Paul Henry's pricey gifts to himself

Paul Henry. Photo / Greg Bowker

Paul Henry is poised to go on a million dollar-plus spending spree.

The controversial former TVNZ Breakfast anchor, who has confirmed he received a payout from the state broadcaster, has his eyes set on a $360,000 Aston Martin Rapide sports car, and adding another boat to his fleet.

The boat could cost in the millions.

Henry reveals his big spend up plans in women's magazine New Idea which is on sale tomorrow.

The self-confessed petrol head, who lives in a Tudor-style mansion, has just road-tested an Aston Martin Rapide for Metro magazine.

He won't be drawn on whether he received a golden handshake from TVNZ. But he did say: "What I asked for was entirely reasonable and what I received was entirely reasonable."

Money isn't a problem for Henry, though. He has been a wheeler dealer since age 11, when he returned to England from New Zealand with his mother, who was very poor.

Henry has a number of property and business interests and says he is looking forward to having a break from the five-day a week TV routine he has had for the past 10 years. But he was "thinking about next year and how it's going to pan out."

A week ago, Henry revealed TVNZ had encouraged him to be provocative - but then treated him unreasonably, in his view, when his on-air comments about senior Indian Government minister Sheila Dikshit and New Zealand Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand sparked a public backlash. The furore led to his resignation.

Henry said he was "appalled" that New Zealand officially apologised after he ridiculed the name of Dikshit.

He felt TVNZ management had routinely encouraged him.

"There was an acceptance of the entertainment value derived from the way I performed. They did capitalise on me.

"I was surprised with the speed with which the mood changed. My overwhelming feeling was I'd turned from an asset into a liability."