Breakfast & bravery MELISSA'S PRIVATE PAIN

The TVNZ presenter has shed many lockdown tears, concerned for her children and her mum’s health

- Fleur Guthrie

Cool and calm, Melissa Stokes is often the face presenting the news to hundreds of thousands of people across New Zealand. But over the past year, when the cameras stopped rolling, the TVNZ star has faced some of the biggest hurdles in her life – including battling anxiety, helping her eldest son with his ADHD and being there for her mother who has lung cancer.

“When Covid first hit in 2020, I’d only been the weekend newsreader for a year before I had to move to the Breakfast show, as we broke into teams,” recalls Melissa, who turns 43 next month.

“I don’t think I handle change very well, so that made me quite panicked because nobody knew how long that was going to go for. We’re used to people popping in and out of the studio, but there were no guests coming in and it was just Pippa Wetzell, John Campbell and me sitting there for three hours in what felt like quite a vacuum.

“Particularly on Breakfast, however, I knew we were company for people. And 10 years ago, you wouldn’t have heard newsreaders telling people to ‘Take care’ or ‘Be kind’. Yet that’s part of our vernacular now.”

Touchingly honest, Melissa isn’t the type to shy away from things, including the topic of mental health. A self-confessed worrier, she realised she needed help with her anxiety during that first lockdown.

“I wouldn’t say I was particularly bad. I was just sick of my brain giving me these worries all the time and needed a break from it.”