Jason Gunn tells Scotty Stevenson about life after loss and ‘eye-opening’ heart attack

Kiwi broadcaster Jason Gunn says suffering a heart attack was “the greatest life lesson in terms of realising what was important”.

Kiwis pride themselves on their resilience, but how do we cope when the going gets tough? In new podcast series The Upside, Scotty Stevenson sits down with well-known New Zealanders across six episodes as they share their own personal journeys with their mental health and their tips for getting back on the up.

Countless Kiwi kids grew up watching beloved broadcaster Jason Gunn tell stories on screen with his iconic sidekick Thingee on What Now. More recently, we’ve seen him on popular TV shows Wheel of Fortune, Dancing With the Stars and Celebrity Treasure Island.

But amid his enduring success as one of New Zealand’s most well-loved public figures, Gunn reveals how he’s learned what’s truly important.

Speaking to broadcaster and host of The Upside podcast Scotty Stevenson, Gunn recalls undergoing a major heart attack in 2017 while in the middle of a gym session.

“It [was] just like, multiple pains and things going on,” he recalls. “And I’m like, ‘what is going on here?’”

Gunn credits his low pain threshold with “potentially” saving his life, as he told gym staff what was happening to him. “I’m showing 10 of the 10 signs of a major heart attack. And then yeah, the rest is just a trip to hospital and you get in there, and your life is just laid out in front of you, basically.”

The “scariest” part of the experience was realising he wasn’t in control, Gunn says.

“You realise, ‘maybe my life is not entirely in my hands at all’,” he shares. “And so in that moment you just go, ‘I’ve got four kids, I’ve got four weddings I want to deliver emotional speeches at and what if that’s not going to happen?’ So it was just such an eye-opener.”

Thankfully, the broadcasting legend pulled through as he had a stent put in, but looking back, he says the experience was “the greatest life lesson in terms of realising what was important”.

It was his son Louis who made him realise life was about more than a successful career.

He tells Stevenson: “I was working in radio, and he said to me, ‘Dad, that’s not what success looks like’. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Well, when you come home, you’re kind of angry, you’re a little upset, you’re quite stressed’.

“And I was just like, wow, okay.”

It was then that he decided to take a step back from his career in radio, which allowed him to be more present in the lives of his kids.

“Because of that, I got to be at every one of his rugby games,” Gunn says. “And often he would come up to me before the game and give me a hug. And he whispered in my ear, ‘Dad, this is what success looks like’.”

Gunn’s heart attack also made him realise how important it was to maintain his physical and mental wellbeing. “You can’t just think it’s going to be okay. What am I actually putting in place to make sure it is okay? Everything from the health, you know, the exercise, the food, the stress levels.”

Along with his son Louis, he’s been embracing saunas and ice baths for his health, admitting that “it’s an ice bath that you can adjust the temperature, so it’s less of an ice bath and more of a spa”.

“I do that sauna and I just sit there for 20 minutes and then get into that cold bath. And I love to do it with him because it’s just father-son time, but even when he’s not there, it’s just time where I do just sit there and [do] a little bit of meditation or listen to a wellbeing podcast.”

Being there for his kids is important to Gunn, who lost his own mum Janice last year. Asked by Stevenson what’s getting him through the grief, he reveals that sharing his memories of her has been a huge help.

“I think number one is people were there for me at the start, just for that reassurance ... people were there to share their love and support with me. And they listened to my stories about my mum. I tell stories about mum every day, that keeps her alive in my eyes,” he says.

His mum’s kindness has inspired him to reach out to others, Gunn says.

“She taught me everything. She could just light up a room. She had this way of making everybody feel like the most important person and that’s what she just taught me. She would stop people and go, ‘Oh, you look lovely in that jacket’, or whatever.

“And I hear myself doing it now, and that kindness, and just knowing the difference that you can make in a moment for others.”

Gunn admits that in grief, he is now “part of a club that no one wants to be a part of” – but it’s helping him to help others who have lost loved ones.

“But now I get to see that this happens to people every day. And so now, a year on, I can talk to people and say, ‘it’s going to be okay. You’ve got this’,” he shares.

“I didn’t think I had it. And some days I still don’t think I have, but I’m here today to tell you it’s all good.

“If I can get through this, you can get through it.”

All six episodes of The Upside are available on iHeart Radio now