Self-assured, social media-savvy and inherently stylish, Hilary Barry holds her own against Paul Henry with her unique brand of sass
In the echelons of New Zealand celebrity, it’s along the lines of All Black vs everybody else. And one genuine measure of just how popular you are can be found on social media, the virtual marketplace where we all spend our leisure time.
Whether you know much about Twitter or not, it’s a key indicator of celebrity and an insight into our stars’ inner thoughts.
Those insights can range from the mundane (Dan Carter, 428k followers, “Great to be back in @AllBlacks camp. Exciting couple of weeks ahead”) through to the slightly misguided (Colin Mathura-Jeffree, 10.7k followers, “I hate all the negative news we hear. What’s the % of bad vs good stories? Are we conditioned to fear & be controlled #NewReligion.”)
And then among the Twitter fray of the young and the sporty and the social, sits Hilary Barry. This is not a Twitter profile you might expect from a 45-year-old mother of two.
Interspersed with breaking news, there’s ‘OMGs’ and trash talk against her colleagues, shiraz-fuelled musings and gleeful selfies. It’s this combo of reliability and badassery that’s seen her accumulate 57k followers – more than Mike Hosking, Jaime Ridge, Andrew Little, Taika Waititi, and a whole host of Kiwi musicians, TV stars, socialites and comedians who you’d think would be top of the cool-factor charts.
Already a golden girl
Barry’s been a favourite for a long time, picking up awards for best newsreader, best presenter, best female personality. But now we’re getting to see more of Barry’s spark and snark, both online and every morning on our televisions, thanks to her role on The Paul Henry Show.
Hilary Barry throws paper darts on live news broadcast
It’s been a while since we’ve seen someone hold their own against the brilliant and belligerent Henry, but Barry is more than up for the challenge, and the rat-a-tat repartee between them is delightful, like being sat between the two smartest people at a dinner party.
“I think it’s the right stage of my career for me to be doing something like this,” Barry says. “It’s such a seat-of-your-pants kind of broadcast in some ways, so you’ve got to be prepared to put yourself out there – be yourself, say something stupid. I think I’ve just got to a stage in my career where I’m comfortable enough in my own skin to be able to do that.”
“You’ve got to be prepared to put yourself out there – be yourself, say something stupid.”
Times a changin’
It’s an interesting time to be working in news, that’s for certain. TV3 has suffered in the headlines and in the ratings since the sudden and devastating departure of John Campbell, and the public death of Campbell Live saw many debates about the future of news. But despite the furore, Barry’s name remained unbesmirched in the press.
Hilary Barry cries on air as she farewells John Campbell
Don’t think she’s getting comfortable though – the flipside of developing such a strong online following means that she’s at the receiving end of public feedback, all day, every day. “How I look probably makes up 90% of the comments. How [3 News co-host] Mike McRoberts looks probably makes up about 10% of the comments to him. But that’s always been the way for female broadcasters.”
In 2014 Karl Stefanovic, the co-host of Channel Nine’s Today Show in Australia, revealed he had worn the same blue suit on-air for an entire year. His aim was to prove that while his female colleague Lisa Wilkinson had to face a daily barrage of sartorial criticism from the general public, he could literally wear the same outfit for year and – as he succinctly put it – “no-one gives a shit”. Many considered it a hilarious stunt, whereas Barry thinks it misses the point because the people making the comments are mostly women.
“We’re our own worst enemies. And I’m not about to criticise, because when I say 90% of the comments are about my appearance, that includes people who say really lovely things. It’s one of those things women do to empower each other, so much more than men do. I’m there to look presentable. I don’t want to give you a reason to change channels by looking like a bag lady. However… I’m not a catwalk model. I’m not there for my looks.”
No tolerance for trolls
So when it comes to the not-so-nice comments – the catty, the cowardly and more – you’ll probably be unsurprised to learn Barry has a straight-up no tolerance policy.
“My policy is anyone who’s the least bit negative, I block immediately. I don’t respect their right to freedom of speech if they’re saying something unkind or nasty about me online,” she says. “But truly, I do not let it bother me. I care most about what my husband thinks of me, what my kids think of me, what my mum and brother think of me. I really don’t care what some random online person has to say about me.”
There’s a glorious sense of self-assuredness to Barry; personally and professionally she’s on fire. This year she celebrates 22 years with TV3, and 11 years co-anchoring the nightly news with Mike McRoberts. But when asked her how long it’s taken to develop this sense of confidence, her answer is surprising. “It takes a few years to feel like you’ve earned your place. We took over from John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld and they were amazing, fantastic broadcasters… and for a long time we felt like we were their fill-ins.
So probably only in the past four or five years. We feel really comfortable – we absolutely get each other, we know what we’re doing and we’re comfortable in our own skins on air.”
It’s the second time in our interview she uses the phrase but it’s spot on – and despite her actually quite ridiculous schedule, she’s clearly having a ball.
New lease on life
“I agreed to give it a go, to see if I could and – touch wood – I’m coping. I feel like I’m healthier than I’ve ever been, because I’m so careful about eating healthy, getting the right amount of sleep, making sure I’m leading the right kind of lifestyle to sustain the amount of work. It’s a full-on schedule, but I’m doing two jobs I really love.”
Our chat with Barry comes after her shoot, where she wears a series of mod-inspired outfits before bundling back up in what she calls her ‘civvies’, a cosy Marc Jacobs jumper, jeans and tan loafers.
Her normal schedule would see her home from The Paul Henry Show at 10.30am, where she goes for a walk, has a spot of lunch and then a nap, before heading back into the office to prepare for the news. Despite the fact we’re stealing sleep from her with every question, she’s perfectly happy to shoot the breeze about every topic under the sun.
Hilary Barry can’t stop laughing
As the conversation turns to fashion, it turns out she’s a not-so-secret fan of online shopping and has some pretty good tips for even the non-newsreaders among us.
“I love a bargain, and you can get some great bargains overseas. And it’s quite nice wearing different things. Because I’m time-poor – that’s my argument – I buy online. Everything I’m wearing, I bought online. That’s true of most days.”
Her go-to sites include Shopbop (“free shipping to New Zealand! Dead easy”), J Crew (“great internet sales; just watch that exchange rate”), and the big US chain stores like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus for when she has to pull out all the stops for an evening event.
A multi-faceted approach
Her wardrobe caters to her variety of professional personalities: Fun Hilary, aka the real Hilary, whip-smart and hilarious, who wears jeans and colourful shirts on The Paul Henry Show. Then there’s Serious Hilary, the award-winning news-reader who dons tailored jackets and sits pride of place in our nation’s living rooms every night, offering a comforting presence when delivering uncomfortable news. Finally there’s Glamorous Hilary, whose night-time gigs either MC-ing or representing TV3 require her to be the rare kind of woman who owns a number of ballgowns. It’s a fascinating range of requirements to ask from one woman, but she pulls it off in style.
Which brings us to one of our favourite comments we read about Barry, found among the many things said about her online. After she returned from her holiday, and Judy Bailey had been a surprise fill-in one morning, a Twitter user made this delightful observation: “Seeing the mother of the nation back on our TV screens was great, but it’s wonderful to have the hot aunty of the nation back.”
Reading this out to Barry, we ask if she’d be okay with ‘Hot aunty of the nation’ becoming her unofficial title, and she laughs it off in just the way you’d expect. “People can call me what they want. It’s very sweet. You know, I’d rather be called ‘Hilary’. But it’s better than being called ‘Slag of the nation’, isn’t it? There are worse things.”
Hilary Barry and Mike McRoberts kiss John Campbell
Words by: Emma Clifton
