Family

Jenny-May Clarkson’s family health overhaul

Jenny-May and husband Dean open up about the big move they've made, and how it's changed their lives.

They’re said to be some of the greatest stresses you can possibly put on a relationship – moving house, organising a wedding or having a child together – and it’s certainly something that TV 1 sports presenter Jenny-May Clarkson and her husband Dean can attest to: they’ve done it all in the blink of an eye!

The pair had a complete fairytale start to their relationship. After their true love-at-first-sight meeting in February 2015, Dean (42) proposed after just 11 days and then Jenny-May (43) she walked down the aisle that September, just shy of the three-month mark – carrying twins, no less!

Life has been a whirlwind since, and now with two boisterous 16-month-old boys on their hands, it’s never been busier. But the pair recently made a pact to create a better, healthier life for themselves, their twins, Atawhai and Te Manahau, plus Dean’s two girls Libby-Jane (12) and Leah (10), whom they have shared care of.

They’ve since made a move out to a more rural area of Auckland, where they’ve bought a home with Dean’s parents.

“Just as well I get on so well with the in-laws!” jokes Jenny-May.

Their new outdoor lifestyle sees them each doing a 5km walk daily, up the maunga nearby to their home. For Dean, who has lost 13kg in the last few months since the move, it’s been a life-changer, after his doctors gave him the hard work that it was essential he improve his health.

“I nearly died going up the first time,” Dean admits. “But that’s why I do it. I’ve done it every day since that Sunday. And as I go up I remind myself that’s what it’s for.”

His voice catches as he looks at Jenny-May.

“It’s to stay alive for my wife and my children. I know I have to keep doing it because I want to walk up there one day with them when they’re older.”

Jenny-May and Dean appear in this week’s issue of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly where they speak candidly about the stresses on their marriage, and all about their energetic two young boys. See all the gorgeous photos in this week’s issue, on sale now.

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