Paula’s fresh start ‘I FINALLY CAN BE ME

The former politician gives us a clue about her fabulous new life and tells why she’ll never be judged again

- Wendyl Nissen

When Paula Bennett left politics in 2020, she knew that it was going to be tough living life on the outside, but now she says she has finally found her way back to the real Paula.

The 53-year-old former Deputy Prime Minister has always been an outgoing person, but politics shaped her into someone she confesses she didn’t feel entirely comfortable being for a long time.

“People would always say to me, ‘You’re so much more fun than I thought you would be.’ And I would say to them, ‘Well, a two-minute interview on the tiles of Parliament when I’m being asked if I’ve misspent $20 million isn’t fun,” says Paula.

“I still get asked a lot about politics, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t traumatise me now quite as much as it did for the first 12 months after I left.”

One surprising thing that has helped Paula find her way back to her real self is her decision to front a game show on television, something you don’t see a lot of former deputy prime ministers doing in this country.

The second series of Give Us a Clue is about to air on TVNZ 1 and Paula admits that the show went a long way to helping her step out of her political persona.

“It took me about 12 months to detox from Parliament and Give Us a Clue was a big part of it. The performance required me to learn some new skills, but just backing myself for the role in the first place took me way out of my comfort zone. It helped that I was in that mindset of just embracing everything and then seeing what happens.”