When Genevieve Westcott returned to the hot seat to host The Paul Henry Show this year, it was a welcome comeback for one of TV3’s most celebrated and best-loved journalists.
But while the Canadian-Kiwi star enjoyed her brief foray back into broadcasting, she admits that after stepping away from the small screen two years ago, she has never looked back.
“I like doing my own thing now,” says the former 60 Minutes presenter, who also spent many years running a communications consultancy and currently works in external relations for Massey University. “You either know who you are or you don’t, and I know who I am, so I’ve never given a hoot.
“I did that job over so many years and in different countries, and I really had the best of the best. I worked with the best people, we had the best assignments and we travelled the world. I’d done it for years and years and I really wanted to do something else. So I did, and I’ve not been disappointed.”
Tragically, one of those “best of the best” people, Genevieve’s cameraman husband Ross Kenward, died this year.
“He was the most fabulous guy,” she says, shaking her head while on a break in her Canadian homeland. “He was really talented and beloved at TV3. John Campbell gave the most movingand wonderful tribute at his funeral. Roscoe made everybody look good – me included. We were together for many years and I know I had the best guy in the world,” she smiles.
It was the birth of New Zealand’s first independent television channel that brought the couple over from Toronto in 1989. “I was working for a big network show in Canada and Marcia Russell from TV3 came on a special trip to talk to us and see if we would come back and work at the launch,” Genevieve explains. “We said ‘okay’, and in the meantime I fell pregnant.
In spite of losing her husband this year, Genevieve remains grateful and positive. “I had the best guy in the world,” she says, posing for our shoot in Markham, Canada.
“When we got back, I was six months pregnant, I had a new job, a new home and a new baby on the way – all the things you’re never supposed to do. It was pretty crazy!”
But the award-winning broadcaster, with her trademark tenacity and can-do attitude, took it all in stride and made it work, though she admits, after 25 years, she can’t quite remember how. Her son Jamie now works as a mechanic in Auckland.
“He spent a year as a cameraman, but he’s also passionate about cars so he’s going down that road now,” she says. “He’s found his passion, so I’m very proud.”
As for her take on the channel, which launched on November 26,1989, as it is today, she says, “The essential TV3 still remains. It is lean, it is mean and nobody tells you what you can and can’t do. If you have an idea, you run with it. That’s why it’s so great.”
When TV3 launched in November 1989, trailblazing Genevieve was on staff. The Canadian journalist went on to have an illustrious career at the forefront of current affairs.
As a trailblazing journalist, however, she does think inequality remains. “I’d like to see more women doing their own shows,” she says. “Often, we still have a male and a female. It would be great to have a couple of females! Why not? I think there are still two standards for men and women – and that’s in the world, not just in television. As a woman, if you’re direct and ambitious, you can be perceived as being tough and aggressive, but they’d never call a man that.”
She believes growing up with half a dozen brothers may have had something to do with her success in such a competitive industry. “There were three girls and six boys in our family so we were outnumbered. It was just expected you’d do something you loved with your life. It was luck that got me into journalism.”
And despite having been through one of the toughest years of her life, Genevieve is facing the future with courage.
“I never had a game plan and still don’t,” she says. “I expect the best and I expect it will continue. Every step of the way it’s been pretty fabulous.”
