ANIKA GETS SERIOUS 'THE DIAGNOSIS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE'

As she launches her new podcast, the singer opens up about dealing with diabetes, ADHD, perime nopause and a year of panic attacks that 'totally screwed me over'

Anika Moa is an award-winning, chart-topping musician, with a recording career spanning decades. She's a children's entertainer - her album Songs For Bubbas has just gone double platinum - and a star of radio (The Hits) and TV shows Anika Moa Unleashed and Seven Sharp.

So it's no surprise to see the Kiwi icon popping up on another platform - this time as a podcaster for RNZ. Called It's Personal With Anika Moa, her weekly series invites wellknown New Zealanders to trust Anika with personal stories we haven't heard before.

"I wanted to do something more serious than I've done before because it's time," explains Anika, 43. "I can still be a comedian like I was on Unleashed, but sometimes I want to talk about stuff that means something." Anika admits that when she was diagnosed with type one diabetes a few years ago, humour failed her.

"I didn't laugh for two weeks because it's not funny," she says. "It's a serious issue. So that's what got me started thinking about a podcast where I wasn't there to find the humour in everything. Instead, I wanted to get serious because there are so many wāhine out there who are bombarded with mental health issues, like depression, anxiety and ADHD, and they've got menopause and they're reclaiming Māori heritage.

And so that's what I ask them about - no stone is unturned." In the announcement for her podcast, Anika says, "I'm not a journalist - I'm a human sharing a conversation about someone's life. Empathy is everything. There is some pretty serious kōrero, but we have some great laughs as well." But if the first episode of the video podcast, with Oscar-nominated film producer Chelsea Winstanley, is anything to go by, Anika should proudly add the word "journalist" to her stacked CV.