Becoming the BBC’s only Kiwi presenter didn’t come easy to Lucy Hockings.
“They didn’t like my accent, so I got sent off to elocution lessons,” remembers the 42-year-old mother-of-two.
It was a huge obstacle when she joined the network in 1999, but now she’s charmed the hearts of UK viewers and embraces her Kiwi twang.
“I think they got used to my accent,” laughs Lucy, who lives in London. “But they also decided they wanted to represent the whole planet on BBC.”
The Weekly caught up with Lucy on her quick visit home to New Zealand last month.
Despite her success in the UK, she says she always needs to come home to see her family.
“The people I love are here. And there’s feijoas, and great flat whites,” she adds with a laugh.
She might have made it big in London, but her biggest fan remains in New Zealand.
“My dad very sweetly records my programme and watches it the next day,” smiles Lucy.
From earthquakes to Donald Trump’s tweets, every day in the newsroom for Lucy is different and she always has to be on her toes. But that’s one of the reasons she loves her job.
“It’s never, ever dull. It’s exhausting, but I’m not sure what else I would ever want to do!”
GMT airs on BBC World News, Sky Channel 89, Tuesday to Saturday.
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