MATARIKI AT HOME WITH STACEY & MATAI

Why the broad casters believe all Kiwis should be marking the special occasion

Watching Stacey Morrison and Mätai Smith, the hosts of Manawatia a Matariki, joke around during a Woman's Day photo shoot, it's clear the beloved broadcasters share a special bond.

"Mātai and I have a beautiful synergy," says Stacey, 49. "It's like we've got telepathy. If I drop something, he'll pick it up and he knows it's the same with me."

"Basically, we're married but not married," quips Mātai, 46.

The pair first started working together in TVNZ's Maori department in 1996. Matai, then 19, recalls being starstruck by his colleague. "Stace was one of the original presenters of Mai Time, which was massive at the time. They were these young people using te reo on TV, which was kind of unheard of then. It's different now. There's a lot more reo on our screens. But for me, she was a role model and a trailblazer."

As colleagues, he and Stacey became so close that she asked him to be godfather to her youngest daughter Maiana, now 10. Stacey says fondly, "She's very spoilt by Matai. Mind you, so are our other kids. They consider him a matua [uncle] so, of course, it means that we're proper whānau." 

POWERFUL ENERGY

The pair say they feel honoured to host live coverage of our national Matariki celebrations, which begin at dawn this Friday with a traditional hautapu ceremony.

"Last year was a real awakening, shares Matai. "The broadcast is really quite special. Pre-dawn, there's a powerful energy. That's why we do the karakia at that time. After the broadcast, we were walking along the waterfront just seeing people out and about, really embracing Matariki. It was so moving."

Stacey adds, "I burst into tears. The poor makeup artist! My husband [broadcaster Scotty Morrison] was part of the karakia. The star that he did a karakia to - Pōhutukawa - is particularly about remembering people you've lost in the last year, so there was lots of emotion!"