Hilary Ann Barry (née Pankhurst, born 4 December 1969) is a New Zealand journalist and television personality who co-hosts '' Seven Sharp'' with

Jeremy Wells Jeremy Wells (born 7 June 1977) is a New Zealand media personality who hosts the Radio Hauraki breakfast show with Matt Heath, '' Seven Sharp'' alongside Hilary Barry, and the NZ version of '' Taskmaster''. Career Wells first appeared on tel ...

TVNZ 1 TVNZ 1 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Tahi) is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as indep ...

. She was a newsreader on TV3 for many years and until 2016, presented the 6 pm ''

Newshub ''Newshub'' (stylised as ''Newshub.'') is a New Zealand news service that airs on the television channels Three and Eden, as well as on digital platforms. It formerly operated across radio stations run by MediaWorks Radio until December 202 ...

'' show with Mike McRoberts. She also worked on the Paul Henry morning TV show since its launch, reading the news. Barry resigned from these roles in April 2016.

Personal life

Barry attended Queen Margaret College in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

from 1980 to 1987, and was head girl in her final year. She later completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

and a Certificate of Journalism. She and husband Mike Barry, a teacher and son of

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Brit ...

, have two sons.

Career

Radio

Barry began her career as a reporter for radio 89.3 TODAY FM (now More FM Wairarapa), before moving to RNZ in the

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

office Barry describes her time at RNZ: "I was in sole charge of a thriving newsroom that was inundated with stories of serial killers, sexual deviants and the local shearing competition, called the

Golden Shears The Golden Shears International Shearing and Woolhandling Championships is the world's most prestigious sheep shearing event. It was founded in Masterton, New Zealand, and been held in the town's War Memorial Stadium each March since 1961. It in ...

." She read the morning news on radio station

More FM More FM is a New Zealand radio network that plays hot adult contemporary music. It is operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. More FM broadcasts in 25 centres throughout New Zealand on 81 transmitters with a mix of local and network programming. ...

and participated in the morning shows from 1993-2003. On 9 February 2009, Barry became news anchor on the RadioLIVE breakfast show hosted by

Marcus Lush Marcus Lush (born July 1965) is a politician and television and radio presenter in New Zealand. Broadcasting He made his first footsteps into television in the 1990s as a reporter co-presenting TV2's ''Newsnight'' alongside Simon Dallow and Ali ...

, and was on RadioLive until 2016. In 2020-21 Barry co-hosted the 3pm slot on '

The Hits The Hits was a music video channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a range of pop centred on chart hits and cur ...

', covering for a period of maternity leave.

Television

Barry became a TV3 news reporter in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1993 then moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

to work as a reporter on

3 News ''Newshub'' (stylised as ''Newshub.'') is a New Zealand news service that airs on the television channels Three and Eden, as well as on digital platforms. It formerly operated across radio stations run by MediaWorks Radio until December 202 ...

. She presented 3 News on weekends for six years, before becoming the weeknight 3 News co-anchor alongside Mike McRoberts in 2005. Barry's move into co-hosting 3 News was precipitated by the former regular anchors John Campbell and

Carol Hirschfeld Carol Ann Hirschfeld (born 1962) is a New Zealand journalist, documentary maker, broadcaster, producer and media executive. She is best known for her role as a TV3 News presenter alongside John Campbell from 1998 until 2005. As a broadcast media ...

moved on to respectively present and produce the 7 pm current affairs show, ''

Campbell Live ''Campbell Live'' is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme that aired at 7pm (following 3 News) on TV3 and was hosted by John Campbell. ''Campbell Live'' conducted interviews of various notable personalities, including Al Go ...

''. In 2015, Barry joined the Paul Henry show as the news anchor, alongside her role as co-anchor of 3 News (then rebranded as

). On 4 February 2016, Barry laughed uncontrollably during ''

The Paul Henry Show ''Paul Henry'' was a New Zealand morning news and talk show that aired weekdays on Three and was simulcast on Radio Live. Its final lineup consisted of host Paul Henry, news anchor Ingrid Hipkiss, sports anchor Jim Kayes and social media anchor ...

'' when reading a news item about the former Malaysian diplomat who admitted going to a young woman's home with no pants on and defecating on her step before leaving. The incident received widespread coverage and a video uploaded by Henry received about 270,000 views on YouTube in two days. Hilary Barry unexpectedly resigned from MediaWorks (thus Newshub and Paul Henry) on 26 April 2016. Barry had been with the company for 23 years, working across several brands. Barry quit TV3 amid rumours that she was heading to TVNZ. When MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon resigned five days later, Barry and co-host Mike McRoberts were seen bringing champagne and beer into the Mediaworks office to celebrate. When entering the building, Barry gave a "v for victory" sign with one of her hands, but declined to comment further. It was later revealed that McRoberts (Barry's long term 3 News/Newshub co-host) was trying to convince Barry to stay with the company. Barry's final day was on Friday, 27 May 2016, receiving a special video tribute from colleague Mike McRoberts. On Sunday 29 May, it was revealed that Sam Hayes would replace Barry on Newshub at 6. On Monday 30 May, MediaWorks announced that Ingrid Hipkiss would replace Barry on Paul Henry. On 19 September 2016, Barry and

Jack Tame Jack Renfrey Tame (born March 1987) is a television and radio journalist and presenter. He is the host of TVNZ’s political show Q+A, and a presenter at Newstalk ZB''. Early life Tame was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, the son of Golden Ba ...

took over as co-hosts of

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...

. Barry left Breakfast in January 2018, and joined Seven Sharp alongside Jeremy Wells.

Awards

Barry won the Best News or Current Affair Presenter award at the 2011 Aotearoa Film and Television Awards and at the 2019 NZTV Awards. At the 2006

Qantas Television Awards New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...

she was voted Favourite New Zealand Female Personality. In 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 Barry won TV Guide's Best on The Box award for Best Presenter. In 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Barry won the NZ Radio Award for Best Newsreader. At the 2020 New Zealand Television Awards, Barry won the 'Favourite TV Personality' award.

References

External links

3 News websiteRadioLIVE website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Hilary 1969 births Living people Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand television newsreaders and news presenters People from Wellington City Radio Live People educated at Queen Margaret College, Wellington