Tantrums, tears & turmoil BRODIE'S BRAVE NEW CHAPTER

The Dancing With The Stars NZ contestant on saying goodbye and finding the courage to start over again

- Sophie Neville

Rolling on the grass with three excited dogs leaping on top of her, Brodie Kane is in her element. "This is my dream!" she squeals, wrapping her arms around one of the adorable pooches at our photoshoot.

It's a while since she spent time with a four-legged friend and Brodie can't help but think of her own dog Connor, who she farewelled back in February, when she left Christchurch for a new life in Auckland.

The border collie-cross is happy at home by the beach with Brodie's mum Jo, but the effervescent broadcaster admits she misses her family pet more than she ever could have imagined.

"Leaving him was definitely the hardest part about moving away," says Brodie, who's just days away from taking to the stage on Dancing With The Stars NZ on 24 April. "Everyone asks how I'm coping without Mum and Dad, and I'm like, 'I'm fine - it's the dog I'm missing!"

The former Breakfast and Fair Go reporter is talking to us on a break from her gruelling dance rehearsals. Partnered with professional Enrique Johns, the 35-year-old has been training three to five hours a day in preparation for the hit Three show. She's loving it, Brodie says, but nerves are seriously building.