Reality shows? Dates? Highland dancing? Radio star Polly Gillespie is down for it all as she embraces her “Year of Yes”! Following a post-pandemic lull, the much-loved media personality has a fresh mindset that’s all about expansion, adventure and love.
“I’m sick of saying no to life,” she tells Woman’s Day.
“I got talking to a guy on a plane about how if you keep saying no and only doing things you know you can do, there’s no growth – you get stuck.”
Thanks to that chance mid-air chat, Polly, 62, plucked up the courage to join Celebrity Treasure Island, despite planning to decline again, having previously turned down the TVNZ 2 series.
“Then I remembered the guy on the plane and thought, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ I could break a rib or fall off a cliff, but I can’t spend my life being afraid of things.”
Along with turning down TV shows, Polly had also been saying no to “a lot of men” and sabotaging romance when it did come along.
She explains, “I’m cautious because I’m scared it’s gonna go badly. Before it gets serious, I’m like, ‘I’ll just throw a grenade at it.’”
Given the heartache she’s experienced, such apprehension isn’t surprising. After splitting from her husband and former radio co-host Grant Kereama in 2015, Polly became involved with “the worst man who’s ever lived”. Reflecting on her time with the “troubled” ex, she says the relationship was a poor choice.
A ‘Bridget Jones’ dating disaster
While Polly – who shares three kids with Grant, Tom, 32, Katherine, 30, and MacGregor, 27 – eventually got up the guts to get back on the dating scene, her experiences have been “quiet and chaotic”.
She says, “I went on a date, fell over a chair and injured my arm. I’m so Bridget Jones. If there’s a chair, I’ll fall over it!”
Yet it was being called “boring” by a man that remains one of her most crushing moments.
Polly recalls, “He said, ‘I thought you’d be far more interesting. You’re so boring.’ That rocked me. It was years ago, but it cuts deeper than anything people would say about how I look. I get more upset when people call me stupid, boring or beige.”
A new chapter beyond dating
Polly’s latest chapter is far from beige. As well as starring on CTI, she’s a doting grandmother to Katherine’s kids – Roseanna, eight, and Malone, three – and is thriving in her new career as a counsellor and therapist.
Polly changed professions after losing her job with the 2023 closure of Today FM. Counselling sees her draw on her own life’s challenges, from battling anxiety and depression as a teenager, to overcoming divorce, redundancy, a miscarriage and losing her parents.
A loss that changed everything
However, the hardest hurdle of all was losing her sister Jeanette to flu complications in 2000.
“That changed me in so many ways. It still hurts. People talk about closure, but there’s no closure around some things. Yet it hasn’t made me hard or grumpy – it’s made me more understanding of what people go through.”
Polly’s now drawing on that empathy to support clients.
“It’s very rewarding and nice to be involved in a business that’s not competitive. Don’t get me wrong – I miss radio and the connection with people, but I don’t miss the ratings wars.”
While there were reports of Polly venturing into politics, she insists she has no plans to stand for Parliament.
Not cut out for politics
“Totally fake news!” she laughs.
Asked if she’d be ruthless enough for the Beehive or even CTI, she says, “If anybody tries to mess with my kids, I can be mean.”
If Polly comes out on top on CTI, her prize money will benefit charity Kidney Health New Zealand. Grant famously donated a kidney to late All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu in 2004. His two sisters are also donors and Polly’s keen to help them tackle the country’s long kidney waiting list. It’s testament to the beautiful relationship she shares with Grant, who married Lisa Brockelsby in 2017.
“Grant forgave me for leaving him for the world’s worst man and he found a lovely woman,” she smiles.
“Lisa is fantastic. He had a lot to forgive, but he did. We’ve talked about how we both made mistakes, but there’s so much friendship – and our children. There were good and bad times, but I credit Grant for a lot. He’s been really forgiving.”
Celebrity Treasure Island screens Monday-Wednesday at 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
