Simon and Ali separate: was it meant to last?

Ken and Barbie have called it splits. Simon Dallow, he of the chiselled face and the strapping shoulders on the One News desk, has separated from his equally as beautiful wife, Alison Mau. Together they epitomised perfection. Never a groomed hair out of place; never a fist pumped on air, never a cross word said in earshot of a gossip columnist with big ears.

Click here for our gallery of Simon and Ali pics in happier times.

Last night a press release from TVNZ was emailed out stating the couple that had "been together for 19 years, married for 13 and have two children aged 8 and 11" were officially announcing their separation, which was described in the release as "amicable." Press releases issued on a Monday night are designed to quieten down the drama before the Sunday papers - a whole week away.

But that's unlikely to happen. Already the gossipy woman's magazines will be circling the couple like preying sharks, offering huge money for their stories and asking the questions we want to know: When did the marriage break down? What caused the split? Was there a significant other party or parties involved?

If they both want to retain their jobs in the One News department, then neither Ali nor Simon will be allowed to receive money for their stories, though neither are expected to gush any time soon. "Despite their high profile jobs," the TVNZ press release said last night, "we see this as a very private and personal matter. Therefore TVNZ, Simon and Alison will be making no further comment."

This morning, Ali beamed back from the Breakfast couch all coiffed and preened. What separation?, her appearance seemed to be saying. It was business as usual. If the split with the man she chose as her life partner was causing her any anguish and upset, she wasn't showing it. Her wedding rings remained firmly in place.

Ali is the consummate professional. She also, certainly in my mind, has appeared to live in a Stepford world others of perfection inhabit: as the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect daughter. Sad as their marriage break up is, it will give both their profiles a much-needed sense of real human foibles and fragility that, from the outside world, they never appeared to possess before. And let's not forget, they have now become the most eligible bachelors of New Zealand.

Rachel Glucina

 

Pictured above: Alison Mau and Simon Dallow. Photo / Norrie Montgomery