Snapchat: Could Stacey Morrison be New Zealand's answer to Ellen?

The Hits host Stacey Morrison. Photo / Doug Sherring.

My first job was … On What Now's cooking segment "Let's Cook". It astounds me that people still say that they remember me from that - I was 15 years old, it was a very long time ago. I guess this peculiar nostalgia for pop culture is why shows like Full House are being remade these days. Look out for "Let's Cook, Again" any day now.

It taught me … That television was a much better after-school job than most, so I should try to stay in there, and that good working relationships count for a lot. I worked with some screen legends like Richard Driver, Peter Hayden, Tony Palmer, and our big boss was Janine Morrell, who is still the head of Whitebait productions.

My big break came … I think What Now really was it. But, failure can be good too - missing out on a presenting role on Ice TV was probably break No. 2 (Petra Bagust made the Ice TV role iconic of course) ]. I had two options at the time and the role I did get was on Marae, then Mai Time, which created the big break of connecting with my Māori self and te reo Māori, all as part of my career. My radio break came when I interviewed Rob Rakete for Mai Time and he said "We actually need a newsreader, what to give it a shot?" I was really bad. But I learned fast, and those golden days of our breakfast show were some of my favourites.

The last job I quit was … I think it was TV2 News headlines, because my Mum was very sick with cancer by then, so I wanted to be able to spend time with and nurse her. It was the right call in the end; she died not long after and if I'm honest, the stress of her illness had been playing on my 26-year-old self's mind more than I had realised. Fun fact, my replacement was Karl Stefanovic, who became a big deal in the Australian television scene.

The most famous person I've ever met is … Beyonce? But I met her in a meet-and-greet for radio. I have a photo for evidence but didn't manage to say anything cool, or maybe anything at all. I was still in the presence of the (emerging) Queen Bey so I'll bank that. I also briefly met Orlando Bloom on the red carpet of Lord of the Rings.

They were … Flirty. To everyone, he looked in to people's eyes as if they were the only person in the world. This is a talent that gets you places, people.

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Such Angels.. Directly after this they had paint on their clothes, began a water fight that soaked them down to their undies, then 30 min standoff because one's replacement, packed undies were boy leg & therefore shorts, NOT underwear 🙄😂#EverythingIsKapai @whanau_living 😂

A post shared by Stacey Morrison (nee Daniels) (@stacedotcom) on Dec 5, 2017 at 10:23am PST

The best time I've had on set/ on stage was … Too hard to name but I'm so lucky to have had my whānau involved in our show Whānau Living, our youngest child was 6 months old when we started that, and the kids grew up on the show. And travelling around the country with It's in the Bag to the smallest and coolest towns with my darling co-host Pio Terei - I love seeing New Zealanders get up on stage and shine.

But the worst was … When I got a kidney infection on a shoot in Venice, around 2000. I think the Italian doctor who gave me a shot (not in the arm, you get the picture) either looked like he was straight out of Grey's Anatomy, or the fever was powerful.

My dream role would be … On a show like Ellen, but in New Zealand. We always say we don't have a big enough population for that but that's if we think only big Hollywood celebrities are worth interviewing.

Stacey Morrison hosts The Hits Drive Show and will also host live Anzac Day coverage all day Thursday from 5.40am on Maori Television and Maoritelevision.com.