Mel Homer considers herself to be pretty resilient. After losing several jobs due to redundancy – the most recent with Today FM when the plug was pulled on the radio station earlier this year – the broadcaster reckons she’s not too bad at getting back on her feet.
And she’s hoping that will prove useful with challenges she’s facing as a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island.
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to bounce back, although when you are surviving on rice and beans and you’re really tired and emotional, that plays into how you react to things. But I’m hoping having a bit of maturity and experience with situations not working out as you want will help.”
The ups and downs in her career have taught Mel, 53, that things that seem overwhelming will eventually feel less traumatic, given time. And how you react can make a world of difference.
“I’ve learnt not to take things personally, even if it does feel really personal,” says the former presenter of daytime TV show The Café, which was axed in 2020 in the wake of the Covid lockdowns. “And not to blame other people for what happens. You can’t hold a grudge because you’ll just be grumpy all the time.”
That attitude helped in the first week of Celebrity Treasure Island, when Matilda Green put her up for elimination. Mel was shocked to be chosen – and being exhausted after completing a massive challenge didn’t help.
“But I thought, ‘Okay, calm down. Just go out there and give it your best, that’s all you can do.’ And I completely smashed it. I didn’t hold a grudge against Matilda. We had a chat afterwards and
we are good friends.”
Mel doesn’t know why she said yes to Celebrity Treasure Island because her gut feeling was, “Why would you do that?”
“It might have been a midlife crisis or something because I’ve always thought this is nothing I would do – never in a million years. But then I thought with everything that has gone on in the last couple of years, you have to take opportunities that come your way and try new stuff. Now I have fully embraced it.”
Mel says her dad’s death taught her how precious life is
She took on board something top lawyer Mai Chen said when she interviewed her recently. “She said every 10 years or so, she throws a rock at the tiger. When you do that, you have to run or be eaten. And I thought, ‘That’s exactly what this is, isn’t it?’ I’m chucking a rock at the tiger.”
This year has been a time for adapting to change. After Today FM was axed in March, Mel, who presented Sunday Café for four years until 2020, had to reinvent herself. Having been through redundancy before made it much easier this time around.
“The first time I was made redundant was with Radio Hauraki about 11 or 12 years ago and I thought it was the end of the world. I thought my career was over. But having been through it a couple of times, this time I thought, ‘It’s not ideal, but I will just have to pivot and look at different ways of doing things.'”
Mel is now freelancing and loving it. She does some travel writing and emceeing for events along with voiceover work for TV show Snow Crew. After a stint filling in as the breakfast host on More FM Rodney, she now has several months work as a newsreader and sub-editor for Mediaworks. She also has a couple of ideas for podcasts.
Mel jumping for joy with her teammates.
“Going freelance is really scary, especially when you are a woman in midlife,” reflects Mel. “You start thinking, ‘No one’s going to want me, I’m too old.’ But when you re-frame it, you realise, actually, I’ve got a lot of skills and experience. I have a lot to offer. When you get past 50, you don’t take crap from people any more.
“With the freelancing, I feel more in control of what I want to do than I have ever had. I’ve been so much busier than I was as a full-time employee and I can choose what I want to do. It’s great!”
She learnt a devastating lesson about the importance of making the most of life following the sudden death of her father John. He died 15 years ago of a heart attack while taking part in a swimming race at an Auckland beach, aged 64. Mel and other family members were on the beach at the time.
“He was super-fit, so it masked that he had a heart condition,” says Mel, who had her heart health checked out before heading to Wānaka for Celebrity Treasure Island (thankfully, she is fine). “He got up to get out of the water and he fell down. It was such a shock.”
The mum of sons Jesse, 22, Finn, 20, and Tom, 17, says it really hit home how precious life is. “You have to take opportunities because life is short and you never know what is around the corner.”
Celebrity Treasure Island screens Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
