40 years of Fair Go: The early days and the hosts who clashed

Fair Go is celebrating 40 years! Photos / Supplied, Norrie Montgomery

One of New Zealand's most iconic shows is celebrating 40 years and its former hosts are doing it by lifting the lid on the past.

Kerre McIvor, Liane Clarke and Kevin Milne gathered to speak with NZ Woman's Weekly about the anniversary and revealed everything from who broke barriers to who clashed with who.

Most notably, McIvor revealed she and former reporter/presenter Philip Alpers really did not get along at all, to the point where she would childishly mess up his carefully set out stationery just to mess with him.

"I chafed with Philip. He and I didn't get on. I have the utmost respect for him, but I found it really hard in the office," she told the magazine.

McIvor also revealed that upon getting the job in the first place, she was "absolutely woeful".

"I had very little experience and wasn't on a par with the calibre of journalists I worked with. I was so scared, but rather than admit that to anyone, I put my chin up and talked a lot. I was like a noisy wind-up doll," she said.

The Newstalk ZB presenter also spoke about being the first Kiwi woman to break new ground when she appeared on national television while pregnant and unmarried.

She wasn't the only one to break ground though, Liane Clarke - who says Kerre paved the way for her on TV - became one of the first presenters to represent a lot of Kiwis who had never been represented on screen before.

"I think it was the first time lots of people had seen someone on TV who looked like they did. So I'd get a lot of letters from the Maori and Pasifika community, and an awful lot from women who were size 18+ who wanted to know where I'd got what I was wearing," she said.

"For me, it was an iconic show. I wanted to make my mum proud. And my nana and grandad, aunts and uncles, who all watched the show religiously - everyone knew someone who had been helped by Fair Go."

Fair Go at 40 a two-part special looking back on the show's 40-year history will air on TVNZ 1 on February 5 and 12 at 7.30pm.