Jason’s second chance:

Jason Gunn talks about his life-changing heart attack and his return to TV.

The last time TV Guide spoke to Jason Gunn he had just made headlines after an encounter with his wheelie bin.

The popular TV presenter had been standing in the bin squashing rubbish when he fell, injuring his back. While he needed hospital treatment, he was still able to laugh about the incident.

But his latest brush with medical professionals is no cause for mirth.

Gunn, who can be seen on TV this week hosting the first of two more episodes of You’re Back In The

Room New Zealand (one episode aired last year), suffered a major heart attack at his gym in January.

“We all like to think we’re bulletproof and in quite good nick,” Jason says.

“But it turns out, ‘No’ and you’re actually a bit p **** d off with your body thinking, ‘I thought you were better than this’.

“Everyone got a fright. It wasn’t on the cards. I don’t drink and I don’t smoke. My blood pressure has always been OK, cholesterol has never been an issue.

“I thought it was like a minor heart attack, but it turns out it was actually a major heart attack.”

It seems Gunn can partially thank genetics for his health scare.

“The old adage of thinking people who are very large and drink and smoke a lot will get heart attacks... that’s just a misconception. That’s just wrong. So if you’re relying on that, your days may be numbered,” he says.

“Family history plays a big part of it. You need to go and see your doctor. It’s that old saying about the ambulance at the bottom of the

cliff. We always wait until we’re sick before we go and see our doctor.

“I’d say, ‘Just go and get a check-up. Get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked’. But also the key thing is just to know your family history.”

Forty-eight-year-old Gunn urges anyone over 40 to have a check-up.

“Just because you’re over 40 and doing it right doesn’t mean you’re healthy,” he stresses.

Gunn started working in television at 18 years old and for a while it seemed he was everywhere.

While appearances on the box are now fewer, he is still a firm favourite with viewers.

In You’re Back In The Room

New Zealand, a group of people do bizarre and amusing things after being hypnotised.

Gunn says his hosting role was a challenge as he had to think on his feet and use his comedic and improvisational skills.

Gunn lives in Christchurch where he runs Whitebait Television studios with his wife Janine. The couple have four children between them, including Shortland Street actress Grace Palmer and Eve Palmer, who hosts The Adam And Eve Show. When he’s not at Whitebait, he co-hosts an early evening, weeknight radio show, a job he loves and is not about to give up.

However, at the urging of doctors, he is making small changes to his life.

“Everyone was like, ‘Slow down, Jase’ but my cardiologist was like, ‘No don’t slow down, Jase, but maybe just be a bit pickier with what it is you do. Maybe do a little less, better’,” he says.

“I don’t really want to slow down per se. I don’t think I was born with that personality type. I think it’s just about saying, ‘No’ to a few things. I’ve been really shite at doing that over the years. I’m trying to please everybody so I’m like, ‘Oh OK, hold on I’ll get back to you’. As opposed to now where I go, ‘Look, to be honest, no, I probably can’t do it’.

“I’m getting better at saying no. But you know what? There is also a large dose of bad luck about the whole thing too. You’ve just got to focus on the positives because, sadly, you hear so many tales of people who didn’t make it out the other side like I did.”

However, if there is one thing the heart attack taught him it is the importance of family.

“We recently went on holiday and took all the four kids and some of the boyfriends to Fiji and had a week there,” he says. “We just sat around the table and just looked at all our kids and I just couldn’t be more proud of them. They honestly are my best friends.

“There is no one I would rather spend time with. If they’re happy and I’m happy, that’s all that really counts to be honest. The only people I want to please is them

and Janine.”