Who is Clarke Gayford? The reality TV star who wooed Jacinda Ardern
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When Jacinda Ardern delivered a bombed resignation speech announcing that she would step down as New Zealand’s first female prime minister, she closed with: “And, Clarke, let’s finally get married.”
The mother-of-one was speaking to her long-time fiance, Clarke Gayford, who has been supporting her partner’s high-profile career since taking over in 2017 and is a hands-on father to their daughter, Neve Te Aroha. . After the couple got engaged in 2019, their nuptials were delayed by various factors out of their hands, including the Covid pandemic.
Although he has joked in the past that he is ‘plus one’ for his powerful fiancée of 42 years, Clarke is well known in his own right as a fishing show TV host, DJ and radio host in New Zealand.
Clarke, 46, is currently the host of the New Zealand property show Moving Houses, but many viewers remember him from the reality show Treasure Island, where he was one of several contestants placed on a remote island in Fiji and competed for a fund of prizes. of $25,000 NZD.
Clarke Gayford, 46, (pictured paddle boarding) began dating Jacinda Ardern in 2013, a year after they met at an awards ceremony, when he emailed her to discuss a election issue. The presenter and DJ, who once appeared on New Zealand’s reality show Treasure Island, had a daughter with the prime minister and he proposed to her in 2019.
The couple first met at an awards ceremony 11 years ago, but didn’t start dating until they reconnected in 2013. Before seducing the future prime minister, Clarke was in a relationship with New Zealand actress Shavaughn Ruakere.
Shortly before their split, they were described as “an adoring couple who share an easy relationship.”
Clarke and Jacinda (pictured at the ASB Rugby Awards in 2018) bonded over their shared love of music after initially meeting to discuss a constituency matter
Clarke, who loves to fish, revealed in an interview that he courted his fiancée by bringing crayfish to her house in their early stages of dating.
As Shavaughn laughed off the engagement rumors, she said: “We’re happy the way we are.”
However, a few months after the interview, the couple broke up and Clarke began dating the politician.
Reflecting on his early meetings with the now-prime minister, Clarke told a New Zealand radio station: “This is a bit embarrassing – I had a constituency issue and I emailed my local MP.”
Clarke revealed that he was concerned about privacy issues related to the government’s Office of Communications Security amendment bill, so he contacted his MP Nikki Kaye.
After he claims Kaye didn’t respond, he went to the top and contacted Jacinda Ardern, who was an MP at the time, and she agreed to meet Clarke to discuss the issue over coffee.
Clarke, a father of one, took Ardern on a fishing trip on their first date and realized he had met his match when she caught a 5kg snapper.
The parents welcomed daughter Neve Te Aroha in June 2018 and have juggled parenting with their busy lifestyle ever since.
Before long, the pair realized they had a lot in common, including a shared love of music and previous DJ experience. They became friends, before their relationship began to develop into something more.
In an interview with women’s weeklyClarke revealed that he took the politician on a fishing trip on their first date so he could share his greatest passion with her, only to realize he had found his match when she reeled in a 12-pound snapper.
He said: ‘The sea was flat as glass and we had a large pod of dolphins join us. It was literally Jacinda’s first cast and she was like, ‘Ooh! Something is pulling!
‘She pulled out a 5.4 kg snapper. And she said: ‘Is that good?’ And I was like, ‘That’s really good!’
The pair grew closer as they bonded over fishing and shellfishing, with Clarke revealing that he courted her by coming to her house with crawfish.
In 2017, Ardern was elected leader of the Labor Party and thus leader of the opposition. Less than two months later, she won the general election and became prime minister.
Later that year, the couple announced that Ardern was pregnant with their first child, choosing a sweet Instagram photo of two large hooks and a third small hook to illustrate their expectant arrival.
She wrote in the caption: “Clarke and I are very excited that in June our team will expand from two to three, and that we will join the many parents who wear two hats.”
During her pregnancy, the prime minister revealed in an interview with the New Zealand Herald that the couple celebrated the news with a feast.
She said: ‘[Clarke] I bought myself a burger and some flowers from the dairy, so that was lovely.’
While Clarke is famous in his own right as a DJ and TV presenter, he’s previously joked that he’s the ‘plus one’ of his fiancée.
She added: “It’s only the second time Clarke has bought me flowers, so it was actually a big deal.”
The couple welcomed their daughter Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford into the world on June 21, 2018, and the following year, the couple announced their engagement.
Ardern confirmed in April 2019 that her partner asked Easter after she was seen wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring on her left hand.
The proposal took place atop Mokotahi Hill in Mahia, on the east coast of the North Island, with a ring that belonged to Gayford’s grandmother.
“It was Clarke, me, a DPS (Diplomatic Protection Squad) member, a couple of Mahia locals and a dog that tried to eat the chocolate Clarke bought me at the same time, so it was very romantic,” he said. he said he at the time.
Despite setting a date for the wedding last year, the prime minister decided to postpone her nuptials after she raised the Covid alert to red, following a spike in cases of the virus in New Zealand.
The year 2022 threw up some odd turns for the couple as Clarke found herself at the center of a social media storm as false rumors began to circulate that she was awaiting criminal trial.
Thousands of online trolls in Facebook groups and Reddit have circulated unsubstantiated rumors in recent months that criminal charges had been filed against Clarke.
New Zealand police were forced to confirm the rumors were completely untrue, with a spokesman saying the popular TV and radio presenter had never been charged with any offence.
Clarke himself commented on the speculation, mocking the entire debacle.
Taking it easy, he wrote on Twitter: “Yeah, but have you ever seen me and Clarke Gayford in the same room at the same time?”
The false rumors are believed to have been around in some form since Ardern became prime minister in 2017, but spread more rapidly last year amid mass protests in the country’s capital Wellington over flu vaccination mandates. covid.
Throughout Ardern’s career, Clarke has often spoken highly of his fiancée in public.
In 2020, at a campaign event before the general election in which she was elected to a second term, Clarke jokingly referred to herself as a ‘plus one’.
He said: ‘It gives me a tremendous sense of family pride to present to you the best candidate for the post of prime minister this country has ever produced, in my humble opinion.
“And while he can hide chocolates from his partner, he easily wins Neve Te Aroha’s favorite dad award each and every night.
“Please welcome to the stage my not quite wife, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda.”