My first job was … On What Now's cooking segment "Let's Cook". It astounds me that people still say that they remember me from that - I was 15 years old, it was a very long time ago. I guess this peculiar nostalgia for pop culture is why shows like Full House are being remade these days. Look out for "Let's Cook, Again" any day now.
It taught me … That television was a much better after-school job than most, so I should try to stay in there, and that good working relationships count for a lot. I worked with some screen legends like Richard Driver, Peter Hayden, Tony Palmer, and our big boss was Janine Morrell, who is still the head of Whitebait productions.
My big break came … I think What Now really was it. But, failure can be good too - missing out on a presenting role on Ice TV was probably break No. 2 (Petra Bagust made the Ice TV role iconic of course) ]. I had two options at the time and the role I did get was on Marae, then Mai Time, which created the big break of connecting with my Māori self and te reo Māori, all as part of my career. My radio break came when I interviewed Rob Rakete for Mai Time and he said "We actually need a newsreader, what to give it a shot?" I was really bad. But I learned fast, and those golden days of our breakfast show were some of my favourites.
The last job I quit was … I think it was TV2 News headlines, because my Mum was very sick with cancer by then, so I wanted to be able to spend time with and nurse her. It was the right call in the end; she died not long after and if I'm honest, the stress of her illness had been playing on my 26-year-old self's mind more than I had realised. Fun fact, my replacement was Karl Stefanovic, who became a big deal in the Australian television scene.
The most famous person I've ever met is … Beyonce? But I met her in a meet-and-greet for radio. I have a photo for evidence but didn't manage to say anything cool, or maybe anything at all. I was still in the presence of the (emerging) Queen Bey so I'll bank that. I also briefly met Orlando Bloom on the red carpet of Lord of the Rings.
