THE NEW BREAKFAST CLUB
Tomorrow morning, former Breakfast co-workers Toni Street and Sam Wallace go back to early morning starts together on The Hits — joining Sarah Gandy on the radio station’s new-look breakfast show. Street will be matching her Seven Sharp co-star Mike Hosking on workload with his dual role on Newstalk ZB. The mother of two small children, she will be one of the busiest women in media.
“I’m not quite sure how I will juggle it all yet,” Street told Spy.
“I’ve stripped back a lot of the extra things I was doing last year, like the corporate voicing for TVNZ. I’ll also be having every second Friday off both Seven Sharp and radio, which will make a huge difference. I’m very lucky to have a husband whose work is flexible.”
Street said she had a “fantastic feel” for The Hits’ new breakfast line-up, adding that Wallace was definitely the “joker” of the crew.
She described Gandy as “warm, sassy and the cool one of the three of us”, adding that she would “endeavour not to be the mumsy one”.
When asked to compare Wallace with her TV co-host on Seven Sharp, Street said: “Sam has a lot to live up to. Currently Hosk is ticking more boxes.
“He has it all over Sam in the fashion and hygiene department, and so far has never whipped off his shirt to show me his abs. They both mock me mercilessly and talk non-stop about cars so there’s no difference there.”
Wallace will juggle The Hits with presenting the weather at times on 1 News.
He said he would miss working on Breakfast but was looking forward to his new career move.
“It was a very hard decision to make, leaving Breakfast,” he said. “I had so many sleepless nights discussing with my girlfriend if I was making the right decision. But as a presenter you have to develop and grow your career and the opportunity with The Hits is the perfect opportunity.”
Gandy said she was looking forward to working alongside the TVNZ stars.
They had already developed a strong bond, she said.
“They’ve been friends for a good five or six years now, so they absolutely operate like brother and sister,” Gandy said.
“Coming in as a third person could have been awkward, but I’ve been working with these guys behind the scenes for about a year, so it’s almost like they’ve got another sibling to deal with.”
Tomorrow’s first airing of the trio will feature an interview they conducted in Melbourne last week with chart-topper Ed Sheeran.