Gillies joined TV3 in 2001 and co-hosted The AM Show, now known as AM, when it launched in 2017. Looking back on a TV career that took her around New Zealand and the world, she has shared a tribute to the news service as it winds down.
She wrote on the Newshub website: “I had planned to stay for three years but TV3 held my heart for 23, each year a wonderful and unforgettable adventure.”
Reflecting on her journey from the moment she left the Gisborne Herald to audition for TV3′s Nightline in 2001, to working in Three’s Christchurch and Wellington bureaus and returning to Auckland with Campbell Live, she wrote: “I have loved every moment, every bureau, every story and, most importantly, every workmate.
In 2008, Gillies headed to Sydney to work as an Australia correspondent, covering flooding, fires, sports and politics, before coming home to co-host The AM Show with Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner.
She said of the switch to presenting in studio: “This was foreign ground. I had barely read an autocue, never presented a news bulletin before. Now it was five times a week with a 3am alarm.”
Looking back at her time at TV3, she wrote: “I never regretted a moment.”
She took on the role of Newshub’s national correspondent, while Richardson moved on to co-host The Project and continued hosting The Block NZ. Meanwhile, Ryan Bridge took over from Garner as The AM Show host.
Gillies with her AM Show co-hosts.
At the time, Gillies spoke of the “many big stories, so many unforgettable moments and, let’s face it, so many laughs”, that came with her time on the morning show, adding that she would still be part of the Newshub crew, just later in the day and without the early morning wake-ups.
“I am super excited for our Ryan and I’m super grateful for the wonderful dream team I’ve worked alongside since 2017.”
The couple made their relationship “Instagram official” in 2018 when she shared snaps of them on holiday in Bali. Murphy was formerly the editor-in-chief of the New Zealand Herald before stepping down in 2015.
In Newshub’s final week, current and former faces have reflected on the end of an era, with Lloyd Burr and Melissa Chan-Green joined in the AM studio by Oliver Driver, Carly Flynn and Paul Henry.
Flynn advised Chan-Green and Burr, “don’t wallow”, assuring them that “there’s life outside media”, while Henry pointed out that the closure “should have happened years ago”.
“Life is changing,” he added. “Did we expect everything to remain the same?”
