Petra Mingneau
For generations of Kiwi kids, Sunday mornings have meant tuning into What Now, the messy, anything-can-happen children’s show where presenters are dunked in gunge, splattered with cream pies and sent on outrageous adventures. One of its most popular stars, Chris Kirk, recently left the TVNZ 2 show after a decade on screen because he’s getting ready to star in a big production of his own.
After popping the question to longtime Canadian love Chloe Drackett, the couple, who live in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch, are in the early stages of planning their dreamy December 2026 wedding.
While they’ve been smitten with each other since meeting on a group tour in Thailand in 2017, the couple has spent much of their romance navigating the challenge of living in different countries.
Chloe says it was her friends who knew she would fall in love with Chris before she did.
Love at first sight
“Chris was travelling by himself and I was there with my friend Lexie,” shares Chloe, 29.
“I remember meeting everybody on the first night and Lexie said, ‘You guys are going to fall in love by the end of the trip!’ I was like, ‘No, we’re just going to be good friends.’”
After hanging out every day during the tour, the couple said goodbye, although there were feelings on both sides. Returning to opposite ends of the world, they were FaceTiming daily. When Chloe visited New Zealand in April 2018, things became serious.
Chloe recalls, “We both said, ‘I love you,’ and then, ‘What are we doing?!’”
For the next couple of years, the pair hopscotched between hemispheres. In December 2019, Chloe came to Aotearoa for a few months, only for COVID to hit three months later, trapping her here for
two years.
A helicopter, a hoke, and the perfect proposal
“Thank goodness she came when she did,” Chris tells.
“Otherwise, we might have been apart for a long time.”
Travelling to Canada in October 2023, Chris planned a surprise proposal in Canmore, a picturesque alpine village about an hour from Calgary, where Chloe’s family lives.
“A few days earlier, I booked a helicopter hike and picnic, and took Chloe’s parents Michelle and Russ out for lunch to ask their permission,” smiles Chris.
“Then I realised I needed a ring, so I frantically called Chloe’s sister Emily, who was an absolute legend. We went into a jewellery store and as soon as we saw the ring, we knew it was the one.”
That weekend, the couple shared an exhilarating helicopter ride into the mountains, then set off on a short hike.
A proposal Chris and Chloe will never forget
“It was all pretty romantic and I remember thinking maybe something could be happening here,” admits Chloe, who, after looking through binoculars at some mountain goats, turned to find Chris on one knee, holding the stunning oval-cut diamond ring.
“I was kind of freaked out to start with but I was so happy and very excited to say yes!” tells Chloe, who works in admin for a Christchurch law firm.
Preparing for their wedding, Chris has switched from full-time TV work to a new job in sales, but he hasn’t completely left the media world, continuing to MC for the Tactix netball team and the Canterbury Kings cricket side, as well as filming the occasional What Now segment.
He says his time on What Now will forever be a career highlight.
“Some of my earliest memories are watching Carolyn Taylor and Jason Fa’afoi host the show. It was absolutely hilarious! I would call in every Sunday but never once got through.”
Handing over the What Now baton
As a lifelong fan, Chris couldn’t believe it when, aged 19, while studying radio at broadcasting school in Christchurch, he successfully auditioned to join the team, a role that meant working alongside Kiwi entertainment legend Jason Gunn.
A presenter on the kids’ show from 2015 to 2020, Chris then moved on to host Brain Busters, a quiz show dubbed “The Chase for kids” until the end of 2023. Still involved behind the scenes at What Now, he went back in front of the camera in 2024 as the show transitioned from live shows into a digital-first format.
After years of zany sketches, wild stunts and taking home more gunge-covered clothes than he can count, Chris reveals it was the right time to leave.
“We’ve brought in some cool new presenters this year, who remind me of myself when I first started out,” he grins.
“What Now is such a generational show and it seemed like the right time to hand it over.”
