Suzanne's forever glow THE LESSONS I'VE LEARNED

THE INFO QUEEN’S SOLD ON THE SIMPLE LIFE

- Fleur Guthrie

To celebrate 30 years living in New Zealand – the longest she’s ever been based in one place – Suzanne Paul is keeping it simple: picking up her pension, oh, and getting married.

As one of the most recognized faces (and voices) in the country, she jokes she’s reinvented herself more times than Madonna in that time, too.

From sunbed salesperson to television host, dancing star to declaring bankruptcy, the plucky infomercial queen has packed a lot of living in.

“Sometimes I think the last three decades feels like forever and how did I do all of that? Other times it feels like it’s gone in a blink of an eye,” confesses Suzanne from the cosy rural home she shares with fiancé Patrick Kuhtze and rescue dog Matty, north of Auckland.

“People must presume I’m dead! When they bump into me working at lifestyle expos, they go, ‘Oh, my goodness, you’re still going?’” she laughs. “But I’ve got a lot of energy left in me.”

In 1991, Suzanne famously arrived in New Zealand with just $18 in her pocket and dogged determination to rebrand herself as anything other than “little Sue Barnes from Wolverhampton”.

Coming here alone and starting again with nothing is what she calls her greatest success.