Michael King (born 12 April 1962) is a New Zealand mental health advocate, television personality, and former comedian. He is known in New Zealand as the spokesperson who marketed New Zealand pork, presenting 30-second TV commercials on cooking pork known as ''Mike's Meals'' until he disengaged from the pork industry. King's television career began in 1997 with his debut in the New Zealand comedy show ''Pulp Comedy''. Before television, King worked as a stand-up comedian. He was voted comedian of the year in 1997 by ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

'' magazine readers and nominated for the

Billy T Award The Billy T Award is a New Zealand comedy award recognizing up-and-coming New Zealand comedians with outstanding potential. It has been presented annually since its inception in 1997 when Cal Wilson and Ewen Gilmour shared the award. The Billy T ...

in the same year. After his television debut, King began to appear on more prominent New Zealand television comedy shows, notably ''Comedy Central'', ''Game of Two Halves'' and ''Strassman''. In 2002 he was nominated twice at the 2002 NZ Television Awards for his stand up show ''An Audience With the King''. He went on to host ''

Mike King Tonight ''Mike King Tonight'' is a New Zealand late-night talk show hosted by mental health advocate and then-comedian, Mike King, that aired for one season in 2003. It aired on TV2. Background The show was a general late-night talk show that was fil ...

'' from 2003. The show aired for only one season. He is well known for his work on mental health advocacy, which began in 2009 with his radio show, ''The Nutters Club''. It was broadcast on New Zealand's

Radio Live Radio Live (stylised as Radio LIVE) was a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand. It was formed by the 2005 split of talk and racing network Radio Pacific i ...

and then Newstalk ZB. He founded The Key to Life Charitable Trust, in 2012 which promotes suicide prevention and suicide awareness. King was named New Zealander of the Year in 2019 for his mental health advocacy work. He was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

in 2019 and he returned the honour in 2021 as a protest over the lack of progress in the mental health system.

Early life

King was born in April 1962 and raised in Whenuapai, New Zealand. He is one of five siblings. King attended

Massey High School Massey High School is a co-educational state secondary school in West Auckland, New Zealand established in 1969. The school is located on the western edge of the city, thus obtaining students from both suburban and rural backgrounds. In 2017 it w ...

from 1974 until 1977, and then trained as a chef from 1978 to 1981 at the Auckland Technical Institute in Auckland, New Zealand. Mike King lives in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...

with his family.

Career

Initially making his name as a stand up comedian, playing heavily on his

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

origins, he made the move to a more lucrative mainstream audience, appearing on the New Zealand TV shows ''Comedy Central'', ''Game of Two Halves'', ''Strassman'', ''TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes'', ''Pulp Comedy'' and ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner''. In 1997 he was nominated for the prestigious

. In 2003 King starred in his own talk show, ''

'', which was produced by Greenstone Pictures. The show ran for only one season. In 2004 he hosted ''Mike King''. Although similar in concept to ''Mike King Tonight'', it was produced by Touchdown Television. It was shot on a smaller stage and no longer included the live band present on ''Mike King Tonight''. It also ran for only one season.

Health

In 2006 he revealed that he suffered from depression, and took on the role of patron for the Phobic Trust. He provided further details in his 2008 autobiography. On Jan 14, 2007, King collapsed in a

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

hotel and was left momentarily

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

and partially

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

from a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of ...

in a

blood vessel The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away ...

which burst in the back of his neck, a very rare condition. He was attending a poker championship in Melbourne (a prize he claimed after winning a poker tournament in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

). It was not known whether he had a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

or stroke. His life was saved by his good friend and poker player Richard Lancaster. Lancaster found him in a state of paralysis and sent him to Alfred Hospital.

Addiction and mental health

In recent interviews, King has openly released information surrounding his several-year addiction to the drug cocaine. He claims to have purchased a travel agency to assure himself of access to the drug: "If it ever came to it I could always jump on a plane and put myself up in a hotel for a few days". In 2009, King started a

programme airing on Sunday evenings entitled ''The Nutters Club''. On the programme, King works with mental health professionals David Codyre and Malcolm Falconer, and invites listeners to phone in with comments and to share stories or issues which might be troubling them. In 2013, ''The Nutters Club'' moved to Newstalk ZB. In 2012, King founded the Key to Life Charitable Trust. In 2019 King was named New Zealander of the Year. After this, he set up a social media campaign for mental health awareness as well as a Gumboot Friday which raised money to help youth to access counselling. Mike King ONZM investiture

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, King was appointed an

(ONZM), for services to mental health awareness and suicide prevention. In June 2021, he returned the medal to the government in protest of a lack of progress improving the mental health system, a move he had foreshadowed a month prior. His resignation was accepted by the Queen, who directed that King's appointment as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit be cancelled and annulled.

Pork marketing

Beginning in 2008, King was the spokesman for New Zealand Pork, presenting 30-second TV commercials showcasing quick-fix meals using pork known as ''Mike's Meals''. He dropped out of the campaign after '' SAFE'' contacted him about pig farming conditions in New Zealand. In May 2009, he spoke out against the factory farming of pigs, and apologised for his previous promotional work. Appearing on the Sunday programme, he said "I will not be a party to this brutality, this callous and evil treatment of pigs. It's disgusting and it needs to stop."

Driving charge

In November 2012, King was ordered to complete 200 hours of community work after pleading guilty to a driving charge.

Filmography

Television

Books

* ''The Nutters Club'' (2011)

Personal life

King has been married since 2015 to Joanna King (née Methven), and they have one daughter.

Awards and recognitions

*2019 Gladrap Boxing Awards Event of the year (Nominated)

References

External links

The Key to Life Charitable Trust Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Mike Living people 1962 births New Zealand comedians New Zealand television personalities Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Massey High School Mental health activists