After 14 years as the self-described “crazy Asian guy” on our airwaves, The Edge radio star Chang Hung is tuning into his serious side and going into politics. And no, it’s not a stunt!
The 33-year-old Aucklander admits putting himself forward for the local body elections has been a “nerve-wracking” experience, but he has his first lady, fiancée Victoria Duncan, behind him the whole way.
“She’s already enrolled to vote and she’s my biggest cheerleader,” grins Chang. “I couldn’t have made the move without her.”
The Macau-born radio announcer matched with Dublin native Victoria, 33, on Tinder in January 2015, when he was visiting Wellington. She recalls, “I’d heard him on The Edge so I knew we shared a lot of the same interests, but when he told me he didn’t drink, I wasn’t sure it would work – I’m Irish, after all! We didn’t end up meeting that weekend, but we stayed in touch.”
A few weeks later, Victoria was in Taupo for a fun run and Chang suggested driving down to pick her up for a Foo Fighters concert in Auckland. “We got on like a house on fire on the drive up,” recalls Victoria of their first date, “but we were so late, we only saw 20 minutes of the gig – about three songs!”
The pair spent the next day together in Auckland, with Victoria only flying home to Wellington after they’d agreed to spend alternate weekends in each other’s towns. “She just gets me and I get her,” Chang explains.
“There was nothing we couldn’t talk about.” Project coordinator Victoria adds, “He’s totally different to other guys I’ve dated in the past. He’s so romantic and I don’t have to pretend to be this perfect, all-cooking, all-cleaning superwoman.”
However, very early in their relationship, just after Chang dropped “the L bomb”, Victoria – who moved to New Zealand in 2012 – revealed she was heading back to Ireland to visit family. So Chang hatched a plan to join her.
As part of a radio stunt for The Edge, he flew 30 hours to Dublin to spend just 24 hours with his girlfriend, then flew 30 hours home again.
Chang proposed to Victoria at Mount Smart Stadium, where they had their first date.
“He surprised me while I was at my parents’ house,” recalls Victoria. “I couldn’t believe it. Who would fly all that way just for me?! But Chang always goes the extra mile. In Dublin, we went to U2’s restaurant and visited the Guinness factory, and he met all my family and friends. He fit in straight away.”
“I was really nervous about meeting her mum and dad, but they were so lovely and it was really important to me to see where she grew up,” tells Chang, who had actually planned to propose on the trip but ran out of time.
Eight months later, he took Victoria to Mount Smart Stadium, where the couple had seen the Foo Fighters play on their very first date. Under the pretence of taking her to meet the Warriors, Chang played a personal message from her favourite band, Six60, and popped the question in the middle of the pitch. The romantic spectacle was filmed for The Edge TV.
“We were both crying,” recalls Victoria, who said yes immediately. “It was so special and because it was recorded, I could share the moment with all the people back home. The guys are all grumbling because now they have to up their game with their girlfriends!”
Chang and his bride-to-be will tie the knot on March 17 next year, which just happens to be St Patrick’s Day and the anniversary of when he first asked Victoria to be his girlfriend. The pair are planning a Las Vegas wedding, but Victoria – who now lives with Chang in Auckland – says, “We haven’t decided if we’ll go for a drive-thru chapel with a midget Elvis or something a bit classier!”
Friends in high places! Chang at The Edge with sports star Sonny Bill Williams and singer Ed Sheeran.
In the meantime, Labour Party member Chang is up for election on Auckland’s Waitemata Local Board as a member of the City Vision team. His foray into politics comes after he met Labour MP Jacinda Ardern at a music festival. He told her he was looking for a new challenge and was considering politics, and she agreed he’d be good at it.
“Radio and politics are similar in a way because you have to choose what station you listen to and, in politics, you’re deciding who you want to represent you,” says Chang. “I need to make young people realise how important it is to have their say.
With an election on the cards, the radio host sure could use an Edge! Luckily, bride-to-be Victoria is supporting him all the way.
“It’s taken a lot of guts, but I’m really passionate about where I live and I want to give back to the country that’s given me so much. One of my brothers is in the army and the other is joining the police, so this is my way of paying it back.”
So how does Victoria feel about being a politician’s wife? “I support him in whatever he wants to do,” she smiles, looking every inch the first lady. “Just call me Bronagh Key!”
