Kellie Blizard
DJ Gigi is in the house! Blonde hair cascading beneath her head-phones and big blue eyes focused on her decks, she deftly hits buttons and twiddles knobs as the enthusiastic crowd grooves on the dance floor. “Let’s do it!” she hollers.
The decks might be plastic, the dance floor a lounge and the crowd a mix of parents, publicists and Woman’s Day crew, but there’s no doubt three-year-old Gigi already takes after her dad, George FM presenter Leigh Dolbear, aka General Lee.
“She might just be my greatest hit yet,” grins the proud breakfast show host, 41, who entertains listeners from 6am weekdays alongside co-host Tammy Davis. And the feeling appears to be mutual as Gigi’s current favourite sentence is, “My daddy is General Lee and he’s cool.”
Life has moved fast for Leigh and his partner, radio senior marketer Lee Gilmour, 38, since they first met as colleagues at George FM, finally getting together in 2016 after several match-making attempts by their mutual pal, the late Jay Bulletproof, who tragically died of a brain bleed at just 46 in September.
Within weeks of their first date at a Japanese restaurant, the couple – known collectively to friends as “Lee Squared”; individually as “Boy Leigh” and “Girl Lee” – holidayed in Fiji, before moving in together after just four months. Within a year, they’d bought their first property in Auckland.
In 2018, the pair welcomed a bouncy black “border doodle” named Rocky, but when it came to trying for a baby, they struggled. Lee eventually underwent fertility treatment and surgery before the couple started IVF.
Daughter Gigi is taking great care of her mum Lee.
Leigh still marvels at the “science and sorcery” that led to the conception of Gigi on the couple’s second IVF round. And happily, another big hit is on the way, with the couple set to welcome their second daughter in January!
Like Gigi, the unborn tot is a medical miracle, conceived on their third IVF attempt.
“I was a mess when I found out I was pregnant because I’d nearly given up hope,” tells Lee, patting her bump. “We’d had so many fails. I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been to have two babies from IVF.”
They’re both stoked to be welcoming another girl. Leigh tells, “Both Lee and I are really close to our sisters, so we’re really happy she’ll have a sister too – someone by her side to keep her company after we’re gone.”
Leigh’s musical mini-me is a natural.
Family is hugely important to the couple, who have both tragically lost parents to illness. Leigh’s mum Joy passed away from multiple sclerosis 13 years ago, while Lee lost her dad Grant to cancer in 2014.
In a touching tribute, Gigi is named after Grant’s initials, while her second name, Joy, is after Leigh’s late mum, “who both would’ve really loved being grandparents”, the radio star says.
Pink-loving “girly girl” Gigi is fizzing with excitement at becoming a big sister. Aside from a scary dash to A&E after a fall when she was a toddler, “we’ve had a pretty smooth ride”, grins Lee. Her favourite music is “Fleetwood Mac played at 45rpm so it sounds like the Chipmunks”, laughs her doting dad.
Like Gigi, Leigh got bitten by the music bug early in life, learning to mix records at the cabaret bar his parents ran in South Auckland when he was just 10. Over the past three decades, he’s made a name for himself as one of Aotearoa’s best-known DJs, spinning tunes for the likes of Robbie Williams, Eva Longoria and Coldplay.
“I nearly screwed up Coldplay,” he grins. “I’d been sent an email with all the music they didn’t want to hear, but I skimmed and misread it, so I was playing all this yacht-rock stuff. I caught Chris Martin’s eye and he didn’t look impressed. Next minute, their tour manager tells me I’ve got two tracks to turn it around or she’s putting her Spotify list on. I had them all dancing on the bar tops soon enough!”
George FM co-host Tammy looks like best-man material – hint, hint, Leigh!
With Leigh up at 4.20am each day to head into George FM, while Lee gets Gigi ready for daycare, then heads into the same office as her partner, the juggle is real – and it’ll only become trickier with two daughters. Now a house renovation’s also on the cards, they both agree it might be a while till wedding bells ring.
“If we get married, I’ll definitely be keeping my last name – otherwise we’ll both have the same name,” laughs Lee.
“It’s true,” grins Leigh. “But yeah, one day, I’ll propose…”
In the meantime, the DJ simply hopes his second daughter doesn’t arrive before her due date of 11 January. He smiles, “I’m playing a gig on New Year’s Eve, so I’m really hoping she doesn’t come early!”
