Rebecca Wright will take three months of maternity leave and return in October. Photo / Supplied
Rebecca Wright will take three months of maternity leave and return in October. Photo / Supplied
High-profile TV3 news reporter Rebecca Wright is jumping ship to TVNZ to join the One News team, The Diary can exclusively report. She will start on March 30.
It's a savvy move by TVNZ news director John Gillespie, who is keen to capitalise on Wright's tenacious journalism and presenting skills. She brings much kudos and esteem to the network news team. Wright will replace Erin Conroy, who moves to Seven Sharp.
But the twist in the tale is she won't be there long.
Wright, 34, is five-and-a-half months pregnant with her first child to partner Cameron Williams, a cameraman who moved from TV3 to TVNZ a year ago.
The baby is due around July, and Wright will take three months of maternity leave and return to her new job in October.
"Rebecca is an extremely well skilled senior reporter and we welcome her to the One News team. It'll be great to have her in the newsroom," Gillespie told The Diary.
Mum-to-be Street exits with advice
Seven Sharp host Toni Street, who goes on maternity leave later today, has some words of advice for colleague Tim Wilson who became a dad this week: "Stay calm!"
Wilson, 49, and his wife Rachel, 29 - both staunch Catholics who met during Mass - have welcomed Roman George Wilson - "seven lbs and as serene as heaven," his father tweeted.
Toni Street with a pair of booties knitted by a 'lovely' viewer. Photo / Supplied
"Tim is a very cool, calm and collected character," Street told The Diary. "I said he should try and put his personality on to baby."
Street is due to give birth on March 23 with baby number two, a daughter.
Tonight's show will be her last for the forseeable future, though co-host Mike Hosking thinks she'll be back in the swivel chair in record time.
"I'm really ready to finish up now, I'm tired. Mike will no doubt give me some stick tonight, and do something special on the show.
"No, don't expect a baby shower. Mike hates parties."
Pippa Wetzell will take up co-hosting duties alongside Hosking while Street is on maternity leave. Nadine Chalmers-Ross will fill in on Fridays.
Wilson is understood to have negotiated a deal with a woman's magazine for his baby story.
10 questions of the week
1.
Which legal darling went to Thailand for a cosmetic surgery holiday on her boyfriend's chequebook, only to come home with new boobs, new confidence and a newfound desire to be single? He's been dumped.
2. Which high-profile Auckland eatery is in an employment dispute over stolen booze and drug dealing?
3. New Zealand First leader and St Marys Bay dweller Winston Peters is threatening Whananaki with impending residence. What have the Northlanders done to deserve that?
4. Which luvvie relationship has broken up, and there's more at stake than burned egos and creative temperaments?
5.
They say good things come in small packages, and good old boy Mayor Len Brown was smiling like a Cheshire Cat in a photo sandwich on Auckland Cup Day. He stopped to pose with amazonian netballer Maria Tutaia and Kate Barry, wife of councillor Cameron Brewer. Does His Worship need a box?
Mayor Len Brown with Maria Tutaia and Kate Barry. Photo / Supplied
6.
Gareth Hughes has joined the race to be co-leader of the Greens party. His Twitter avatar has him grinning boyishly with a lipstick stain on his cheek and a soap star on his shoulder. Is he running for politics or Playboy?
Shortland Street star Angela Bloomfield with Gareth Hughes. Photo / Supplied
7.
Kiwi army veteran Bruce Neal's Anzac tattoo has become a social media hit around the world. Can you see why? The 52-year-old war vet got an inking from a Wellington tattoo parlour that has gone viral and attracted more than 130,000 likes on Facebook. The image is of World War I soldiers marching into the distance in a shape of a fern with the words "Lest We Forget" below.
Bruce Neal's Anzac tattoo.
8. Sports presenter Hayley Holt has gone back to university to study politics. Cool, huh? "If I was this excited the first time round I might have a degree by now," she said.
9. How long will John Campbell's one-man fashion campaign to bring back the three-piece suit last? Or is it just a sartorial gimmick, like the beard?
10. When will Paul Henry's show start? The ads are running and the network is drip-feeding promotional stories, but no sign of a launch date. Great expectations, much?
