Media Releases

New video series: This is Wheel Life 2

Released at 3:11 pm on 18 July 2025

Photo: RNZ

Popular video series, This is Wheel Life is back for season two with more epic adventures. Your twenties are often considered as the most exciting years of your life—but let’s be real, they can also be a chaotic cocktail of confusion, existential dread, financial instability, and a whole lot of googling “how to boil an egg.” For Sophia Malthus, that chaotic energy got a serious twist when, at just 19, a horse-riding accident left her a quadriplegic. Overnight, her life changed in a way that most twenty-somethings can't imagine—and just when it felt like adulthood was already complicated enough.

Enter Indy: Sophia’s cousin, aspiring actor, and proud owner of an overdrawn bank account. With her dreams of treading the boards hanging by a thread and rent that wasn't going to pay itself, she stepped into an entirely new role—Soph’s carer. What followed was a crash course in co-dependence, comedy, and unconditional love, all under one roof. It was a match made in mildly dysfunctional heaven.

Fast forward two years, and while their hair might be longer and their emotional baggage slightly heavier, not much has changed... or has it? In season two of This is Wheel Life, we rejoin Soph and Indy as they stand at the precipice of full-blown adulthood. Sophia is on the brink of completing law school—yes, actual objections and courtroom sass—while Indy has swapped auditions for lesson plans and is pursuing a career in teaching. It’s a big shift, but don't be fooled: they're still flatting together, still bickering over whose turn it is to do the dishes and still proving that disability doesn't diminish a big life—it just adds a few more snacks, eyerolls, and logistical detours along the way.

Through their unique bond and shared living situation, the series dives into what it truly means to navigate life with a disability in your twenties. It’s not all inspiration and Pinterest quotes—it’s real, raw, funny, and sometimes messy. Together, Soph and Indy tackle conversations many shy away from. They meet with experts, reflect on their own experiences, and explore how young disabled people can lead empowered, independent lives—even in a world still catching up on what true accessibility means.

With honesty, humour, and more than a few awkward moments, the new season of this digital documentary series is both heartwarming and eye-opening. Whether it’s dating with a disability, figuring out how to advocate for yourself in university, or just surviving exam season with your sanity intact, this show gives you a front-row seat to two young women doing life on their own terms.

RNZ’s Commissioning Manager Tim Burnell says that RNZ is proud to be able to fund and platform a second season of the popular web series.

“This is another great series, utilising innovative storytelling to amplify underrepresented voices and challenge the status quo. And it’s really entertaining.”

This is Wheel Life Series 2 was made by Boxed Media for RNZ. Watch episode one now on the TAHI YouTube channel and on rnz.co.nz/video from Monday 21 July.

ENDS