Te Kani has described growing up in a Protestant household who were accepting of his early cross-dressing, and that his family experienced brief stints of homelessness as a result of evictions.
[5][6] Te Kani has also written cultural, music, and sex-related essays for a variety of publications, including Metro, Vice, The Spinoff, TVNZ, Stuff, NZ Herald, and Radio New Zealand.
[18][19] In 2022, Te Kani's essay Catholic Taste was shown and orated in the art show Season, a mixed-medium gallery in the Commercial Bay Shopping Centre.
"[23] One reviewer summarised the book as "There's an unsavory Messiah, a monk named Tilda Swinton, as well as werewolves, a lidless box of dildos and enough fisting scenes to equal 11 weeks of lockdown.
"[1] Te Kani said the first time he encountered erotic fiction was when he was twelve years old, reading Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, which led to a lifelong interest in the subject.