Clarke Gayford made an appearance on last night's episode of Shortland St. Photo / South Pacific Pictures
Clarke Gayford made an appearance on last night's episode of Shortland St. Photo / South Pacific Pictures
As Shortland St celebrated 30 years on screen with a special anniversary episode last night, you may have spotted a few famous Kiwis making an appearance.
The long-awaited 30th anniversary episode centred on the wedding of hospital receptionist Desdemona Schmidt (Kura Forrester) to resident IT guy Damo Johnson (Grant Lobban).
But amid the chaos of the wedding preparations and the ongoing dramas of each of the characters, you might have missed Aotearoa's first man Clarke Gayford himself.
Sporting a blonde mullet and a toga, Gayford featured as an extra in a scene where Damo's friends throw him a stag do complete with costumes and a male stripper - or, in Damo's own words, "a boy stripper"?
The Herald on Sunday revealed earlier this month that before Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's fiance went into isolation with Covid-19, he was able to film a scene for the iconic Kiwi soap. Producers added that he would appear for just a short moment on the big day.
Gayford made headlines earlier this month when the Daily Mail called him Ardern's "hairdresser" fiance in the headline of a story about his Covid-19 diagnosis.
Gayford shared a screenshot of the headlines to his Instagram account at the time, writing, "Freedom day and symptom free, which is a world away from when the Covid fever hit me so bad I somehow forgot I am a hairdresser".
Gayford appeared in a wig and costume at Damo Johnson's stag do. Photo / South Pacific Pictures
Despite his hair transformation for Shorty, we know he has not in fact made such a drastic career change. And appearing on camera is nothing new for the TV host.
After graduating from broadcasting school, he created student life show Cow TV for Dunedin's Channel 9. In 1999 he appeared as a contestant on Treasure Island, in 2003 he presented youth programmes on the C4 music channel and in 2010 he presented the third season of Extraordinary Kiwis, a biographical documentary series.
In 2015, he created Fish of the Day for Choice TV which was also broadcast on the National Geographic Channel and has screened in over 35 countries.
Gayford tested positive for Covid-19 on May 8, and as a result, he, Ardern and their daughter Neve went into self-isolation and also later tested positive. Ardern finished her isolation in time to fly to the US earlier this week.
