'I'm a crier' - Samantha Hayes admits onscreen tears

Samantha Hayes says she has been moved to tears while covering stories in Australia. Photo / Supplied

Returning Kiwi newsreader Samantha Hayes has admitted bursting into tears while filming several recent news stories.

The TV3 journalist, who is back in Auckland after a 13-month stint covering Australian news from Sydney, said she had to stop filming while covering the heartbreaking story of a Brisbane house fire that claimed 11 lives.

"I burst into tears and had to frantically apply make-up to try to look normal again," Hayes tells this week's edition of New Idea.

"You do get hard and cynical in this job but at times like that I just can't help it - I'm a crier."

Hayes, a vegetarian, also said she "bawled her eyes out" while covering the story of a Sydney abattoir accused of animal abuse.

She said it was the hardest story she had ever had to cover.

"My colleague sitting next to me in the newsroom said several times, 'You need to call your producers and tell them you can't do it.' But I thought, 'You know what, I just need to harden up and do this. I can't cry - I have to do it'."

The 27-year-old returned to New Zealand this week to work as a roving reporter for TV3 and hosting Radio Live's Drive Time show from 3-6pm.

- Herald online