HAYLEY’S DREAM PREGNANCY My little gift from the universe
The Breakfast beauty reveals all about her baby’s daddy
Like many women nearing their 40s, Hayley Holt was well aware her biological clock was ticking. Having always longed to be a mum, she was terrified she’d missed her chance, so the single star even looked into fertility treatment to start a family on her own.
In the end, Hayley decided to leave it up to fate and no sooner had she let go of the idea of motherhood, she discovered she was pregnant!
“I call it my little gift from the universe,” says the Breakfast host as she lovingly cradles her baby bump at our exclusive photo shoot. “It is such a blessing because I was so worried it would never happen.”
Due on July 6 – just three days after her 40th birthday – Hayley’s baby signals the start of a joyous new chapter for the TVNZ golden girl, who has always spoken honestly about her ups and downs throughout her 15 years in the public eye.
As she sits down to share her heartwarming story, it’s clear that the much-loved broadcaster has finally found an inner peace.
“This is without a doubt the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she shares with a huge smile. “The minute I found out I was pregnant, I genuinely felt this new contentment settle over me. I didn’t realise how badly I wanted this until it happened.”
When Hayley discovered she was pregnant, she’d been consciously trying to accept a life without children. She was keeping busy at work, and doing her best to focus on friends and family. But the former Green Party candidate, who celebrated five years of sobriety last year, says there was a lingering sadness she just couldn’t shake.
“The idea of turning 40 was weighing on me,” she admits. “I knew my chances of having a baby were getting slimmer. I was trying to accept it and move forward, but it was getting in the way of feeling content.”
Until now, Hayley has kept details of the baby’s father to herself. But she understands people are interested and she’s happy to shed light on her “unconventional” situation, explaining that she fell pregnant in the very early stages of a new relationship.
While the pair are taking things one day at a time, Hayley says she feels fortunate the father – “a lovely man” – is as committed to their baby as she is.
“We’ve made the conscious decision to focus on the baby first and see what comes later in terms of a relationship,” she tells,
adding that they’ve known each other for years. “I know it’s not your traditional situation, but all that really matters is that we both love this baby and we trust each other. He’s just as excited as I am and has been an amazing support.”
Hayley can’t help but laugh as she recalls the day she discovered her surprise news. With a sneaking suspicion she could be pregnant, she donned the classic celebrity disguise of hat and sunglasses, then nipped into her local chemist to buy a test. Returning home, she was “totally overwhelmed” when two lines appeared.
“Everything started moving quite slowly,” she recalls. “I wasn’t screaming or jumping for joy, I just went really quiet as it began to sink in. I was absolutely over the moon about it, but I was also struck by the enormity. It’s the biggest thing that can happen to someone.”
Hayley didn’t have time to dwell though; she had to drive straight to the airport to pick up a friend from the UK.
“He must have thought I was being so weird – usually I’d be so excited to see him, but I was so distracted. I could barely focus on him at all; all I was thinking was, ‘Oh my God, I’m having a baby!’”
After letting the news sink in over the next few days, Hayley visited the doctor. Other than the usual checks, she needed to know whether the overseas trip she’d planned with her mum Robin could still go ahead.
“Mum and I were due to go to Egypt together, and had been planning it for months, so I was a bit worried that I’d mucked that up. But the doctor said there was no reason why we couldn’t still go, as long as we stayed in good hotels and were sensible about what I ate,” explains Hayley. “I was so relieved because I knew how much Mum had been looking forward to it.”
It was only then that she was ready to share her news with her closest confidante, mum Robin.
“She was absolutely thrilled,” remembers Hayley, who is living with her parents north of Auckland as she waits for her baby. “Mum said she was walking around the house with a huge smile on her face, thinking, ‘I might not go to Egypt!’ She told me she didn’t care at all about the trip, she was just so excited about becoming a grandma. She’d got to the point where she feared she might never have any grandchildren.”
When Hayley told her big brother Logan, he shed a few tears. “My family are so stoked for me because they know how badly I’ve wanted this. It means so much to everyone and I love the idea that this baby is going to bring so much to all of us. I’m a huge believer in the idea that it takes a village.”
Hayley says from the very beginning, she’s felt an amazing connection with her little one. Every day she says “good morning bubba”, and before bed each night she recites a special karakia, which was given to her by broadcaster and te reo Maori advocate Stacey Morrison. “It’s beautiful, it’s all about your pepi [baby] growing strong physically, mentally and spiritually.”
The first time she felt her baby move was “a magical moment”.
She says, “Before then, it hadn’t quite seemed real, but now that the baby is kicking and fluttering and moving around, it’s like a constant reminder.”
Luckily, Hayley’s suffered no major morning sickness or side effects, other than the usual tiredness – not helped by her gruelling 2.15am wake-up call for her role on Breakfast.
She’s doing all she can to take care of herself and her unborn baby, ensuring she has a long sleep every afternoon and early to bed each night. Regular walks and the occasional aquaaerobics class at the local pool are helping to keep her fit.
“The hours I keep are ridiculous and by Friday I’m absolutely exhausted,” she admits. “But everyone tells me the Breakfast shift is perfect for working parents because when I go back to work, I’ll be home mid-morning every day. I actually feel really lucky.”
Hayley, who hopes to take about six months’ maternity leave, is understandably emotional about her unborn baby – it’s the blessing she never thought she’d have. She tells us that she’d even taken tentative steps towards becoming a parent on her own, but in the end she couldn’t go through with it.
“I went to Fertility Associates last year and was told I could freeze my eggs to buy a bit of time, or that I could go on the waiting list for a donor. But I also had a really good friend who was very willing to help me by donating his sperm.
“We actually came quite close to going through with it – we’d agreed I’d be the main carer and all of that – but then I got freaked out. It was such a huge decision to make that in the end I chose instead to leave it up to the universe.”
And what a good decision that turned out to be.
“I really do feel like it was meant to be,” tells the mum-tobe, who says her pregnancy has made her even more connected to her spiritual side. “As soon as I found out I was pregnant, my whole emotional life has changed. I’m so content and so grounded. I have a feeling now that everything is going to be OK.”
Hayley and her mum forged ahead with their amazing trip
– carrying with them the happy secret that there was a baby along for the ride. They spent Christmas in Egypt and paid an emotional visit to the war grave of Robin’s grandfather in Alexandria.
With her tummy expanding by the day, Hayley says it was a huge relief to finally tell her workmates and share the news with Breakfast viewers.
“People have been so supportive and so lovely,” beams Hayley. “We did a nationwide Breakfast tour recently and I was given knitted booties and all sorts of lovely things.
“It’s a really special feeling knowing that others are celebrating with you.”
A benefit of having a baby later in life means that she’s hardly had to buy anything, as friends have gladly dropped off cots, car seats and a mountain of newborn clothes.
Hayley confesses she’s doing her best to approach her labour with an open mind. She is under the care of an obstetrician, but has also enrolled in a hypnobirthing course and is hoping for a natural birth.
She enthuses, “I’m doing my best to be zen about it. I am a big believer in the idea of life being a natural process, but I’m so happy to trust the obstetricians because they know what they’re doing. I’m an older mother, so I won’t be taking any risks.”
While she knows the gender of her baby, she’s only shared it with close friends. “It’s nice to give everyone a bit of a surprise,” she says, adding that she can barely wait for July to roll around.
“I have never felt so ready for something in my whole life! I have this vision that it’s going to be a beautiful partnership, where I listen to my child’s needs, and I don’t try to force my ideas and my timetable on it. But when I tell people who are already mums, they just laugh and say, ‘Just you wait!’”
But Hayley explains she’ll do her absolute best to take things at her baby’s pace.
“I don’t think a baby should have to conform to our schedules, rules and routines, so I plan to take a fairly relaxed and natural approach to motherhood. It’s just love, safety and food that it will need.
“I’m amazed by how much this baby has already taught me,” she concludes. “I feel like a different person because I have a new energy inside me.
“I know it sounds a bit loopy, but I truly feel that my baby’s spirit is now part of me, and I find that amazing. I can’t wait to meet this little person now. I am so ready.”