Joe's hidden heartbreak - 'I LOST A PART OF MYSELF'

Life has been far from true bliss for the More FM presenter, who confesses she's been 'eating my feelings'

- Sebastian van der Zwan

Back in early 2020, music-mad Joe Cotton was living the dream, having recently reunited with her girl group TrueBliss, as well as performing with a brand-new band.

“It was so cool, and I was really enjoying seeing the girls and singing with them again,” the Invercargill-based radio and TV star, 44, tells Woman’s Day. “I felt the happiest I’d ever felt in my entire life and everything was great, then suddenly there were no gigs whatsoever.”

The pandemic had plunged the world into chaos and it had a disastrous effect on Joe’s mental health. “COVID has been hard on everyone, but to have that handbrake pulled on me, it was like I lost a part of myself,” she says. “It went away for two and a half years, and I don’t think I’m back to the old me yet. I felt lost and it’s been a rough time of eating my feelings.

“I know I’ve done radio for 17 years, but I still feel like a singer. I don’t know who I am without singing. The girls and I feel a little rusty, but we’ll find our way back. I hope this could be a part of getting my life back.”