Polly's triumph after tragedy I'M BACK IN MY HAPPY PLACE'

As she prepares to make a radio comeback, the beloved broadcaster opens up about her past two years of love, loss and heartbreak

-  Sophie Neville

The past two years haven't been the easiest on broadcasting legend Polly Gillespie. Not only has she endured the anxious uncertainty of the pandemic, but also a shock job loss, a painful relationship split and the heartbreaking death of her mother after a difficult battle with dementia.

Yet it's a smiling Polly who greets us as at our Auckland shoot, squeezed in during a quick work trip from her home in Wellington's Island Bay. With a new and exciting radio job to sink her teeth into the star has a lot to look forward to in 2022. But while she'd like to think the year will be more settled than the last, she's not holding her breath.

I have zero expectations, tells Polly. Expectations and hopes lead to disappointment in my experience, so instead I'm just buckling in for the ride and we'll see what happens.

I'd like to keep my job this year, though! It's almost two years since she and her longtime co-host (and ex-husband) Grant Kereama lost their More FM roles as part of a shock pandemic restructure. It was a bruising experience, but Polly is quick to acknowledge she was just one of many who've faced unemployment.

However, with a new evening show on Today FM - which will air between 8pm and midnight from next week - Polly is welcoming the fresh beginning with open arms. It feels like a long time since she was last in her “happy place, entertaining listeners with her warmth and riotously funny take on life, and she can't wait to get back to it.

There will be music and laughs, of course, but Polly hopes her show will also deliver something a little more meaningful. “It's going to be really real, she says. About love, life, loss, triumph over tragedy, relationships, family, children... Real-life stories about what's going on in people's lives.