His days of beaming into our living rooms with a kia ora koutou katoa may well and truly be over, but before Dr Ashley Bloomfield, director general of health-turned national treasure, steps down next week, he's revealed he still intends to get behind a microphone.
Speaking to ZM hosts Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley this morning, Bloomfield shared that while he had to postpone his farewell do, because of Covid, he will be looking forward to "wheeling out the karaoke machine and having a good old shindig" when the time is right.
Asked what his go-to song is when he's handed a mic - outside of addressing a pandemic-stricken nation - Bloomfield says, "It's Friday I'm In Love, by The Cure, that's to start with. But I'm planning to be up there more than once."
He also gave his prescription for sounding good: "The trick to karaoke, of course, is to maybe just have a drink or two first. Then no one notices whether you're out of tune or not."
Aside from serenading the slightly inebriated, Bloomfield intends to take "a good long break".