Photos: Kellie Blizard
As a teen grappling desperately with mental health issues and childhood abuse, Jazz Thornton never dreamed of what her career would one day be. Because she didn’t really believe she’d be alive for it.
Now 29, the Dancing with the Stars champion has devoted her life to advocacy through her organisation, Voices of Hope. Sharing her story in schools, with millions of followers online and travelling the world spreading her message of hope has changed the lives of so many.
And in July this year, Jazz left such an impression on global superstar Lady Gaga that the musician and her Born This Way Foundation decided to financially back a huge Kiwi campaign.
“Somehow, I ended up backstage with Lady Gaga in Las Vegas talking about the stuff we do with Voices of Hope and she funded us,” says Jazz, still buzzing.
The past few years have also been some of the most challenging of Jazz’s life, however, as she battled suicidal thoughts again. She eventually decided to go back on medication in the wake of a sexual assault while travelling overseas a few years ago.
Taking a breath, Jazz tells the Weekly how terrifying it was to experience her mental health declining so rapidly.
“It felt really sudden,” she explains. “I think it had been building ever since the assault happened, but because I never spoke about it, it was just my own brain going around in circles. I was like, ‘Why did you let it happen?’ and that just kept on festering.”
While Jazz has been incredibly open and publicly vocal about her younger years, including being a child sexual-assault survivor, this time she felt the only way to get through was to block it out. In 2023, it all caught up with her when she was a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island.
Living in a remote camp in the South Island, without her phone and the everyday distractions of work and life, Jazz experienced several painful flashbacks of the overseas assault.
“It was the first time that I was forced to face what happened to me,” she says.
Then, when the reality show aired on television, fellow contestants were shown talking about Jazz’s sizeable online following – 2.4 million on TikTok. There was a clip of the star seemingly joking about anyone beating her being “destroyed by the TikTokkers”.
It didn’t go down well with viewers, and many people bombarded Jazz with hateful comments and messages, including many death threats.
“When the show came out and all of the backlash from that happened, I ended up suicidal again,” she tells. “I want to make it very clear it wasn’t the show’s fault – it was just the tipping point.
“I already hated myself from the assault and now all of these other people hated me too.
“It was a really dark place,” she admits. “For the first time in years I, and people in my direct world, were genuinely worried for my safety and my life. It was so scary because I knew the mountain I had to climb.”
One of the pivotal turning points was deciding to go back on her medication in October 2023.
“I am 100 percent pro when you need to get medication, you get on it. But because my mental health declined so fast, everything inside of me resented going back on medication again. It felt like I was immediately back at my teenage years because I had been off them for so long.
“It really caught me off guard, but my doctor and some of my friends were supportive. They said, ‘What would you tell someone else in this situation to do? Listen to your own advice.’”
It was just what Jazz needed to hear. Smiling, she says taking medication has helped significantly. “It definitely took some time, but it was a big turning point in feeling joy again.”
Reflecting on her recovery, Jazz remembers being at the Pink concert in March, realising she’d made it out the other side again.
“I was in this massive crowd, looking up at the sky and had this moment of, ‘Oh, my God, I’m still here, alive in this moment with all these people.’ I just started crying and it was such a significant moment for me.”
Now thriving again, Jazz is excited about the third season of her podcast, Hope is Real, which is out now. In the first episode, she opens up to close friend and Voices of Hope co-founder Genevieve Mora about everything she has been through in recent years.
“I’m in such a unique position where I get to meet people every single day who are brave and fighting. They make me feel so loved,” she says. “Every single time someone comes up to me, tells me of their struggle and the things they’re doing to stay, it makes me so happy they’re choosing to fight.”
Her adorable puppy Billy and the excitement of travel are also responsible for a lot of joy in her life.
At the time of our interview, Jazz is about to fly to Korea for a whistle-stop work trip with activewear brand Lululemon. Then, she’ll head to Australia for a schools’ tour. It’s the first time since she was assaulted overseas that she’s travelled alone without the security of friends by her side. But Jazz refuses to let this stop her.
“The person who did this to me already took so much. I’m not letting him take anything else from me. I mean, it nearly took my life and the work that I do. So no, I won’t let it take travel away too.”
Once back in Aotearoa, there’s a bit of enforced rest planned as Jazz goes in for sinus surgery. However, then she’s straight back into preparing for a huge Voices of Hope campaign. That’s the one Lady Gaga’s foundation is funding.
It was while in America in October last year for an event with designer handbag brand Kate Spade that Jazz spontaneously decided to join a friend to see Lady Gaga perform in Las Vegas.
Jazz and Lady Gaga’s mum Cynthia Germanotta met in 2019 and worked on a global mental health campaign. So, she was delighted to receive a message from Cynthia asking if she wanted to come backstage.
“We thought we might possibly be able to say, ‘Hi, bye’, but we got given family passes!” recalls Jazz. “We sat in Lady Gaga’s dressing room with her for about an hour before the show. I definitely shared my mental health struggles and what we do with Voices of Hope. We had a long conversation about what we both do in our organisations. She’s very passionate about it.”
Jazz laughs as she recalls Cynthia “hyping her up”.
“It was really helpful because as Kiwis, we don’t go, ‘Hi, I’m Jazz, this is everything I do.’”
Before going on to perform, Lady Gaga invited Jazz to the side of the stage for her pre-show circle. “My friend and I were holding hands with her, and at the end, she hugged me. She was like, ‘I’m singing to you tonight.’”
The entire experience was a pinch-me moment for Jazz. She spent more time after the show with Lady Gaga and about 10 others, including queens from the hit show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Jazz left the evening beyond excited about Voices of Hope being a Kindness in Community Fund grantee and what that could represent. Launched by Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, with support from global fashion retailer Cotton On and the Cotton On Foundation, the Kindness in Community fund is dedicated to addressing the mental health and wellbeing needs of young people by resourcing the community organisations they turn to. The proposed campaign is in production now and will run over social media, online, TV commercials. It will “basically take over almost every billboard in this country, with messaging”.
“It focuses on the struggles young people face and the importance and role that kindness can play,” enthuses Jazz. “You never know what someone is going through. This campaign aims to help lessen stigma and create meaningful conversations while activating kindness.
“If I think about it too much, I’ll cry. Sometimes, I just have to stop, take a breath and be like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m here. I get to do things I never would have ever thought possible.’”
Listen to Hope is Real on streaming platforms. To find out more about Jazz’s work, visit thevoicesofhope.org
Help is here
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Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
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