You can always rely on Breakfast‘s John Campbell for a warm welcome.
But when All Black – and now first-time dad-to-be – TJ Perenara popped in to the studio this morning to surprise the veteran broadcaster, John’s reaction couldn’t have been more priceless.
TJ has just announced that he and his wife Greer are expecting their first child and he was there at the studio to be interviewed live about impending parenthood as well as his role as co-captain of the Hurricanes, but John hadn’t been told that TJ had been lined up.
Breakfast has shared the behind-the-scenes footage of TJ and John’s joyous off-air reunion on its Facebook page.
The reunion, which you can view in the video above, shows John beginning to grin from ear to ear as TJ steps into the studio.
“What the f…!” is John’s completely endearing reaction, which he then follows up with an affectionate hug.
John’s next words are ones of congratulations: “Such lovely news,” he says in a voice that is probably one octave higher than usual; TJ Perenara is a man John clearly adores.
He also can’t stop touching TJ!
TJ responded by sharing that he and wife Greer are “really excited”.
“Yeah, we’re stoked, so stoked, and looking forward to it and excited for the journey.”
He said that Greer had been suffering from morning sickness “but she’s getting through that part of it now”.
TJ had made the couple’s announcement on Instagram, posting an image of he and Greer’s beloved labrador Roni with the words, “I’m going to be a big sister” .
“Our little whānau is expanding…,” he wrote. “We are so happy to announce our pēpi will be arriving Aug 2020.”
TJ and Greer have been together 10 years, after meeting at a Halloween party, which Greer attended dressed as a bride.
TJ told Woman’s Day that after leaving the party he turned to his mate and said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl one day.”
Despite TJ’s conviction, it was eight years of dating before the couple finally got engaged – and TJ’s proposal came out of the blue for Greer.
“For a long time, TJ had said that he didn’t think that marriage was for him, whereas I’ve always been a bit more traditional,” Greer said.
“It’s just a piece of paper,” TJ went on to explain.
“We love each other – that’s all that matters. I didn’t see it as a massive thing, but I knew how important it was for Greer. And the more I thought about it, that we could express our love in front of our friends and family, it became really important to me too.”
They were married in January last year, pulling off a surprise backyard wedding in Porirua. Their guests thought they were arriving for an engagement party.
With TJ and Greer’s permission, their wedding videographer Johnny Hendrikus shared the full video of the couple’s emotional wedding with Now To Love. You can watch it here:
A great one for surprises, TJ also surprised Greer after proposing to her by taking her for what she thought was going to be a romantic celebratory dinner with her new fiancé.
However, when Greer walked through the doors of their favourite Wellington restaurant she was greeted by her entire immediate family.
TJ revealed on Breakfast this morning that he and Greer plan to raise their child in a bi-lingual home.
“Te Reo Maori is something I didn’t grow up with and I probably shied away from for a long time because I was embarrassed thatI didn’t speak the language,” he said.
“I held that on my shoulders for a long time then I came to the realisation that through history and through things that happened over the course of time the language was diluted and wasn’t taught to me… It’s not my fault but it’s now my responsibility to learn the language and to pass that language on to baby and to our future kids.
“We’re looking forward to that journey.”
