Gayford comes clean on Ardern
Clarke Gayford admits he’s a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to the laundry but insists his partner, Jacinda Ardern, ‘‘doesn’t quite get the colours right’’.
For the past five weeks, while the Labour leader has been on the road, Gayford has been chief cleaner and bottle-washer but he’s more than happy to fulfil that role.
‘‘I haven’t taken on any domesticated stuff, I just happen to be quite domesticated. I can be a little bit OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) when it comes to certain things, so if I do something it has to be done properly.
‘‘I’m happy to do it actually because she doesn’t quite get the colours right and she doesn’t sort things properly when she does the washing,’’ Gayford reveals about the woman campaigning to run the country.
The couple first met more than three years ago.
He’s no stranger to the media and was working on his fishing show when Ardern was made leader and it was 10 days before they saw each other.
Every time Gayford returns home he says he notices the attention on Ardern has gone up ‘‘another three gears’’.
Gayford said the whole thing would be completely overwhelming for a politician’s partner if they had never experienced the spotlight before.
‘‘I’ve fallen into the trap of reacting to people’s online comments, because everybody’s got a comment, and not everyone’s making educated comments.
‘‘It winds you up, particularly if they’re talking about somebody you love, you want to go into bat for them.’’
Gayford laughs at the suggestion Ardern has had to tell him off for trying to defend her publicly.
‘‘I’ve learnt my own lessons, I don’t need to be told off ... I’ve learnt on the job you could say.’’
So what is Gayford’s role in all of this?
‘‘I make sure she has her Vitamin C in the morning and she gets her different potions her mother has sorted. I make the shakes and snacks and things when I’m around and just be the support person.’’
Sharing the load with Ardern’s mother hasn’t been completely smooth sailing.
‘‘Someone decided to use the stain remover and put bleach in it and not tell someone else so someone’s shorts got ruined,’’ says Gayford only mildly upset about the fate of his favourite diving shorts.
When he first got together with Ardern he had grand ideas he’d be let in on all sorts of political scandal.
‘‘It turns out there’s not really any secrets.
‘‘What the public gets and what journalists rat out of them is pretty much how it is.’’
Gayford isn’t mentally prepared for his partner possibly being prime minister in a few days: ‘‘How do you get prepared for that? I don’t even know what it means.
‘‘This has happened so fast that we haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk about any of that.’’
When it’s all over he’s just looking forward to spending some time with Ardern.
‘‘I’ve hardly seen her, I had to come on the road to see her. The other day I came down to catch up with her and they managed to book me 15 minutes for a lunch break during which time we had four people sitting with us.’’
He says he’s become part of her schedule but he’s OK with that because he’s been ‘‘so proud to watch it all happen’’.
‘‘I don’t think there’s going to be any regrets in terms of effort and what she’s done.’’