D'ANGELO'S SOBER JOURNEY 'MY SON IS MY BEACON'

The Hui reporter hopes to be a role model for his boy

- Elisabeth Easther

Growing up in the Far North town of Kaitaia, award-winning television journalist and The Hui reporter D'Angelo Martin resolved not to raise his kids the same way he had been brought up.

"I grew up in a household where there was a fair bit of drinking, which was normal in Kaitäia," says the TV star, who's of Te Rarawa descent. "Kids came home from school to a house full of uncles, aunties and people from the neighbourhood, all of them having a party."

D'Angelo, 24, is quick to point out that wasn't the case every day, and his parents were also very hard-working and loving.

"Dad worked at the local timber mill and Mum was a kaiako [teacher] at Aniwaniwa Kohanga Reo, and she still is, but that's just what childhood was like for a lot of whānau in Northland."

From a young age, D'Angelo also realised how easy it would be to repeat that cycle, which is why he decided that when he became a father, he would not raise his tamariki with a strong drinking culture.

Cut to 2023, and D'Angelo and his partner Hailie, 23, are raising their young son in a harmonious, nurturing home, where four-year-old Kuaka is clearly flourishing, with the clever wee lad already speaking three languages, te reo Māori, English and his mother's native tongue, Vietnamese.

Hailie's own backstory is also a tale of courage and determination. Born in Vietnam, Hailie was just 14 when she announced to her parents that she was going to study in New Zealand.