Photography: Kellie Blizard.
Some men decide to buy a sports car, vigorously grow facial hair or spend hundreds on a pair of sneakers they used to covet in their (vanishing) youth. The first signs of Paddy Gower’s midlife crisis began last year when he sported a mullet and began eating copious amounts of Greek yoghurt at his desk.
The mullet has now gone – so said crisis is no longer “obvious to viewers” – and has been replaced with an enthusiasm to count all things – steps, grams of protein, litres of water drunk, hours slept and
years until retirement.
With a landmark birthday approaching like a freight train, Paddy reveals he’s in the throes of becoming a Wellness King (yes, his own words).
On an idyllic winter day in the Auckland Domain, the broadcaster animatedly slips into model mode for our photoshoot while coming up with his own headline for this article.
“Facing 50 Without Fear! There you go, sorted!” Then there’s a pause.
“Well, actually, there’s a little bit of fear. I can’t lie, I’m thinking about it a lot. For some reason, things have been creeping in about turning 50. “My mum died in her fifties – she had terminal cancer for a year beforehand – and then I had pre-cancerous polyps found in my bowel by fluke [when he underwent a colonoscopy for a Paddy Gower Has Issues story]. “Add to that my alcoholism and massive issues with my eyesight, when I nearly went blind through retinal detachments and glaucoma. So adding those things together, it’s built a bit of a picture for me over the last little while.”
Paddy’s wellness revolution
Hence Paddy is planning a fitter, leaner, more Zen version of himself when he turns 50 on April 1. The milestone has shifted his focus from audiences and accolades to something more personal. Previously when faced with stress, he turned to the booze. Now celebrating four years sober is his proudest achievement and one, he says, that opened his eyes to how he treats his body.
“Last night, I was out walking around Napier at 10.30pm. Some homeless guy said, ‘What are you doing here?’ Ten years ago, I would’ve been at the pub – but last night, I was getting my steps in. I’ve come a long, long way. “In my twenties, I used to be a skinny guy who never put on weight. But as you age and your metabolism changes, I became quite paunchy even after stopping drinking.”
“The no-alcohol thing is what turned me into Paddy Gower the Wellness King. It opened the way for me to become interested in what would happen if I tried a high-protein diet, started doing weight training or contrast therapy [sauna and ice bath]. “I made an appointment with nutritionist Mikki Williden and joined the gym, where I now do weight-training three to four times a week to build my strength. It’s been very uncomfortable going to the gym, I don’t like it.”
The results are showing
The keen cyclist adds, “Initially I found it very hard, boring and there wasn’t much progress. But I eventually lost a bit of weight, going from 93kg to 87kg. What’s most pleasing is I’ve done that by putting on muscle mass.”
His favourite thing about the gym now? Jumping on the body scanner.
“It’s like a futuristic version of getting on the scales,” he smiles.
“You jump on in your undies and hold your arms out – sorry to all the readers for that vision – and it scans your body for muscle mass and body fat. “I realise my new hobby may bore some people. It’s just that I’ve noticed with my own mates, guys at 50 seem to be going into two camps. Some are trying to stay younger, stay healthier and… some are not.”
Finding balance
Paddy comes across as a driven, high-energy journalist in much of his television work, but after a burnout-induced breakdown, he’s realised getting quiet time to wind down – and staying off his phone – also plays a big part of his mental wellness regime.
“I have lots of tense days, with lots of pressure, and things are always unpredictable when I’m going around the country shooting for Paddy Gower Has Issues,” he explains.
“There are massive adrenaline rushes. And cancelled flights and terrible nights’ sleep in motels, coupled with early starts. I’m not complaining because I love my job – it’s just very hard to stick to a routine and create good sleep environments. “So I went to a place called Autonomy Health, which is a doctor-led wellness clinic specialising in metabolic and preventive health. I got tested for cortisol [the body’s primary stress hormone] in the form of a saliva test that you do across a day. “The results came back that I have chronically high cortisol, which did not surprise me at all. I will have days in an ordinary week that would be the most stressful day of someone’s whole year. So I need to get my cortisol down.”
And in case you’re wondering if meditation has become part of his mid-life renaissance, it hasn’t.
A slower pace of life
“I have zero interest in meditating,” he insists.
“But the more I look at all of these things, I think it may be the missing piece of the puzzle. “About a year ago, I was doing yoga, but I couldn’t concentrate. The yoga teacher gave me a small hourglass. She said, ‘Watch this sand run out for five minutes as a form of meditation.’ It was a kind gesture, but honestly, I threw it away. I’m now thinking I need to get that back! “Rather than ramping up my life, I have weirdly started thinking about retiring,” he laughs. “Like even yesterday, down in Napier, I was walking by Ahuriri Marina on a beautiful Hawke’s Bay day and I was like, ‘God, it would be nice to live here and not have heaps of pressure or so much on my plate.’”
It was a realisation that he’s been having these thoughts creep in continually. A desire to live a quieter life, like the one he grew up in with his sister in Taranaki. While he has the gift of drawing a story
out of anyone and can talk until the cows come home, weekends are when “introverted Paddy” emerges.
“I don’t go out much,” he confesses.
“I like to stay behind my gate because my social battery through the week is massively run down. I am becoming like my dad in that it’s really, really relaxing to sit and mindlessly watch rugby
on the TV.”
The conversations that matter
While the father of two politely declines to talk about his family life, he does rely on his core support group, made up of a bunch of mates he went to Catholic school with in New Plymouth. Their WhatsApp group chat has been lighting up lately as they all ponder crossing the threshold of turning 50.
“Oh, there’s been some deep and meaningful guy chats,” shares Paddy.
“A lot of my mates feel like they lack purpose in their work. There are a lot of guys saying, ‘Is this it?’ and confiding in me that they feel lost at this stage of life. “Because I’ve been so open about my issues, so to speak, my co-hort and other Kiwi men are quite keen to yarn with me about things that other men might keep silent about.”
He points out that his hunger for journalism and his sense of purpose in his job are two things that refuse to die. Recently filming an interview with All Blacks coach Dave Rennie for Sky Sport gave Paddy the same “thrilling” feeling as when he was filing his first written stories for the NZ Herald in 2000.
Putting health first
Now, with the new season of Paddy Gower Has Issues starting this week, the first episode is somewhat close to home for the presenter, as it deals with young people taking synthetic peptides for physical appearance.
Paddy has spoken from the heart previously about his looks, especially when he was growing up, and how he was bullied at school about his buck teeth and acne. As he moved into television, the social media comments about this appearance were hateful.
So would he ever take peptides?
Paddy declares, “The answer is I would not touch peptides, even though I want less visceral fat around my trunk. I started seeing people taking Retatrutide and Tesamorelin on social media because of my interest in wellness. “I thought, ‘Whoa, this is pretty big,’ so I got the team to do a big investigation. It turns out, there are peptides for everything, even one for tanning. “But after seeing the way they’re coming in from China with zero controls, I would never take them. You don’t know what is actually in the vial, let alone whether it’s going to be any good for you long-term. “I’ve got grand hopes for this decade and I won’t take my health for granted.”
Paddy Gower Has Issues starts Tuesday, August 4 at 7.30pm on Three and ThreeNow.
