On song: Indira Stewart talks about about her role as newsreader on Breakfast.

TVNZ 1’s Breakfast newsreader Indira Stewart talks about music, singing the news, and her tips for early risers. Sarah Nealon reports.

What is your best tip for anyone who starts work early?

Oh gosh. I’d be giving advice that I don’t practise. My best tip would be take magnesium. That is something that has helped me survive the early starts for sure. It gives you a better quality sleep. Even if you’re just sleeping for five hours you wake up feeling like you’ve had three full REM sleep cycles. That makes all the difference.

You were a contestant on NZ Idol in 2006 where you came runner-up. What do you remember of that time?

I remember being really young and really young minded. I think I was about 21 when I entered. That’s a stage in your life when you’re really getting to know who you are. It was a funny experience to shape and reveal what you’re made of. Social media wasn’t really around back then. But, you know, it was tough enough being judged on live

television in front of people around the country who are watching. But had it been in 2020 it would have been a lot tougher.

If you had won NZ Idol, what had you planned to do with the prize money?

Well, when I entered I was a broke student in my second year at uni. So the prize of a brand-new car and $50,000 was really tempting. So what would I have done with it? I’m not sure that I would have kept the car. I may have sold it. Coming from Pacific Island culture, I think I would have shared some with my family and definitely used quite a bit of it to pay off my student loan.

Did you grow up in a house where there was a lot of music?

Yeah, I was a classically trained piano accordionist for about 15 years. So was my sister. My father’s a brass band conductor and a choir conductor. He’s played the cornet for many decades. All my siblings, we all learned instruments growing up.

So do you have a family band?

It would have been my dad’s dream for us to be like the Jackson Five, but we hated that kind of stuff. So we don’t have a family band but my siblings and I, we often jam together.

Will you be performing any music on Breakfast? Can we expect you to crack out a couple of numbers?

Maybe one day I’ll sing the whole news bulletin. Who knows? I think they’ll kind of heckle me a little bit here and there.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a singer. But also, you know, I never saw older people on mainstream news

who looked like me, so I never thought about it as a career path. It wasn’t until I read a column from (journalist) Tapu Misa that I did get inspired to do journalism. My dad says now that I’m a journalist that makes so much sense. (He says) “When you were younger you were so good at gossiping” – which I probably was. I was such a nosy child.

What is your best tip for any working mother?

Enjoy your kids as much as you can, would be my best tip. I think before I got into journalism, it would have been my dream to be a stay-at-home mum actually. A couple of my siblings home school their kids. I think I always wanted to do that, but didn’t have the luxury of doing it. I was a solo mum for a few years before I got married to my husband so have always been a working mum. It’s been awesome to have a career that I love and enjoy and to be able to help provide for my kids.