No Holting Back

Its been a year of big changes for Hayley Holt, who stepped aside from politics to take on the high-pressure role of Breakfast host putting her opinions, and decisions, firmly in the spotlight. Zoe Walker Ahwa meets the 37-year-old and discovers a woman who revels in the importance of being real

“I’m a take it as it comes kind of girl. I walk through the doors that open, and grab the opportunities when they come,” says Hayley Holt, the former snowboarder and professional ballroom dancerturned-sports presenter, reality show judge, radio host, politician-turned-breakfast host. “I’m a do first, worry about it later person – which has got me in trouble in the past! But it’s also opened up amazing opportunities. I couldn’t tell you where it’s going to lead.”

If you were looking for a complex woman on mainstream TV, you’d struggle to find a better example than Hayley. The 37-year-old began a new phase of her multi-faceted career in January as the new Breakfast co-host with Jack Tame – replacing the formidable Hilary Barry in one of the highest profile and most sought after roles on TV. For Hayley, who had turned her attention to politics, it was an unexpected but dream job, “a gift”.

More than skin deep

At face value, Hayley is the epitome of the bubbly attractive TVNZ blonde, but in person, the 37-year-old seems much deeper – and cooler – than the stereotype. She’s talked in the past about the misconception that she’s the sporty, fun girl, whereas “behind the scenes, I’m kind of serious”. We meet after she’s wrapped filming for the morning, and she slips into a booth in the bustling TVNZ atrium with her perfectly groomed TV presenter hair. But she’s stripped off her tailored on-screen clothes and is wearing a black high-necked pinafore dress by local ethical label Kowtow – organic cotton, very on brand for this former Green Party candidate – and heavy Dr. Martens boots, and I can tell she’s reading me as closely as I am her.