As 2025 comes to a close, local stars are taking a moment to reflect on the lessons, challenges, and milestones of the past year. From personal growth and career shifts to travel dreams and summer plans, they’re sharing what inspired them, what they’ve learned, and the exciting goals they’re setting for 2026.
Jacqui Burfoot
Married At First Sight Australia star, 30
Where will you spend the summer?
My fiancé Clint [Rice, her MAFS co-star] is going to be with my family in Queenstown, and my sister and brother are going to be there too!
What’s on your travel wish list for 2026?
Clint has never been to Europe, so I’m hoping to take him to the French Riveria, Italy and Majorca in Spain. I’m new to Australia, so I’d love to go
to the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef as well.
What word defines 2026 for you?
Productivity. I felt like this year, off the back of the show, there was a lot of time needed for recovery.
How do you plan for the year ahead?
Clint and I are big into vision boards – we’ve been making them for 10 years. Clint actually had his car on his board before he even started his business! I create a vision board every six months, splitting it up into health, fitness, food, travel, relationships, family, friends and business goals.
Pax Assadi
Comedian, 34
What have you learnt about yourself over the past year?
I’ve grown in ways I didn’t necessarily know I needed to grow. That’s partly because the work I’m doing is solitary. I’ve had to learn to find internal motivation.
What word sums up 2025 for you?
Evolution. This year has been about moving my focus away from stand-up comedy. I’m writing a book and working on a new scripted television show that will come out next year.
How do you plan for the year ahead?
I’m a member of the Baha’i faith and we talk about this concept called confirmation. It’s not just about telling yourself that you’re winning in life – it’s an openness to understand that sometimes things weren’t meant to be.
What are you looking forward to in 2026?
I want to travel. My wife and I did a lot when we were younger and didn’t have kids, but we’ve been stuck in New Zealand for years. I’m happy to go anywhere outside of the country. It doesn’t have to be that far – I’ll even go to the Chathams!
Gill Higgins
TVNZ investigative journalist, 59
What stories stood out for you in 2025?
I started the year interviewing [late Kiwi psychologist, author and broadcaster] Nigel Latta and his lovely wife Natalie. That was wonderful,
funny, moving and sad all at the same time.
What are your plans this summer?
I’m such a summer person – I love being outside the whole time. I live on Auckland’s North Shore and we’ve got beaches all around, so I’ll be walking the dog and going for swims every day.
What’s exciting you right now?
After tearing my hamstring badly, I had a year off sport, which is a nightmare for me because it’s how I relax. Now I’m back into playing hockey and we’ve got the National Masters in February, so I’m training for that.
Any big milestones for you in 2026?
I turn 60 in February. I recently interviewed actress Robyn Malcolm, who gave me this lovely comparison that if our bodies were cars and they were still going strong after 60 years, you’d be amazed. It reminded me that through all the injuries, birthing and things we’ve put them through, the fact our bodies still work is incredible.
Jenny-May Clarkson
Former Breakfast host, 51
What word sums up 2025 for you?
Exhaustion – based on the new format with Breakfast, only having two of us doing interviews, news and everything else. But it was also a privilege to do mainstream television and hold space to interview people I’d never normally get access to. I don’t regret any part of it.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
Being present for my family. The next couple of months are about being there for my boys and understanding their needs.
What’s exciting you right now?
Launching my Daily Confidence Course to help people build courage and strengthen their emotional resilience. You can find it on my new website jennymayclarkson.com.
What are your plans for 2026?
I’m not 100% sure what it’s going to look like. I took the opportunity this morning just to get out of the house and do a bit of mind- mapping. It’s an opportunity to strip everything back and decide on the type of lifestyle I’m trying to build.
Brooke Koppens
ZM Late Show host, 24
What word sums up 2025 for you?
Panic-powered. There’s beauty in this somewhere. I spent a lot of time procrastinating when I should have been productive and a lot of time being productive when I should have been in bed or doom-scrolling.
Where will you see in the new year?
In stunning Wānaka. I’m counting down the days till I’m dancing in the mosh pit as the sun goes down with Rudimental playing.
How do you plan for the year ahead?
Do not let me buy another diary! I use them for the first two weeks, then they just collect dust. As much as I adore tracking my work and progress by journaling, those booklets have the lifespan of a goldfish.
What word defines 2026 for you?
Risky. Being in my twenties with only a few responsibilities, like paying rent and replying to my mum’s text messages, I want to take bigger risks, from work to what I wear.
Ariāna Osborne
Madam actress, 29
What have been your highlights of the past year?
Going to Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival. I left there feeling really inspired because I met a lot of women who really care about indigenous storytelling. I hadn’t thought about writing much, but now I want to figure out how to write.
What are your plans for summer?
It’s been a whirlwind of a year, so I’m really seeking quiet. I’m quite a planner – I like to wake up every morning and make a list. But for summer, I’m trying to go with the flow. I’ll hang with friends, play board games and go swimming.
What’s your focus for 2026?
Being unapologetically me and staying true to myself. My film Ma¯rama is coming out and I’d love to do some theatre work.
How do you plan for the year ahead?
I’m always dreaming, so I love to make a vision board. I’m very specific about what I put on the board and because I’m an arts-and-crafts kind
of girl, I make a physical collage. I’ll also make a digital one, which becomes my screensaver on my phone and iPad.
Taylor Curtis
The Crowd Goes Wild host, 29
What’s your proudest achievement of the past year?
Reporting on the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England. Experiencing the tournament in any capacity has always been a dream of mine.
Where will you spend summer?
I’ll be with my partner Harry and his family in France. No doubt there will be delicious wine and food, and a few new traditions made.
How do you plan for the year ahead?
Putting pen to paper allows me to see a clearer path – I’m not afraid to talk about my goals, whether they’re scary, ambitious or nonsense. When I played rugby, I was lucky enough to have a personal development coach and sport psychologist on hand. I’ve taken a lot of their advice into my working environment.
What is your focus for 2026?
I would love to get back into a proper realistic routine with my fitness and health. Since retiring from sport, I haven’t given it as much attention as I should. I’d like to find a balance where I feel fit and healthy. I’m eager to unlock my best self!
Tova O’Brien
ThreeNews political reporter & incoming Breakfast host, 43
What word sums up 2025 for you?
Ivy! She’s my beautiful, hilarious, loving, ridiculous baby girl who made 2025 the best year of my life.
What’s your proudest achievement of the past year?
Ivy! At just one year old, she’s already entirely her own self, so I’m not sure she can be defined as an achievement of mine, but she will always be my greatest source of pride.
Where will you spend the summer?
At various beaches and in Central Otago, oscillating between that glorious dry heat and icy dips in the mighty Clutha. I’m feeling really optimistic about reading a book that isn’t about babies or parenting and getting through more than a page at a time. My mum’s here from London, so some proper quality time with her is top of the list. We’re also camping with friends at one of our all-time happy places, with no cell reception and no one else for miles.
How do you plan for the year ahead?
It’s election year next year, so I like to plan for no plan! Everything and anything could happen – hopefully we’ll be ready to go where the politics takes us.
