{"id":407758,"date":"2026-05-02T03:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T03:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407758\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T03:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T03:13:08","slug":"hayley-holt-eyes-tv-comeback-with-dream-reality-show-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407758\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayley Holt eyes TV comeback with dream reality show role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back then, Hayley, 45, was new to the fame game, having done just one series on Dancing With The Stars NZ, so she wasn\u2019t surprised to be put into a team of other lesser-known Kiwis, competing against certified celebs like April Ieremia, Monty Betham and Rebecca Loos.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the Z-listers!\u201d she laughs. \u201cI remember making it to the semi-finals and a producer said to me, \u2018You weren\u2019t meant to still be here!\u2019 No one thought anyone from our team would get that far. But I just put 100% into it and looking back, there wasn\u2019t much tactic \u2013 it was just grit. I was in my element.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayley\u2019s win propelled her to household-name status and she went on to appear on two more seasons of Dancing With The Stars<\/a>, as well as its UK equivalent, Strictly Come Dancing, before moving into broadcasting.<\/p>\n

\"HayleyHayley with Peter Urlich on Dancing with the Stars. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big responsibility to come up with a dance each week and try to get the celebrities up to speed,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was stressful, but it was an incredible thing to be part of. I made lifelong friends on that show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost two decades on, Hayley\u2019s life as a mum of two looks very different. Having left TVNZ at the end of 2024 amid widespread restructuring, she\u2019s still figuring out her next move. She didn\u2019t expect to be out of work this long, but a short-lived stint in a sales role last year has taught her to hold out for a job that works for her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to rush into something that isn\u2019t quite right again,\u201d she says, speaking to us at her family home in Warkworth, where she, fiance Josh Tito and their two boys, Raven, three, and Kingston, two, are living with Hayley\u2019s parents Robin and Murray.<\/p>\n

While she and tradie Josh had hoped to be back in their own home by now, Hayley says there are huge upsides to intergenerational living.<\/p>\n

\"Hayley\u2019sHayley\u2019s life as a mum of two looks very different. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not always easy, but it\u2019s pretty beautiful having three generations under one roof,\u201d explains Hayley. \u201cThe boys love their nana and poppa<\/a> so much \u2013 they always have someone to turn to as there\u2019s always an adult available. They follow their poppa out on the farm, help him with the jobs and ride on the four-wheeler down the driveway to check the mail with him. It\u2019s tiring for my parents, but the kids are in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raven and Kingston are the light of their mum\u2019s life \u2013 and she\u2019s conscious of how fortunate she is to be with them every day. She\u2019s focusing on the positives, rather than stressing over job hunting.<\/p>\n

\"HayleyHayley with fiance Josh. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancially, we\u2019re stretched, but Josh is working super-hard and I\u2019m choosing to trust in the universe that everything will work out. In the meantime, I get to hang out with my boys and not have to rush anywhere, which feels pretty special. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re the cutest little things \u2013 very cheeky, funny and so cuddly. I live for their cuddles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayley says she\u2019d love to return to broadcasting and in an ideal world, she\u2019d be the Kiwi version of late US talk show host Barbara Walters. \u201cThat would be the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

She\u2019d also jump at the chance to go on Treasure Island again \u2013 although she knows she\u2019d need a new strategy.<\/p>\n

She says, \u201cI\u2019m a different person now \u2013 I\u2019m 45! I\u2019m tired, my body hurts and I don\u2019t have the same ability to just tough it out, so I\u2019d have to think up a game plan and strategise. But I\u2019d still be out to win!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back then, Hayley, 45, was new to the fame game, having done just one series on Dancing With…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1558,7054,8046,8615,22773,124,14900,5136,299,156,2753,2740,25901,29133,2221,2514,10005,209839,130,111,139,425,69,41167,34592,6045,9979,205,62105,6180,1305,6642,131,19030,437,303,14036,49493,102,5816,6730,379],"class_list":["post-407758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-been","tag-breakfast","tag-camera","tag-come","tag-comeback","tag-could","tag-crew","tag-drama","tag-dream","tag-entertainment","tag-eyes","tag-former","tag-hasnt","tag-hayley","tag-holt","tag-island","tag-list","tag-manifest","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-now","tag-nz","tag-presenter","tag-ready","tag-reality","tag-right","tag-role","tag-screens","tag-shes","tag-show","tag-tells","tag-than","tag-tropical","tag-tv","tag-very","tag-whole","tag-wish","tag-with","tag-womans","tag-would","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}