Spinning her world
Meet DJ Dani’s number-one girl
Star of the radio waves Dani Fennessy reckons the story of how she met her girlfriend is “so 2018”, but it could also be the plot of a very modern Hollywood romance.
As the Mai FM presenter tells it, Krystal Edwards followed her on Instagram last February. The mum-ofthree was “really pretty and pretty cool”, so Dani followed her back and eventually “slid into her DMs” with a message that said, “I’ve got a crush on you.”
Flattered but nervous, Krystal, 32, replied, “Cool, thanks,” which Dani, 27, interpreted as a brush-off. The broadcaster recalls, “I thought she’d bounced me, but she was just shy and I wasn’t used to her way of flirting.”
Weeks later, having given up all hope of a date, Dani was working at an Auckland club when a woman with long, dark hair caught her eye. She remembers, “I thought, ‘She’s stunning,’ then she turned around and it was her! It was a real movie moment. We saw each other and then drew each other in without even knowing it.
“There were hundreds of sweaty people on the dance floor and Krystal looked at me, then said, ‘You’re even more beautiful in real life.’ It was that clichéd love at first sight. That was six months ago and we’ve been hanging out ever since.”
Dani – who has her “dream job” co-hosting Mai’s toprating Home Run drive show with Fame Teu – was around 14 when she saw Jennifer Garner “with her swords and leather suit” in the movie
Elektra and realised she was bisexual, but she didn’t have her first girlfriend until she was 20. She was nervous about telling her mother, but her mum said to her, “I love you how you are. Whatever makes you happy makes me happy.”
Nomorehiding
Krystal, on the other hand, knew she liked both boys and girls from when she was in primary school, but after falling into the Mormon church at age 19, she married her boyfriend of four years and quickly became a mum to daughter Jordia, now 12, and sons Kydan, nine, and Zentan, five.
Because of her religion, the craftswoman – who makes a living creating dreamcatchers – suppressed her bisexuality, but “the pressure of trying to be perfect all the time” led the couple to leave the faith and, at age 25,
Krystal had a “quarter-life crisis”, which saw the pair separate amicably.
She says, “I was always open with my husband and we’re still best friends. Kissing girls went on the backburner for a while, but it came back up when we left the church.” However, Dani is her first-ever girlfriend – and most likely her last.
“She told me she loved me on that first night and she probably would’ve proposed to me a long time ago, wouldn’t you, babe?” says Dani, causing a blushing Krystal to nod. “But it’s different when kids are involved. There are three other people to consider in this situation. That’s why we haven’t moved in together, but we’re not in a rush – the time will come.”
Krystal adds, “I’m not nervous about getting married again, but this time it’ll be for the right reason – because I love her and I want to be with her forever.”
And her ex-husband may be best man at the wedding. Dani tells, “We have a really
great relationship with him. He’s a great father, he’s good to me and Krystal, and we all do family things together. A lot of people won’t understand the dynamic, but it works for us and everyone’s happy.”
While the past 12 months have been brilliant for Dani’s love life, her health hasn’t been so good. After an eye test, the radio star was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, which means there’s unexplained swelling and fluid around her brain.
She tells, “It usually doesn’t affect me apart from meaning I get a bit tired or a headache if it’s really bad, but I’ve been in and out of hospital for tests to make sure my brain hasn’t drowned. It worries me because I could go blind, but I try not to think about it.
“It’s controlled at the moment, but in the past year, I’ve had tonsillitis multiple times, a really bad stomach bug and an infection in my arm that had to be operated on, which was scary.”
Fortunately, Dani has had Krystal to turn to. Her girlfriend smiles, “We have to look for warning signs, which is what I’m here for. I’m the strict one. I make her take her pills.”
Grinning, Dani adds, “She calms me and she’s all the support I need. I’m so lucky to have her.”