Matty McLean is leaving Breakfast after 16 years with TVNZ. Photo / TVNZ
It’s been an emotional week for the Breakfast team as they say goodbye to the one and only Matty McLean as he leaves the bright lights of TV for radio.
But the TVNZ star admits his co-workers and those around him have put any concerns about his resignation at ease.
Speaking to the Herald before his final day, McLean reveals that once he made his decision to leave the show after more than 16 years, he had concerns about how it was going to be received by the public and his on-screen family.
“When I resigned from TVNZ, it was such a big deal for me,” he says, adding, “I did worry about how it might be received, how people would feel about it and whether they’d be mad or annoyed or think I was making a mistake.”
Fortunately for the 37-year-old host, the response has been anything but that, “Everyone has just been so loving and supportive and really excited for me, which makes it so much easier for me to be excited about this new chapter.”
His week-long goodbye has shown how supportive his Breakfast whānau have been. Making sure his last hurrah has been a good one, the show has put on Matty’s Eras Tour — inspired by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour — with a short segment every day this week to “explore the many eras of “the one and only Matty McLean”.
It’s been really special for McLean, who says, “Everyone has just made it very heart-warming for me to leave and to leave on a real high, I just feel like I couldn’t have asked for anything more in my exit of the show.”
Thankfully, he’s not leaving New Zealand broadcasting entirely and will instead be swapping TV for radio where he will join PJ Harding on the newly announced The Hits Drive show.
“I’m so ready to have some fun,” he says, “And man, to be able to do that with PJ? She’s just such a legend, I love her so much. We did publicity photos last week and I just was in hysterics the whole time, she’s so funny, and so yeah, I’m really excited.”
As for how the host wants to be remembered for his time on Breakfast, McLean admits he has one simple wish:
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is to make people smile. There’s so many things going on in our world, right, and life can be really heavy sometimes, and especially these last few years. It’s just felt like everything is against us sometimes so I just hope that I’ve been able to put smiles on people’s faces.
“Does that sound cheesy?” he chuckles, “I hope it doesn’t sound cheesy.”
And that vibrant personality will be noticeably absent from the Breakfast studio next year, so he’s making sure to go out with a bang; “I’ve perhaps stupidly said that I would host the Breakfast wrap party at my house. So apologies to my neighbours already,” he says with a laugh.
Since his TVNZ debut in 2007, McLean has worked as a reporter, presenter, and weatherman, and even did a couple of stints on Celebrity Treasure Island, Seven Sharp and of course, his most well-known and loved role as a Breakfast co-host.
Here is the full Matty’s Eras Tour set-list:
The first era was introduced by Clarkson as the “young guns”. Joining McLean on the Breakfast couch was Q+A’s Jack Tame who started things off with a bit of a joke, “Can I just say, only Matty would get a farewell tour,” Tame said with a laugh. “In 30 years of Breakfast, only Matty gets a farewell tour.”
The two friends then “turned back the hands of time” to 2007, which was the host’s first live cross, “It was a simpler time and the standards for getting on television were much, much lower,” Tame jokingly said before showing McLean covering David Beckham’s arrival in New Zealand to play for LA Galaxy against the Wellington Phoenix.
Following instruction from the then Breakfast host, Paul Henry, McLean began singing Victoria by the Dance Exponents as a nod to the footballer’s wife going down as one of McLean’s most memorable moments.
Tame also reflected on the time his friend jumped the fence of the Prime Minister’s official residence in Wellington — again, following the instruction of Henry, and McLean admitted to Tame, “I just didn’t really think about the repercussions.”
The second segment of McLean’s eras tour had him joined by Seven Sharp host Hilary Barry, who brought laughs, tears and many hugs. Walking on set, the star gave McLean a huge hug confessing, “I can’t believe you’re going.”
Barry looked back on McLean’s weather debut — more specifically the “couple of mistakes” it included. Laughing, McLean said, “Do you know the funny thing? I didn’t even get any better than that.”
Barry praised his professionalism and dubbed him the “master of covering a mistake”.
Barry looked back on a few more moments before telling her friend, “We know you’re going to be fabulous at what you’re going to next,” she said before pulling him in for a hug, “I have to snuggle up for hugs.”
For the third instalment of Matty’s Eras Tour, Breakfast invited TVNZ chief correspondent John Campbell onto the show where he asked McLean to read out a message he wrote when Campbell departed the show, “Dear John, you were always my favourite co-presenter” earning a hearty laugh from the pair.
McLean admitted he was “overwhelmed” by the attention of the Eras tour, Campbell called his former co-host out, stating “You love it!” before revisiting his favourite moments including the time McLean nearly interviewed the entire Waimate population at once.
“This is exactly what it was like when Matty was in the field,” Campbell explained to viewers. “The town had turned out to see you,” adding, “They were so chuffed you were there ... People were always so delighted to see you.”
They also looked back on McLean’s reunion with his family following the Covid lockdowns and finally, an interview in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle this year before hugging it out.
McLean was joined by his Breakfast co-hosts Anna Burn-Francis, Chris Chang and Clarkson on Thursday with Chang joking, “We couldn’t find anyone else to come,” while Burn-Francis added, “We’re the final pull bearers for Matty’s journey to the purgatory of radio.”
Despite their giggles, the three co-hosts came together to share their favourite memories of the media personality, with Chang reading out messages from Breakfast’s behind-the-scenes staff, while Burns-Francis fondly praised her departing co-host for bringing a “radiant, gorgeous, beautiful mood every single day”.
“We connected straight away,” said Clarkson through tears, adding, “but our connection grew even more when we sat on this couch together during Covid times as co-presenters.”
She shared a clip of their viral TikTok dances before telling McLean “I’m going to miss you my friend,” adding, “I’ve seen you grow so much in the last couple of years and I’m so so proud of you and I’m going to miss you terribly and that’s all I can say because otherwise I’m just going to cry through this whole thing.”
McLean’s final day on Breakfast coincided with the programme’s final show of the year meaning it was full of Christmas festivities, plenty of kai and special guests — including his husband Ryan, but the real tear jerker came when the entire Breakfast cast, crew and audience gathered around to watch a montage of McLean’s best moments.
Reminiscing on the time he jumped the fence at Premier House during a live cross, to eating the world’s second-hottest chilli, to all his dancing on-air moments, things took a sentimental turn when the four co-hosts sat on the couch for the very last time and McLean’s parents, Tracey and Steve, joined them.
“This is such a surprise,” McLean said, shocked, with his parents gushing over how proud they are of him. However, in true Breakfast fashion, there were a few giggles, especially when Burns-Francis asked McLean’s mum what she thought about him jumping the Premiere House fence.
“Luckily, I didn’t see it,” she chuckled before jokingly adding, “Did I not teach you not to bow to peer pressure?”
Clarkson then began tearing up as she presented the star with a Niho pounamu, “Thank you for being you,” she said adding, “Thank you for the past however many years, Merry Christmas and I can’t wait to see how you flourish in your next role,” she told her friend.
McLean signed off his last Breakfast show thanking viewers for their support throughout the years, “You’ve been so beautiful in the way you’ve embraced me and let me be me.” He said before telling his now former co-hosts, “I’m going to be cheering you on from home.”
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
The Hollywood star is 70 but has no plans to retire from acting.