Xena actor and former Lotto co-host Marise Wipani had breast cancer when she died

Xena actor and former Lotto co-host Marise Wipani died on her birthday after battling breast cancer. A close friend told the Herald she stage-managed her own exit. Photo / Steven McNicholl

A close friend of Marise Wipani says the actor and television presenter who died last week on her 61st birthday, had breast cancer.

Jo Storry spent time with her friend a week before she died and said Wipani’s last days weren’t maudlin, and “she didn’t want to be a downer.”

“We went through old photos and talked about old friends’ ex-boyfriends, the ones who got away, moments of regret –the usual stuff old girlfriends talk about. I thanked her for our friendship and told her she was a big part of my life.”

Storry says it was typical of Wipani - who chose to die on her birthday - to stage-manage her exit.

Jo Storry and her close friend, Xena actor and former Lotto co-host. Storry said Wipani wasn't maudlin but stayed relentlessly positive to the end. Photo / Supplied.

“It was such an actor-y thing to do which I thought it was funny. We knew it was her birthday, and she was coming to the end of her life ... there was nothing nefarious or underhanded. She was surrounded by her family when she died.”

Storry said her lifelong friend had a magnetic personality that attracted lots of people into her life.

“Marise was popular, warm and genuine. She ... had a vibrant network - she introduced me to musicians and actors - she was always the one who knew where the best parties and clubs were.”

The pair met in the eighties when Storry was studying at Canterbury University and Wipani was runner-up in the Miss New Zealand pageant that Lorraine Downes won on her way to also winning Miss Universe 1983.

Marise Wipani, right, pictured as runner-up Miss New Zealand with winner Lorraine Downes, in 1983. Wipani wasn't comfortable in the beauty pageant world. Photo / Supplied

Wipani had been invited to the national beauty contest after its producer spotted the then-17-year-old in Ponsonby.

“Why would I want to do that?” she’d said, recalling her response in a 2011 Herald interview about Kiwis who’d narrowly missed out on fame.

However, she agreed immediately after being told she’d get to go to Christchurch, and be paid.

But winning “never really occurred to me” and she found some parts – such as the swimsuit parade – “really naff”.

Marise Wipani was grateful for the Miss New Zealand experience but felt more comfortable "slothing around" in rugby socks and sweatshirts according to her friend. Photo / Supplied,

Storry said although her friend had the ”glamour beauty pageant vibe,” she preferred slothing around in rugby socks and sweatshirts.

“The pageant world was something Marise had fallen into. She was grateful and enjoyed the experience but underneath it all she was young and slightly uncomfortable with the glamorous image and how people viewed her through that lens.

“Marise was fond of Lorraine Downes and was relieved she didn’t win [because she] thought Lorriane managed that role better.”

Storry, who now lives in the Hawkes Bay, had planned to spend the day with Wipani a week before she died but broke her foot and was advised not to drive.

“So I took the moon boot off and drove from St Heliers to the North shore - it was important for me to spend that time together.”

Marise Wipani and her friend Jo Storry. Storry spent a day with Wipani a week before she died. They went through old photos and talked about old boyfriends. Photo / Supplied

On the day Wipani died, a post on her Facebook page said: Marise passed peacefully today on her 61st birthday surrounded by family and friends.

She just wanted to say ... ’I have shuffled off this mortal coil,’ a quote from Shakespeare, who also died on his birthday.

She just wanted to say “Good byyye,good luck, good God!!!, Quote from Driving Miss Daisy.

Lucy Lawless worked with Marise Wipani on Xena: Warrior Princess. Lawless said Wipani was a "beautiful soul." Photo / Supplied

The post inspired an outpouring of grief and love for Wipani, who co-hosted Lotto alongside Doug Harvey and appeared in episodes of Shortland Street, Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Xena: Warrior Princess star, Lucy Lawless said she was shocked to hear of Wipani’s death, and remembered her as a “beautiful soul.”

Chris Graves, a clapper loader and choreographer on the 1985 film Came a Hot Friday in which Wipani played Esmerelda alongside Billy T. James, remembers showing Wipani and Peter Gordon how to dance.

Marise Wipani worked alongside B illy T. James in Came a Hot Friday. Photo / Supplied

“Marise was special. In one of the final scenes there was a dance neither of them could dance so I helped them finesse their performance,” Graves said.

Actor Theresa Healey also worked with Wipani on New Zealand soap Shortland Street and they starred together in the film Jubilee along with Cliff Curtis.

Theresa Healey said Marise Wipani could be irreverent and had a wickedly wonderful sense of humour. Photo / Supplied

“Marise was beautiful inside and out. We were the same age - her passing feels very wrong.

She had such a healthy irreverence towards the profession and a wickedly wonderful sense of humour. Very sad for everyone - especially her whanau,” Healey said.

Actor and Comedian, Pio Terei said he and Wipani gravitated towards each other at social functions.

“Marise was a beautiful wahine with a gorgeous smile. She had a real elegance and wasn’t on TV because she was Māori, she was good at what she did. We were both high-profile Māori and there was an underlying pride we worked on mainstream TV.

“Back in the day when I started in sketch comedy there was Marise, Joanna Paul, and way back before that - Marama Martin our first Māori broadcaster who sounded like an English woman from the BBC.

Comedian and Actor Pio Terei said he and Marise Wipani had an unerlying pride they were Maori on mainstream Television. Photo / Supplied

“It’s important to have a balanced mirror of our society to normalise and celebrate diversity. Now we have legends like Scotty and Stacey Morrison and Jenny-May Clarkson who are nailing it,“ Terei said.

Storry said her friend had a good run as the Lotto co-presenter but it may have cost her acting roles.

After years as the country’s “Lotto Lady” Wipani started taking office and hospitality jobs.

Marise Wipani's friend said her theatre and acting work dried up over time because she was overexposed as the Lotto presenter. Photo / Supplied.

Storry said about six years ago, Wipani cared for her mother towards the end of her life, which led to a decision to retreat from the TV cameras and theatre and enjoy some peace herself.

“I think it’s quite hard when you have been in the public eye and you get older and the work dries up - Marise knew it was time to step back and have a quieter life.

Jo Storry said it was typical of Wipani to stage-manage her exit. Photo / Supplied

“Marise never came across as a fake - she was always herself.

“She had a booming voice that she was completely unconscious about. Her old friends who became distant over time have been in touch - her death has brought us all together again.”

Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. She recently runner-up for Best Editorial Campaign and was part of a team that won Best Coverage of a Major News Event: Philip Polkinghorne Murder Trial. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.