Relationships

Newshub’s Melissa Davies shares her romantic love story and wedding plans

"I’d love to say I impressed him with my intellect and wit, but it was the opposite," she jokes.

Melissa Davies was in heaven.

On holiday in Northland, the Newshub presenter and reporter had been diving amid shoals of big, beautiful fish in the crystal-clear waters of the Poor Knights Islands and now she was drying off in the glorious sunshine aboard a charter boat.

When her boyfriend Caspar Green asked her to get back in the sea for a swim, she told him she was too tired, but he kept bugging her to join him and eventually she relented. It was then, in this picturesque spot in the Pacific Ocean, that her British beau popped the question, asking the journalist to marry him.

“Learning to dive has been completely mind-blowing for me – it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done,” Melissa, 34, tells Woman’s Day. “I was on a high that day, but Caspar made it even better. It was such a surprise when he asked me. I immediately jumped back on the boat and told all the other divers, then I realised I hadn’t even broken the news to my family!”

Encrusted with 60 diamonds, Melissa says her ring is “absolutely perfect.”

She and Caspar, 38, first met at a London pub quiz in June 2015, towards the end of Melissa’s stint as Newshub’s European correspondent. Caspar, who runs a trivia company, was the quiz master and his future fiancée’s team needed a lot of his help.

Melissa laughs, “I’d love to say I impressed him with my intellect and wit, but it was the opposite. He was giving us clues and we had good banter. It’s funny because I wasn’t at all interested in bearded Englishmen who’d been to posh schools, but we got on so well, I could look past the facial furniture.”

Their flirtation soon blossomed, but just a couple of months in, they had to make some tough choices as Melissa was due to return to New Zealand for good at Christmas. In the end, Caspar joined his girlfriend for her first six weeks back home, but they couldn’t get on the same flight, so he arrived in Auckland a day before she did.

Melissa recalls, “My mum, who’d never met him before, picked him up at the airport. By the time I arrived, Caspar was already part of the family – that was when I knew he was a keeper. My sisters thought it was hilarious that I’d fallen for a quiz master because when we were young, I used to make up quizzes and force them to participate in my game shows.”

The lovebirds spent a blissful month and a half soaking up a classic Kiwi summer, with Melissa introducing keen surfer Caspar to the waves of Mount Maunganui, Raglan and Coromandel.

She explains, “I was doing my best to make sure he came back, trying to convince him we could have a lovely life here together.”

Caspar adds, “It was incredibly eye-opening as I’d spent most of my life in London and never travelled outside of Europe, but even without Mel, I thought I could probably stay. I loved the relaxed Kiwi lifestyle.”

However, all too soon, it was time for him to return to the UK for work, coincidentally, on the same night Melissa was presenting on Newshub for the first time.

She recalls, “I really wanted to make a good first impression, but my eyes were all red and puffy from crying, and all I could think about was that I’d just said goodbye to the guy I wanted to be with.”

For the next 18 months, the pair navigated a tricky long-distance relationship, talking every day and meeting up for all-too-short holidays in London, Auckland and Dubai, where they learnt to dive. The time together was precious, but Melissa says, “The whole period was not fun. The logistics were a nightmare and it was so upsetting as we just wanted to be together.”

Eventually, though, Caspar was given the nod to work from overseas and, last June, he moved to NZ to join his lady love, who greeted him at the airport with a Kiwi care package of Pineapple Lumps and manuka honey. “All the things he needed to start his new life!” Melissa grins.

After she finished reporting from the Commonwealth Games, the smitten duo returned to the UK, where Melissa will work as a correspondent for the upcoming royal wedding. Then it’s back to NZ to knuckle down for some wedding planning.

Flashing her diamond Naveya & Sloane engagement ring, Melissa reveals the couple will marry on Waiheke Island early next year “because it’s such a uniquely beautiful place for Caspar’s family and friends to see”.

It’ll be a fairytale happy ending for the duo, who put their romance down to fate. Melissa smiles, “I almost didn’t make it to the pub quiz that night as I’d worked late and Caspar had nearly called in sick. We can’t believe we met that night. It was definitely meant to be.”

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