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PJ Harding’s awkward encounter with Lorde

The ZM host relives her not-so-smooth meeting with the Kiwi popstar.
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ZM’s PJ Harding has interviewed plenty of stars for her job, but when she met her idol Lorde, the radio presenter couldn’t keep her cool!

On air with co-host Jase today, PJ revealed the time she met the Kiwi songstress while out to lunch. Lorde was with her label rep, Justin Warren, at the time, and a starstruck PJ told how she got all worked up over the encounter.

“I’ve never met her or interviewed her before and I love her – so I say, ‘Hey Justin, how are ya, long time no see,’ and then I realise he’s sitting opposite her and because I was so nervous, I just didn’t look at her and I just kept eye contact with him!”

After initially leaving it at that and going up to the counter to order her food, PJ said she knew she had to take advantage of the opportunity – so she worked up the courage to go back and talk to Lorde. However, the run-in didn’t go quite as smoothly as she might have hoped!

“So, I come back over and I approach the table and I’m shaking. And I go, ‘I’m going to be so annoyed if I don’t say this, I just wanna tell you that I fricken love you, I love what you do, I love your new music, I just think you’re awesome.

“And then if things weren’t worse, I did this affectionate sort of push on her shoulder – like a ‘buddy old pal’. Then I just walked out.”

While Lorde was “lovely” about the whole thing, it sounds like it might not have been PJ’s finest moment!

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