Pictures: Emily Chalk.
Throughout her media career, radio star Ash London has interviewed Taylor Swift five times, hosted her own TV show, made appearances on hit comedy series like Have You Been Paying Attention?, fronted two podcasts and even written a book.
With a work schedule as relentless at that, she jokes that she had no choice but to marry a colleague. “Where else was I going to meet anybody?” she laughs. “I was working so hard, it was either meet someone at work or die alone!”
Ash says it was love at first sight when she and her husband, radio exec Adrian Brine, locked eyes at an industry awards show in 2016.
“Our love story would be a one-page book,” she tells Woman’s Day in her central Auckland home. “We saw each other across the room and I said, ‘I’m going to marry that guy!’ Then we got married.
“Actually, the next year at the same awards, he was late and I was so annoyed with him. I had been working my arse off all day hosting the red carpet and all he had to do was rock up. I was so angry, but then I found out he was late because he was picking up my engagement ring!”
Ash, 38, smiles fondly at the memory, then suddenly leaps up. “Oh, f**k, the iron’s on!” she calls out as she runs down the hall to sort the situation. “This gives you an idea of what a mess I am, sorry! He’s the domestic one. Thank God!”
The couple married in Melbourne in 2018 and welcomed their gorgeous son Buddy in 2021. “We just work really well,” adds Ash. “We never fight. and we talk about everything. I’m a talker – it’s my job and I’ve seen the same therapist for 13 years. I force emotional conversations on him!”
Adrian, 42, is the reason she’s now in Aotearoa. He’s a bigwig at MediaWorks and Ash is working at the company, hosting More FM Nights and recording her Hopeless Romantics podcast, where she and guests chat about the lovey-dovey movies and novels Ash “gobbles up”.
It’s clear that the couple is a perfect team – when Adrian was in talks about taking a job in New Zealand, he made sure that the move from Melbourne would also work for his wife.
“The conversation might have started with me, but it quickly became about how it was going to work for us,” Adrian explains. “It was a chance for Ash to get back to doing the stuff that she’s great at. She hasn’t had the opportunity to do that since having Buddy. Having the radio, the podcast and the book, that’s kind of the dream outcome for Ash. I’m just cheering her on from the sidelines.”
Despite Melbourne being “the greatest city in the world”, the couple is settling in well in Auckland. “Everyone has been so kind!” enthuses Ash. “We’ve had people reaching out and setting up play dates for Buddy. It’s lovely. And I haven’t had a bad meal yet. That’s saying something coming from Melbourne, where we’re all so far up our own arses about being a food capital.”
There are some drawbacks, though – Ash misses her mother, particularly at times like when a gastro bug hit Buddy’s kindy. She says, “Mum called and was like, ‘I can go the airport now!’ I should have just let her come. She’s had two visits already. It’s just three and a half hours from Melbourne to Auckland. It’s closer than Perth.”
Adrian’s parents will visit and help him hold the fort when Ash heads across the ditch to promote her book, Love On The Air. “Mum and Dad are so excited,” says Adrian. “Buddy’s not as keen on doing FaceTime with his grandparents any more, so they’ll be pumped to spend some time with him.”
Although they’re spending a small fortune on flights, Ash and Adrian are enjoying their new home, and New Zealand’s more relaxed approach to radio. Ash loves her More FM team. “They all so welcoming, which isn’t always the case when you start a new job,” she tells. “I’ve got a big old crush on Simon Barnett! He’s one of the best broadcasters I’ve ever heard in my life. The first time I listened to him and Lana [Searle] together, I was like, ‘Oh, I get it now – I’m on the right station!’”
Although she’s made a name for herself in radio, Ash originally wanted to work in film and TV. She was working as a music journalist when she landed a job hosting a music television show at 24. She jokes, “I was like, ‘I’ve achieved my whole life’s goal already!’”
From there, she started doing a weekly radio show called Take 40 Australia and was then offered a full-time radio show. “It didn’t take me long to realise this is actually what I want to do. TV is wonderful, but it’s a lot of messing around and standing on set for hours while they find a spot to put your microphone on properly. Radio is one and done. I love the immediacy of it. I love the interviews. Radio became my true love.”
Through radio, she got to chat to Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Pink, Ria Ora and Sam Smith – to name-drop just a few. She says that Taylor Swift was a delight.
“The first time I met her, I was not a Swiftie and within seconds of meeting her, I was ready to be president of the Taylor Swift International Fan Club,” laughs Ash.
“She makes you feel like the two of you are best friends. When I flew 30 hours to interview her, she walked over to me and said, ‘Ash, thank you so much for coming over from Sydney! I saw your tweet this morning about listening to the album. It means a lot.’ I mean, Taylor Swift does not need to make that much effort!”
Ash wrapped up her time on Australian radio just before she got pregnant with Buddy, but she started working on her refreshingly honest podcast New Mum, Who Dis just weeks after he was born.
“The podcast kind of saved me. I’d gone from working all hours of the day, to just sitting there with this baby, going, ‘What have I done? Is this my life? I love my son more than anything and I’d jump in front of a bus for him. But who the hell am I?’ So the podcast was amazing and then I started writing the book.”
Her debut novel, Love On The Air, is a fictionalised version of some of the crazy experiences Ash had as a radio host, but she emphasises that it’s not an autobiography.
“If I strayed too close to reality, I would have felt quite constricted. I also don’t want people to imagine me having sex, which I think is inevitable!”
All jokes aside, Ash is pinching herself she’s published her first book and admits she already has a second one in the works. She couldn’t be happier with life at the moment and says that gratitude has played a huge part in her life since losing her dad when she was just 16.
“When you experience something like that at such a young age, you realise that life is precious. It sounds super-lame, but gratitude is at the heart of everything we have in this household. I always say if Adrian, Buddy and I are healthy and safe, I’ve won the lottery.”
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