Michael Rooke
When broadcaster Erin Conroy took over the helm as 1 News’ weekend weather presenter while her friend and colleague Renee Wright went on maternity leave, she never could have imagined she’d be fronting some of the most extreme weather Aotearoa has ever faced.
With two devastating cyclones, unprecedented flooding and widespread devastation across the North Island, the TVNZ star still can’t quite believe the events of the past few months.
“It’s been absolutely incredible,” says Erin, sitting down to chat with the Weekly at home on Auckland’s North Shore, where she lives with her lawyer partner Nick Molineaux, 43, and their children Guy, six, and Eliza, two. “With virtually every shift, it’s felt as if yet another rainfall record was broken. It’s just kept on coming.”
Up with the birds for early-morning starts with the Breakfast crew.
The past 12 months have been busy for Erin, 42, as she navigated her return to full-time work. Before taking on the weekend weather role, the former news reporter and 20/20 host juggled motherhood with part-time work as a producer on Seven Sharp. Now, she’s doing both.
“I hadn’t worked full-time since before I had babies, so that’s been a big change and it’s definitely taken life up a notch,” she says, pulling Eliza onto her lap for a cuddle. “But covering Renee’s maternity leave was too good an opportunity to pass up. I really didn’t have to think twice. We know how much Kiwis love their weather, so to be involved in that is a real privilege.”
Daily scenes of devastation weighed heavily on the star. “That’s a message no one wants to hear.”
And with weather events dominating news coverage for much of the summer, the new role has certainly kept her on her toes. Any illusions that it might have been an easy gig have been well and truly scuppered. Not only has she had to get to grips with the science of meteorology, but the computer system has also presented her with plenty of challenges.
“If you think meteorology sounds complicated, it pales in comparison to the computer system we have to work with to bring you the weather!” laughs Erin, admitting she sent many panicked texts to Renee for help when the technology wasn’t playing ball.
“Renee has the patience of a saint. Even when she’s been busy with a newborn, she’s taken the time to help me out.”
Filling in for Renee was “too goof an opportunity to pass up”.
Weekday weather presenter Dan Corbett has also been a godsend, she says. But Erin admits the heaviness of the situation has taken its toll. Eleven people lost their lives in Cyclone Gabrielle, thousands of homes were destroyed and people’s livelihoods lost.
“It has been heartbreaking to see and hear of the terrible things people have been through. Hearing stories of people forced to bash holes in their ceilings to get their children to safety, or fleeing through floodwaters with their babies and kids, that just stays with me and my heart goes out to those families.
“For me, the hardest part has been having to tell people who’ve already been so badly affected that there’s more rain on the way,” says Erin. “That’s a message no one wants to hear.”
Nelson-raised Erin, 42, is the first to admit that juggling young children and work has never been simple. Before becoming a mum, she was often on the road, covering stories around New Zealand and abroad. Now, she stays closer to home, but still loves the thrill of live television. And the kids love watching her too.
“They’re just starting to realise it’s me on the TV and they get quite excited,” shares Erin, who first joined TVNZ as a reporter in Wellington in 2003, kickstarting a love of broadcast journalism that hasn’t wavered.
“It’s such a special thing to be invited into people’s homes and their worlds, and to give people who may not otherwise have a voice is so important. This job takes you into some of the furthest-flung corners of this country and I have loved meeting so many incredible Kiwis.”
She met fellow Nelsonian Nick as University of Otago students almost 25 years ago, and the couple spent six years in the UK, where Erin worked for BBC, Sky and CNBC, before they returned to New Zealand to settle down and start a family. While they became engaged in 2015, Erin admits that starting a family meant wedding plans were put on the backburner.
“A wedding is definitely on the cards at some point,” says Erin, “but you might have got the sense that we don’t rush into things.”
It was a hard battle for Erin and partner Nick to achieve their family dream, but kids Guy and Eliza were so worth the wait.
While their firstborn Guy came along in 2017, the couple’s path to a second child wasn’t quite so straight forward. After an emotionally and physically exhausting struggle, Erin has huge sympathy for anyone going through fertility issues.
“It took several years and a lot of help to get Eliza,” admits Erin. “It was a very hard time, especially as Guy came along with no trouble. Nothing could have prepared us for what lay ahead.”
Eliza’s arrival in 2020, in the middle of the first Covid lockdown, completed her and Nick’s family, and now they can’t imagine life without their little barrel of laughs. “She’s been such a wonderful addition to our family. I love seeing the two kids together. They have their moments, but most of the time they’re great little friends.”
With no family living in Auckland, they rely on their local daycare for childcare, but the Nelson-based grandmothers – or the “Gagas” as the kids call them – are regular visitors, happily jumping on a plane when the family need a bit of back-up. Sadly, Erin’s dad Earl passed away in 2014 after a stroke.
“It was very unexpected and I’m so sad he never got to meet the kids. But he knew it was part of the plan, so I think he had an idea of what our future looked like, which is comforting.”
While friends had told Erin life would get easier once Guy had started school, the devoted mum says she’s not so sure about that. The 3pm finish, not to mention school holidays, have added to the complicated business of work and children. Like most working parents, Erin and Nick have plenty of stressful moments, especially when the broadcaster is called upon to take on last-minute shifts.
“We definitely deal with some frantic logistical exercises at times, but that’s when our little village of friends swings into action. Guy might get dropped off at Eliza’s daycare after a play date, or we’ll be asking for Eliza to stay a little longer, and then one of the wonderful teachers, who also babysits for us, will bring them both home and get them fed and bathed. It seems a bit crazy at the time, but it works.”
The weather role might have made life busier for the family, but it’s something she’s relished. And Nick’s weekends with the kids have also become something to treasure.
“In a lot of ways, my weekend hours actually work really well for our family because Nick can be there for the kids. He’s a wonderful dad and they have lots of fun when I go off to work at the weekends. And to be honest, sometimes missing that bath and bedtime part of the day isn’t the worst thing in the world!”
Erin says both her kids are fun, energetic, loving and strong-willed. Guy – who goes to the same local primary school as her friend and fellow broadcaster Toni Street and Renee Wright’s children – loves basketball, cars and reading, while Eliza is a cruisy wee thing who goes with the flow.
Celebrating with Toni.
“Guy’s taking on a real nurturing role towards Eliza, which is sweet,” says Erin. “He looks after her and gives her cuddles if she’s sad. If I thought being a news journalist and working to intense deadlines was hard, nothing compares to parenthood – that takes the cake! It’s the hardest job in the world, but it’s also the best job. Nothing can prepare you for the love you feel for your children.”
