Suzy Cato It's her time

She spent years delighting Kiwi youngsters with her wholesome, happy persona on children’s television but more recently we saw a new, sultry Suzy Cato sweep across our screens in sequins and leather on Dancing with the Stars. Emma Clifton talks to Suzy about her whirlwind reinvention, and feeling better than ever at 50.

- Emma Clifton

If a warm mug of hot chocolate could speak to you, it would probably sound like Suzy Cato. That soothing voice – “Hello my friend, how are you today?” – is etched into the psyche of a generation or two of New Zealand children, not to mention their parents. She’s as baked into our recent pop culture as the Kiwi burger, the Topp Twins and Shortland Street. So it was a welcome sight when, just three months ago, she returned to our TV screens 16 years after she left them, as the surprise final contestant in Three’s Dancing with the Stars. The response was immediate – as if New Zealanders hadn’t realised how much we had been missing Suzy Cato until she was right in front of us, in a slinky pair of leather pants. Were we ready for Suzy Cato to be sexy? Yes, the nation said. Yes, we were.

Dressed in leggings and a loose grey jumper, Suzy is bare-faced as she sits down for her Australian Women’s Weekly chat; those famous glasses are perched on her ridiculously good cheekbones and she looks like an elfin uni student, although she’s just turned 50. She comes to the table with a large parcel of pastries and a cheerful attitude, despite the fact that she is, well, shattered.