Robert Trathen
The weather may be blustery, with cold driving rain, but Lana Walters’ cosy home on Auckland’s Te Atatū Peninsula is filled with laughter and love when Woman’s Day visits.
The actress and comedian’s gorgeous nine-month-old boy Ben is gurgling away happily in her arms. While her sweet three-year-old daughter Sophie is perusing The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book.
Lana laughs, “She’s planned every one of her birthday cakes until she turns 10!”
At that moment, Jules, Lana’s partner of seven years, arrives home from work and Sophie runs towards him with arms outstretched, repeatedly shrieking, “Daddy!”
From pregnancy to parenthood
Last time we chatted with the Billy T Award-winning stand-up comic, Lana, 34, was impatiently awaiting the birth of Ben and was seriously over being pregnant. Cooing over her adorable son, she now sighs, “Two kids is definitely double the work, but he’s just fabulous. It was a much better birth the second time.
“With Sophie, I was panicky. There were so many sensations I hadn’t felt before. Knowing what to expect, my goal was to be very calm.”
She rented a TENS machine for the birth.
Discovering the power of TENS
“They’re amazing,” she enthuses.
“You put it on and it sends electrical pulses to your body. “The first time I turned it on, it felt like yucky spiders of electricity. I was like, ‘This is disgusting!’ But once the contractions started, it felt good and by the end it was just fantastic.”
Lana’s relishing every moment with her two kids.
“I’m so glad I had a second because the first time, you’re learning everything so you don’t have time to appreciate it,” she says.
“The second time, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve breastfed a baby before – jump on!’”
Owning her role as a mum
Lana, who appeared in Vince and was a longtime writer for The Project, recalls previously telling us that she sometimes feels like a bad mum. But she now says, “I’ve since had moments where I think I shouldn’t have said that. I’m a good mum – or at least I’ve gotten better!”
The family enjoys going on picnics, while Sophie and Lana have mummy-daughter dates at the mall, eating sushi or singing karaoke to Chappell Roan’s song Pink Pony Club.
While Lana’s main job at the moment is being a mother, she’s starting to dip her toes back into the comedy circuit. Recently touring with Ben Hurley and Josh Thomson.
She grins, “It’s been good for my confidence – holding my own and getting the laughs.”
She’s also a regular panellist on 7 Days and was appointed head writer this season.
“I just love it,” exclaims Lana.
“It’s so much fun.”
Family support behind the scenes
With policeman Jules, 39, starting a busy new role as a detective constable and Lana out gigging at nights, her in-laws often step in for childcare help.
“I never know how to pay them back for everything they do,” she admits.
For her last stand-up show, Don’t Lick That, her family was a big inspiration, but Lana is trying to mix up her writing.
She explains, “Most of my show is about being a mum, but I’d like to branch out and challenge myself to do one that’s partially about being a mum, but also about sex, trying to get fitter and that sort of thing.”
She hopes to have a new hour-long show ready in time for the 2026 New Zealand International Comedy Festival. And as if she’s not got enough on her plate, she’s also begun running regularly. For years, the comedian had struggled with the all- too-familiar routine of losing 10kg for summer, then putting it back on again over the colder months. But since she’s started running around a nearby horse paddock with Ben in the pram, she’s lost 20 kilos.
Finding joy in every run
“I’m incredibly slow at running, but I feel like I’m going fast!” chuckles Lana.
“It’s great. I absolutely love it. If I’m depressed, I go running. If I’m happy, I go running. Whatever you’re avoiding thinking about, when you go for that run, it’ll pop up.”
Lana has recently been to Melbourne for the 30th birthday of her best friend and fellow comedian Melanie Bracewell, and she’s excited to be making another appearance on Mel’s hit TV show The Cheap Seats. With everything going on, Lana and Jules’ wedding looks like it’s going to have to wait a bit longer. However, the comic’s pleased to report she’s finally got a ring.
“Jules and I picked it out together, along with a wedding band,” she smiles.
“I wear it now because I feel like I’m married already – and also it stops the hordes of men who normally ask me out!”
Little Sophie is beside herself with excitement over the thought of her parents getting married, saying of the big day, “I’ll wear a beautiful white wedding dress, a tiara and my black sparkly shoes.”
Sounds like Lana might have some competition for the spotlight when that big day finally rolls around!
