TV

Pippa Wetzell lets us in on the ‘sliding doors’ moment that changed her life forever

Life is good for Pippa Wetzell - so what happened all those years ago that set her on the path she walks now?

She is one of our most well-known TV faces, but fame doesn’t make Pippa Wetzell immune to the everyday demands of a busy life. Now in her 40s and part of the middle generation, between ageing parents and fast-growing-up children, the Fair Go presenter tells The Australian Women’s Weekly how she is “happily muddling through” this stage of her life.

Recently, it had been one of those weeks for Pippa; a home renovation, helping out with a school fair, work, home commitments, a busy life in general. It was only a matter of time until something fell through the cracks. And so it was that, after dropping her three kids off at school one morning, she forgot her car. Well, where she’d left it. We’ve all been there – but when you’re Pippa Wetzell, infinitely recognisable from more than 17 years on television, it’s a different story.

“There were a couple of mums outside and I said to them, ‘I’ve completely forgotten where I’ve parked the car,’ and I walked off in one direction. It wasn’t there. So I came back – had to walk past them again – and then joked, ‘Oh, it’s definitely down this way.’ And then it wasn’t, so I had to come back and walk past them a third time. One of them finally said to me, ‘There’s just no room in your head for simple things like where the car is.’ Fortunately” – she starts laughing – “the only thing I forgot was where my car was and nothing more important.”

At 41, Pippa is smack-bang in the middle of a new kind of generation, where she has ageing parents – both turn 70 this year – and young-ish children (her youngest, Taj, is seven).

Pippa and her husband Torrin Crowther are well aware they’re in the parenting sweet spot when it comes to their three children.

“They’re all at those ages now where their lives are so busy but they still require me in their lives, which is a great thing.”

It does mean that a lot of the time Pippa is in the chauffeur role of being a mum but she loves it.

“We have a few crazy afternoons where everyone’s having dinner at different times – someone’s having it in the car, someone’s having it at 3.30pm. But it’s so much fun. They’re such great ages.”

In her exclusive interview for The Australian Women’s Weekly, Pippa talks about the unique challenges of parenting in the modern age, celebrating the 21st anniversary of TVNZ’s Breakfast show and ‘the sliding doors moment’ she thinks made the biggest difference in her life.

The August issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly is on sale now!

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