Marc Ellis scoops TV award, Susan Wood misses out

Marc Ellis. File picture / Nigel Marple

It was a night of highs and highs - Marc Ellis made a comeback and TVNZ's Mark Sainsbury showed he only needed to turn up one day in 10 to be the best.

Ellis shed the last hangover of his drug conviction in winning the most popular male personality in New Zealand at the Qantas Television Awards in Auckland last night.

And Close Up @ 7 presenter Mark Sainsbury won the award for the best current affairs presenter, even though he is the stand-in when anchor Susan Wood is away.

The award for Ellis, a television star and former All Black, effectively dispels any questions about his suitability for corporate and television life following his drug conviction earlier this year.

"The middle of the year was pretty ordinary but the back end is looking up," he told the Herald On Sunday last night.

"I'm not one to stay down for too long. Life moves on and you have to move on with it. People have been very supportive and I guess they've seen the scenario for what it was."

What that was, Ellis would not elaborate, although he said more than the muttered apology offered outside Auckland District Court in August, when he was convicted and fined $300 for possessing five pills of the Class B drug Ecstasy.

Despite the drug conviction, Ellis remained on screen continuing his work on Matthew and Marc's Rocky Road, A Game of Two Halves and Sports Cafe.

Sainsbury, meanwhile, was stunned after winning the award for the best current affairs presenter. The self-described "fill-in guy" presents the show one day a fortnight, taking over from the main anchor, Susan Wood, who is locked in a dispute with TVNZ bosses who had wanted to cut $100,000 off her $450,000 salary.

Sainsbury said it would have been easier personally for Wood to take the pay cut than enter into a public and protracted dispute with her bosses.

"She did take a stand on the principle of the thing and she knew she would take a beating for it. It's like a no-win scenario."

Sainsbury first pledged his success to predecessor Paul Holmes - now on Prime - and said he thought John Campbell (TV3) would win it. "He's a bloody good presenter."

While One News lost its title as best news show to TV3's 6pm bulletin, it won the best individual (Lorelei Mason) and team reporting awards. The TV Journalist of the Year award went to Janet McIntyre of TVNZ's Sunday.

The sitcom Outrageous Fortune featured frequently on the awards list with its star Robyn Malcolm winning both Best Actress in a TV Drama and the most popular female personality awards. Off The Rails, presented and produced by Marcus Lush, also featured on the winners' list.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY