Pictures: Amalia Osborne
Birthday cake and balloons, family gathered, gifts galore – radio star Megan Papas is all about celebrating turning 40 with maximum fuss. It may be a milestone that traditionally sparks a midlife crisis, but that is not Megan’s style at all.
“My husband and I like to celebrate everything,” she explains. “Christmas is a fiesta, birthdays are a week-long extravaganza – in all aspects, we go big. I always do a countdown too, just in case people forget. I’m like, ‘Five sleeps to go… Did you know it’s only three sleeps?’ You’ve got to take your moments to celebrate because life happens in between, and it can get hard and arduous. So we like to make everything fun.”
With three separate parties for family, friends and colleagues, plus a romantic night in a hotel with her husband, singer Andrew Papas, Megan’s 40th has been energetically and joyfully celebrated.
“I’ve been joking with friends, calling it my thirty-plus, but honestly, I don’t care too much about my age,” she says. “I know that one day I’m going to look back and think, ‘Forty was so young’, so for the sake of my future self, I’m trying not to put too much weight on it. I’m just happy to be here.”
Andrew is 10 years younger and celebrated his 30th birthday back in February with a long Italian lunch in the garden of their home in Riverhead, west of Auckland.
“He had a wee moment of, ‘I’m so old’, but I told him he can’t say that because I’ll always be a decade older,” says Megan. “Most of the time, I forget there’s such an age gap. Every now and then, I’ll mention something, like say the movie Back To The Future with Michael J Fox and he won’t know what I’m talking about. But he’s always been the old man. He likes staying home and is into his routine – he’s the responsible one. And I was always the immature rogue!”
With Megan now co-hosting The Hits Breakfast with Jono and Ben, she is up every weekday morning at 3.45am and heading into the city, leaving Andrew to deal with the mayhem of getting their two pre-schoolers Bastian, three, and Aiya, almost two, out of bed and off to kindy. Megan says both kids already have huge personalities.
“They’re very outgoing and sure of themselves, which is great. Bastian loves people – he’ll go up and chat to anyone. He loves to sing and is constantly working on his show that he’s going to perform.”
Since both their parents are in the entertainment industry, it is hardly surprising if the children are turning into little performers, however Megan says that isn’t something they have ever encouraged.
“Bastian has never seen Andrew perform and he doesn’t like listening to me on the radio. We’re definitely not stage parents. But I guess kids just pick up on things.”
As much as she loves her job, Megan misses being able to wake her littlies in the morning.
“During the week, I’ll only see them for two or three hours before bedtime, and if they’re really clingy and won’t go to bed because they just want to give me cuddles, I feel really bad that I haven’t seen them all day.”
Last year, Andrew went on tour around Australia and South America with singing group The Ten Tenors. Now back home, he’s working on a new single, as well as some secret projects he and Megan aren’t ready to speak about yet.
“He’s always hustling,” she says. “He’s the most determined and driven person I’ve ever met, and it’s exhausting! Both of us always have massive plans and a million different dreams. I have a list of things I’d like to achieve. Cooking is one of my loves and I would love to make a cookbook one day. I love fashion. We used to have a café, Beaufort & Co, and we’ve got our baby boutique, Be You Baby. We don’t like to stay in one lane.”
One of Megan’s dreams is to host a radio show alongside another woman.
“There are very few, if any, radio shows that have more than one woman on them,” she tells. “It just doesn’t happen and I don’t know why.”
For now, though, she’s having a blast alongside Jono and Ben. When she joined the show at the start of the year, Megan wasn’t sure what to expect.
“It’s happened a few times now where I’ve been put into established shows and it’s like an arranged marriage – you never know if you’re going to gel. But it’s such an easy fit with Jono and Ben. Everyone calls them the nicest guys in radio, which they are. They’re very chill and very funny, particularly Jono – he doesn’t take life too seriously. We’re here for a good time, not for a long time, right? I feel like he’s taught me that.”
Hanging out each day with her Hits co-stars has helped Megan shape her attitude for the coming decade.
“I’ve spent seven months with them and they never get angry, not at anyone, not at themselves and not at life. I’ve realised I’d like to be a bit more chill. So I’m drawing a line in the sand now that I’m 40. I’m not going to care as much. I’m going to let stuff wash over me.”
Commercial radio is very much a youth-oriented business, and Megan says she works with lots of younger women and often recognises aspects of herself in them.
“I hear them talk, and there’s a lot of stress and self-doubt and that was me too. But I’m not like that any more. I’m always trying to be like, ‘Don’t sweat it, be confident.’ I guess I’m at a stage of life where I care less and less about what people think.”
Megan is also making sure she focuses on all the positives in her life.
“We’re lucky – we’ve got a lovely house, supportive parents and two great kids. We’re always looking at the positives. Even in winter, when the kids are constantly sick, if we have a moment when everyone is healthy and sleeping through the night, we always drink it in and make the most of it.”
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