TikTok's dancing doc! HOW I TURNED MY LIFE AROUND

Dose of reality! TV's Checkup medic is sending a life line to disadvantaged Pasifika youth

- Fleur Guthrie

As a little girl, Tongan-born Dr Vanisi Prescott had two dreams - to one day be a doctor and star in a television commercial.

Often home alone after school while her single mum worked three jobs, she would turn the telly on and wonder why there were never brown faces like hers appearing on screen.

"So now to have become a GP - against all odds - and be on an actual TV show is next level," laughs the newest host of local series The Checkup, where doctors investigate the latest medical breakthroughs and misconceptions.

But TV isn't the only platform that's making Vanisi's patients tell their friends: "Did you know my doctor is a bit famous?" The bubbly 36-year-old was inspired to start her own channel on social media app TikTok as a way to inspire young people. On it, she candidly shares her journey, which includes being bullied, going to school without lunch and racial prejudice.

"I started doing TikTok videos with my eldest daughter because I love dancing, it's my happy place," tells Vanisi, who is mum to Zephaniah, 13, Jazelle, eight, and Baker, seven. "And then she got annoyed and said, 'Mum, can you just open up your own account, please?"

"After posting my first video, people were really interested and I thought, 'Wow, I could really use this platform to inspire others going through similar struggles. So I've since posted about my career in medicine, my life... everything! 

"I just want Pasifika youth with similar backgrounds to me to know that it's so important to chase your dreams regardless of what people say.