Bernadine Oliver-Kerby is excited about the future after saying goodbye after 25 years at TVNZ. Photo/Doug Sherring
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby is excited about the future after saying goodbye after 25 years at TVNZ. Photo/Doug Sherring
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby has waved goodbye to TVNZ after 25 years - but if there was a farewell event, the newsreader says with a laugh she "hasn't been invited".
Oliver-Kerby's contract with the state broadcaster finished on Monday, wrapping up a TVNZ career that saw her rise from a Christchurch-based lifestyle show to fronting prime time sports bulletins and the 6pm news.
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby as a sports reporter at TVNZ in 2000.
Despite the lack of a proper farewell after two and a half decades of work, Oliver-Kerby says she's not upset at TVNZ and has her eye on the future.
If they did hold anything for her, she says she would probably be too busy to attend.
"TVNZ certainly haven't let me know there's anything on. Maybe I didn't get the memo," she jokingly told the Herald. "If there's something for me, I'm not there ... I haven't been invited."
TVNZ didn't reply to Herald requests for comment about Oliver-Kerby's departure.
Her position was disestablished in 2015 and she's spent the past 12 months on a temporary contract filling in as a newsreader on the 6pm bulletin.
The 45-year-old says that was the perfect way to slowly leave her "safety net" after 25 years.
"That's been a nice way to ease my way out of what I guess has been a real cocoon for me," she said.
"Twenty-five years with one company is a long haul ... it's sad to leave TVNZ ... but doors will open or close and you've gotta be open to it. I'm starting to get excited about other opportunities. I haven't really put my toe in any other pond. It's always been TVNZ."
Bernadine Oliver-Kerby appears in a TVNZ promotional shot for the show Game On Extra Time in 2010.
The award-winning radio newsreader paid tribute to those that had guided her through a "diverse" career.
"I've been to Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, I've covered Rugby and Netball World Cups, I did New Zealand's Brainiest Kid, I've worked alongside Keith Quinn, John MacBeth, ... I've read alongside Angela D'Audney and Judy Bailey.
"It's been such a gift to learn from the best."
Wayne Hay with Bernadine Oliver-Kerby at TVNZ in 2003.
As well as a variety of charity work, Oliver-Kerby said she was focusing on her role at Newstalk ZB, which saw her crowned the Best Newsreader alongside Hilary Barry at the 2016 Radio Awards.
"I've got such a great gig at Newstalk ZB. Mike Hosking Breakfast is the No. 1 breakfast show (and) I get to newsread on that," she says.
"It's a pretty good gig. It's pretty cool - even if it is getting up at stupid o'clock."
