FUNNY GUY ‘HOPEFULLY I’LL PROVIDE SOME MORALE’
The comedian may not be practical, but he’s primed for a challenge
Making people laugh comes naturally for Guy Montgomery – after all, he is one of Aotearoa’s most successful comedians.
But while you wouldn’t have any issues describing him as funny, practical? Not so much. So, perfect for Celebrity Treasure Island then.
“I used to have a stand-up joke where I’d say I add no practical value in any given situation,” Guy tells Woman’s Day. “But I’ve reached this far in life, so I’ll hopefully be able to provide some morale!”
What Guy might lack when it comes to practicality, he makes up for in biting the bullet and giving things a go – like taking on the role of parent when he met his dream girl, Cousins actress Chelsie Preston Crayford and her gorgeous daughter Olive.
Guy was living in New York but back in Auckland for work, when a chance meeting changed the course of his life.
“I came back for some work at the comedy festival and I met my partner after an improv show at the Basement Theatre called Snort,” recalls Guy.
“We were just chatting and getting along really well, and I thought, ‘OK’. I asked her out on a date, but I was living in New York and she was a young parent who had a two-year-old daughter.
“I suppose we both had the idea that there was a delightful impossibility of this being a long-term relationship, so we both let our guards down and that is how, of course, you fall in love with someone.
“Then I went back to New York and we kept talking. After she came to visit, we decided to make a go of the relationship. We did longdistance for around two years, then at the end of 2019, I moved home.”
Now Guy has been thrust into the world of fatherhood alongside Chelsie and now seven-year-old Olive – and the funnyman wouldn’t have it any other way.
He explains, “Parenthood is so interesting because not everyone necessarily imagines it for themselves… but it has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I love Olive as though she’s my own daughter. I love parenting with Chelsie. We’ve got a great relationship with Olive’s other set of parents too.”
It’s a delightful calm for the previous globe-trotter, who first got his start in comedy not in New Zealand, but Canada.
“I didn’t want to be not funny to people I knew, so I moved where I didn’t know anyone,” he laughs.
“I sort of thought I was funny and my friends were starting to get their full-time careers.