Ed Sheeran won’t deter her – Hayley
It seems last year’s war-ofwords with Ed Sheeran hasn’t put Hayley Holt off musicians. The Breakfast host caused plenty of controversy last March when she described the much-loved British pop star as a ‘‘suck-up’’ and said his music was boring. Sheeran responded by wearing an All Blacks shirt with her name on the back, before sending it to her. Laughing about the incident now, the 37-year-old Holt says she’s desperate to interview Eminem, who is due to perform in Wellington early next month.
‘‘When I was giving up alcohol, he was an inspiration because he’d been through that himself,’’ she reveals.
‘‘I just think he’s a really interesting character. He’s got a lot to say, but people think he’s just this stupid rapper so he should shut up. He’s quite a complex guy – it would be great to meet him – and he’s hot.’’
Reflecting on the Sheeran spat, Holt describes the whole thing as ‘‘surreal’’.
‘‘I thought, ‘what is going on the world?’ It all started with me saying I find his songs boring because they all sound the same and ends up with him wearing an All Black shirt on stage and then sending it to me.’’
Stuff has learned that the shirt and a signed poster were secretly dropped off to a Breakfast producer’s house in the dead of night, but that only the shirt made it to the studio that morning. However, the poster did eventually make its way to Holt and now sits in a special place – framed on a wall at her parents’ home.
She now says that Sheeran is not only a phenomenal musician, he’s also ‘‘a smart guy. I think that’s what endears him to people, he cares, takes notice.’’
Those are qualities Holt hopes Kiwis also associate with her. After stints on The Crowd Goes Wild and Back Benchers (as well as appearing on reality series Treasure Island and Dancing with the Stars), her first year on Breakfast culminated in her winning TV Personality of the Year at the New Zealand Television Awards.
‘‘I absolutely did not think that was where the year was going to end up,’’ says Holt, who admitted she was very nervous when she started on the morning show in January last year.
‘‘Obviously I’ll take it [the award]. It was a beautiful and pleasant, wonderful surprise. But I don’t know if it has sunk in yet, or what it even means, but it has done some great things for my confidence.’’
Reinvigorated by her summer break, Holt says she spent her downtime sleeping and ‘‘reflecting consciously and subconsciously on the past year.