thoughts about me will see this show and see an honesty, a sincerity, a commitment, a positivity,’ he says. ‘And maybe a few of them will even change their views.’

• Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure, Friday 20 June, ITV1 and ITVX.