Shorty star Kura 'IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!'

The actress introduces her canine companion and comedy mini-me

What do you get if you put two funny Maori girls with the same name together in a room? A whole lot of hilarity, that's for sure. Add to the mix an impossibly cute puppy and a very important soap milestone, and this catch-up with Kura Forrester and young comedian Kura Turuwhenua was always going to be a blast.

"Look at her!" gushes Shortland Street star Kura, 37, holding her nine-week-old furbaby Tui. "Isn't she just the most amazing thing? It was love at first sight, which was nice because it's the first time I've experienced that."

Woman's Day is meant to be talking about the actress' special relationship with the young woman sitting across from us, but for the moment, the focus is fixed on Tui, the tiny bundle of cuteness cuddled up on her lap.

"She's a Cavachon - that's a Cavalier King Charles spaniel crossed with a Bichon," beams Kura, who plays receptionist Desi Schmidt on the iconic Kiwi soap. She's just finished a photoshoot to commemorate the show's 30th anniversary, to which she invited budding stand-up comedian Kura to join her.

The pair have become firm friends this year after the younger Kura boldly approached her name twin to ask if she'd consider mentoring her in comedy.

"Someone suggested I should find a mentor," tells the 21-year-old Aucklander. "And straight away I just knew Kura would be the dream. I knew we'd be a good fit."