Thrill Seeking Duo Sam & Mike's Secret Passion

This work relationship is running smoothly.

- Sophie Neville

When Mike McRoberts’ former colleague and close friend Hilary Barry announced she was leaving Three after 11 years anchoring the 6pm news together, the broadcasting icon lamented that it felt like the end of a long marriage. But when we catch up with him and his new “work wife” Samantha Hayes, it’s clear the popular presenter has had no trouble moving on!

“My second marriage is going very well indeed,” Mike, 51, laughs, as he settles into the make-up chair at our Woman’s Day shoot. “I still catch up with Hilary and I’m sure we’ll be mates forever, but I’ve moved on. Everything’s good.”

A year has passed since Sam, 33, stepped into Hilary’s rather large shoes, but she insists that after a few weeks of settling in, things are now “relaxed, comfortable and easy”.

“It almost feels like we’ve been doing it forever,” says the striking redhead. “And fortunately, the wheels haven’t fallen off and there have been no major disasters!”

Despite their almost 20-year age gap, it’s clear the pair have a lot more in common than just reading the news. In fact, when we catch up with them,they’re still buzzing from a recent weekend away, where they ran the Waitomo Trail Run and tackled a caving adventure, joined by Mike’s children, Ben, 17, and Maia, 15.

For running fanatic Mike, who achieved his dream of a sub-four-hour marathon in Christchurch this month, the trail was something of a breeze. Sam, however, who went for the 11km run as opposed to Mike’s 22km option, admits there were moments when she feared she wouldn’t make it.

“It was really hard!” she tells. “We were running through shoe-swallowing mud. You’d be sliding and falling all the way down, trying to grab on to trees!”

New heights