If someone had told Lee-Anne Wann this time last year that she would be having a baby with a hunky builder a decade her junior, she’d have told them they were insane.
Single for four years, the 41-year-old star health and fitness consultant is already “mum” to 34 Warriors team members, making sure our national league players drink their pre-game bone broth and steer clear of fast food.
But quite unexpectedly, at the end of a rollercoaster 12 months of love and loss, Lee-Anne finds herself five months pregnant with a baby girl to her partner of seven months, Aidan Cameron, 32. “We’re really excited, if a little surprised!” she beams, her baby bump proudly on display.
It’s a bittersweet time for the Auckland-based exercise guru, who lost her mother Lynnette, 64, to melanoma cancer last December. Her father Alec, 69, is also battling a terminal liver condition, and has recently moved from Christchurch to Mangawhai to be close to Lee-Anne and his unborn granddaughter, who is due to arrive in February.
“He’s super-excited,” laughs Lee-Anne. “Mum always wanted a girl, but I was such a tomboy, she never got a chance to dress me up, so I’m going to go crazy with frilly things – she would’ve loved it!”
Meantime, Aidan was so convinced it was a boy, he’d picked out names. “Now we know it’s a girl, I’m pretty sure she’ll be wrapping him around her little finger,” says Lee-Anne.
The pregnancy was a bolt from the blue for the couple, who had only been together a few weeks when they conceived. “We’d already had the baby talk and Aidan said he wanted kids in a few years, but that wasn’t really an option for me,” confesses Lee-Anne. “We decided to compromise and try in 12 months’ time.”
Despite their differing tastes in music – Aidan listens to George FM, while “child of the ’80s” Lee-Anne prefers The Breeze – the parents-to-be say their age gap isn’t an issue.
But a week after their chat, Lee-Anne became suspicious. “I was a few days late and I felt niggly. I said, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant.’ But Aidan just laughed, ‘Let’s take a test to confirm.’ I did three tests, then I waited until he came home and presented him with a card that said, ‘Hi, Dad. Can’t wait to meet you!’ His face was just frozen in shock!”
Lee-Anne admits she was dumbfounded too. “I suffered from polycystic ovaries when I was younger, and I’ve been burnt out and depressed in the past, so I thought it might take some time. But boom! It was a curveball but we’re so grateful.”
The divorcée smiles as she recalls how she and Aidan met at a boxing match after-party, thanks to her TV presenter pal Erin Simpson. She tells, “Erin ‘accidentally’ bumped into him and grilled him. She pushed him over to me and said, ‘This is my friend Lee-Anne – look after her!’, then walked away.”
The singletons struck up a conversation and Aidan – who also builds TV sets, and dabbles in acting and modelling – took her number. But Lee-Anne admits love was the furthest thing from her mind. “There was the age difference and my mum was really sick. I told him, ‘I’m a bit of a mess – go away!’”
Lee-Anne was overjoyed to hear she’s expecting a girl after what’s been a difficult year for the health guru.
Three weeks later, Lee-Anne was in Canada on a nutrition course when she received the devastating call that her mum had passed away. To this day, she can’t explain why it was Aidan, a man she had only known a few weeks, who she immediately phoned.
A few weeks after that, the pair officially became a couple. Aidan, who had been flatting with friends, then cut a tendon on his arm at work, forcing him to take three months off. “He pretty much moved in and never left!” laughs Lee-Anne. “We lived in each other’s pockets and got to know each other better than some people do in years.”
The couple share a passion for health and nutrition, with Aidan – a former rugby player and coach – admitting that meeting Lee-Anne has completely changed his approach to food. “She’s very inspiring,” he says proudly. “Before, I was eating things I thought were healthy but that actually had loads of hidden sugars.”
Lee-Anne is also behind singer Stan Walker’s impressive weight-loss and Aidan tells, “Hearing Stan say that Lee-Anne has transformed him was a really great moment.”
Dedicated gym enthusiasts, the couple insist their nine-year age gap is irrelevant because of their many similarities, but admit they encountered concern from friends and family.
“My parents really like Lee-Anne, but Mum wasn’t sure for a while,” tells Aidan. “She said, ‘I just want to make sure you’re happy.’ I told her, ‘I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.’ But Mum’s so excited now, she keeps planning shopping trips for baby clothes!”
As they gear up for the birth of their daughter, the couple can’t wait for the next chapter in their life. Already, Lee-Anne’s friends have gifted her a wardrobe of chic hand-me-downs for the bubba.
“When we first told people we were having a baby, they were a bit shocked,” smiles Lee-Anne. “But when it’s right, it’s right. You just know.”
