Crossing live to McCann! MITCH'S AMERICAN DREAM

The Newshub correspondent's on the adventure of a lifetime

- Fleur Guthrie

Some children ask for a specific cake. Others want goodie bags. But when Mitch McCann turned five, he had one unusual request for his birthday party - a current affairs quiz.

"That's a bit weird, right?" laughs Newshub's first-ever US correspondent. "I probably even told mum the questions I wanted her to ask so I would win it!"

It was this early love for news that shaped Ashburton-born Mitch, who "all through school" knew exactly what he wanted to do.

Now based in New York with wife Olivia Schwass, the 28-year-old has covered a number of international events, including the death of Queen Elizabeth II. In fact, they had only just moved from Auckland to the US for Mitch's new role when he got the call-up to hurry to Balmoral Castle.

"We'd been in New York two weeks when the Queen died," he tells. "So I left Olivia dossing on my friend's couch while I went off to Scotland. It was such a whirlwind start to cover this sombre, unforgettable occasion."

Since then, the couple - who have been together for 12 years have settled into a tiny apartment in an old tenement building in Manhattan's East Village. At first, Mitch admits he was a little worried Olivia might feel like she was a passenger on his adventure.