Bay of Plenty people pay tribute to Te Puke raised TVNZ broadcaster Greg Boyed after his death

TVNZ news reader Greg Boyed has died aged 48. Photo / Supplied

Tributes continue to flow for Greg Boyed, the Te Puke boy who grew up to become a leading New Zealand broadcaster.

Boyed, 48, died suddenly on Monday. He was on a family holiday in Switzerland with his wife and young son. Boyed was raised in Te Puke and still had close family there.

His family said in a statement yesterday the TVNZ newsreader and father-of-two had been battling depression.

"We are all struggling to come to terms with this.

"He was absolutely loved and adored. A treasured son, brother, husband and father, he will be deeply missed."

Friends and colleagues from around New Zealand expressed shock at the news and paid tribute to Boyed.

Among them were Boyed's Tauranga-based TVNZ colleagues.

One News presenter Peter Williams, who is also a sports writer at the Bay of Plenty Times, said the news came as a shock.

"Greg and I were around the same newsroom for over 20 years and often shared a joke or just shot the breeze in the men's dressing room," Williams said.

"I'm just shocked that this should happen and deepest sympathies to his family."

One News reporter Sam Kelway posted on Twitter that Boyed was "an inspiration to so many young journalists. He will be missed. Kia kaha".

Saddened by the news of Greg Boyed’s death. He was an inspiration to so many young journalists. He will be missed. Kia kaha

— Sam Kelway (@sam_kelway) August 21, 2018

Close friend and Rotorua-raised Indulge columnist Rachel Grunwell was shocked and devastated by Boyed's death.

"He was an amazing friend. I just wish I could have helped.

"He looked bullet-proof but he wasn't. He opened up to few people but when he did he had a massive heart. He was just a really kind man and he loved his kids and his family."

Boyed attended Te Puke High School before starting his career in journalism in Tauranga in the early 1990s.

Whakatane's 1XX Radio host Colin Magee was working at Tauranga's Coastline FM on Boyed's first day on air reporting local sports news.

"He was a natural. He did his first bulletin live with no mistakes. You could tell he had talent right from the start."

Magee followed Boyed's career as he moved to the Independent Radio Network in Wellington then Auckland, then into television.

"He always came across on TV as a really nice guy, and that's exactly who he was in real life," Magee said.

Tauranga's The Station owner Grant Hislop founded Coastline and hired Boyed for that job.

"He was articulate from a very young age and yet still had a warmth and friendliness to him."

Tauranga radio identity Grayson Ottoway worked with Boyed at Coastline when they were both teenagers, and from time to time on various other projects in the years that followed.

Ottoway said he would remember Boyed as not only a "fit son of a b****" - he was a keen marathon runner - but a great all-rounder who knew something about everything.

"He was a lovely, neat guy."

Boyed's broadcasting resume is packed with some of television's most recognisable shows – including One News, Fair Go, Q + A, Close Up, Target and Seven Sharp.

Boyed married Swiss singer-songwriter Caroline Chevin in 2014. Their son was born the following year.

He had a daughter in her 20s from a previous relationship.

- Additional reporting NZ Herald

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