Dizzy spell fells veteran broadcaster Peter Williams

Williams - who has been on our screens since 1979 - told the <i>Herald</i> in April he had upped his fitness regime after piling on a few kilos. Photo / Greg Bowker

Veteran broadcaster Peter Williams has been on holiday this week after having a dizzy spell and collapsing at a gym.

The 62-year-old TVNZ news presenter spent a night in hospital after keeling over at a Les Mills complex in central Auckland last Thursday.

"I had a dizzy spell at the gym is the best way of putting it, at Les Mills, and I got taken to hospital for 24 hours, because my blood pressure was pretty low," Williams said.

"The diagnosis was that I was dehydrated, that was all. I had low blood pressure when they tested me at the gym.

"I was put in an ambulance and had a whole lot of fluid pumped into me on the way to hospital, saline solution and things, and my blood pressure was back to normal by the time I got to the hospital.

"I was under observation for 24 hours, but released on Friday. There's no issues there."

Williams - who has been on our screens since 1979 - told the Herald in April he had upped his fitness regime after piling on a few kilos.

"I'm about two or three kilos heavier than I want to be," Williams said.

"I like to be about 84 to 85kg and I found out yesterday I'd fattened out to 87."

In 2011, the sports-mad presenter raised over $8000 for a cancer charity, after completing a half triathlon in Tauranga.

In November, explaining a plaster on his forehead, he revealed live on air he had a skin cancer removed.

Williams was due back on screen this weekend and was keen to play down the latest health scare.

"It's been a fairly busy few weeks with a few things on, so it's just a warning to take it easy," he said.

TVNZ spokeswoman Georgie Hills said Williams' week-long break was a pre-arranged holiday and that he would be back reading the news tonight.

"Peter also filmed an episode of Mastermind New Zealand last weekend and he is as fit as a fiddle."