When Dai Henwood was late joining a Zoom call with Woman’s Day to discuss the first series of Lego Masters NZ last year, he was disoriented and apologised that he’d been having a nap. Little did we know then that the popular TV host had been undergoing treatment for stage 4 bowel cancer and needed his rest.
After finally revealing his condition in January, he said it had been a diagnosis for two, referring to his wife Joanne Kelly. But really, it was a diagnosis for several million – because Kiwis felt like they were on the journey with him.
“I’ve had the most lovely messages and general kindness,” the 44-year-old says. “It has helped me process what I am going through better and connected me with others going through similar things.
Sharing was the best thing I have done. I feel in a happy, healthy and strong place.”
It’s a far cry from when Dai was diagnosed in April 2020, while the country was in lockdown. Initially in his bowel, the cancer has since spread to his lungs and liver, and he’s had multiple rounds of chemotherapy, high-dose radiation and three lung operations, as well as having parts of his liver and bowel removed. It is incurable, but Lego is a perfect distraction.
“Lego is just like meditation – easy and frustrating at the same time,” says Dai. “Just pottering around with some bricks, building walls or colour patterns, is very meditative. After going public with my diagnosis, the lovely team at Lego in Denmark sent me a care package. It has a huge Technic helicopter and a Japanese wave painting. I am slowly putting them together.”
Dai with his co-host and now good friend, Brickmaster Robin.
He also relished returning to work on the second season of Lego Masters NZ, not least as he was reunited with his co-star, the world’s first Lego-certified practitioner, Robin “Brickmaster” Sather.
Dai tells, “He has become a true friend. Robin and his amazing wife Diane spent a bit of time at our family house at Piha. They did a big tour around the country. I would have loved to join them but had some medical issues.”
Of this second season, he says, “This series feels completely different to the first. We have a whole new set of personalities. Each team has different building styles and approaches to some very tough challenges.”
Speaking of his own tough times, Dai credits his spirituality, the martial art of qigong and meditation for keeping him “calm and loving”. But as he said while breaking his bad news, “Cancer doesn’t define me. How I respond to it defines me.”
