{"id":489339,"date":"2026-06-22T04:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T04:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489339\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T04:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T04:32:09","slug":"how-we-make-it-work-comedian-chris-parker-and-husband-micheal-on-marriage-kids-and-manic-margot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/489339\/","title":{"rendered":"How we make it work: Comedian Chris Parker and husband Micheal on marriage, kids and manic Margot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before he jets off, the T\u0101maki Makaurau couple share their plans, why kids aren\u2019t on the cards and dog Margot\u2019s madness for the Herald series \u201cHow we make it work\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple recently adopted a rescue dog named Margot. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Chris Parker, 35, comedian <\/p>\n

We met on Tinder 11 years ago, and at this rate, Tinder should be paying us for the publicity. <\/p>\n

Our first date was at Late Night Diner (RIP), and we had milkshakes and went on a walk, which ended outside a Barfoot & Thompson real estate [office] where we laughed and made snide remarks about ugly houses and their terrible styling. Nothing has really changed.<\/p>\n

My first impression was immediate and not subtle: \u201cThis is the hottest man I\u2019ve ever laid eyes on\u201d and \u201cMy God, is he smart\u201d. It felt unfair, frankly, that someone could have both. <\/p>\n

I made the first move after watching a Victoria Beckham 73 Questions Vogue interview together. Since then, Micheal has made every next move: moving in together, the proposal, all of it. I did suggest the dog, though. <\/p>\n

We got married in 2022 at The Hollywood cinema in Avondale. It was a wedding that was so perfect it got a write-up in Vogue (Australia, and online only, but still!). All the amazing styling came from Micheal\u2019s perfect taste, but I suggested the oysters on arrival, which, you know, counts for something. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple exchanged vows at The Hollywood in Avondale.<\/p>\n

We entered the relationship assuming kids were probably off the table, because, well, it wasn\u2019t going to happen by accident. So we started from \u201cI guess kids are out of the question\u201d, and have always checked in with each other over the years to see if anything\u2019s changed. <\/p>\n

Being gay means you see things like marriage, home life and kids through a different lens. <\/p>\n

Margot, our dog, has been the perfect size challenge for us. She\u2019s terribly anxious and also a real b**** with other dogs. So, it\u2019s been a bit of a full-on life adjustment that has changed how we live our lives. It\u2019s been a fun challenge that we have totally brought upon ourselves, and we don\u2019t regret it at all. <\/p>\n

But we love to throw money at our problems; for Margot, it\u2019s been in the form of a dog trainer. But in all seriousness, no matter what a couple faces, leaning on your wider community makes all the difference. Friends and family have helped us through a lot. <\/p>\n

Finding time for each other is quite easy \u2013 we don\u2019t have kids, and my job is comedy, so I\u2019m never stuck at the office. If anything, we work harder at finding time away from each other. Our version of romance is a weekend meander through the city, picking up various homeware items and then not buying them. We luxuriate at cafes, holding on to Margot as she goes feral at every dog that passes by. Bliss. <\/p>\n

\""If“If anyone wants to dog-sit a high-maintenance dog for a week or so, Micheal and I would love to explore Thailand.”<\/p>\n

When it comes to arguments, we go quiet and internalise it. Working out the arguments quietly in our heads. And then we calmly and rationally talk it all through with each other. We\u2019ve never raised our voices at each other. <\/p>\n

It feels impossible to reduce the love of my life down to \u201cthe best things\u201d, because he is the best thing about my life. Saying \u201chis humour\u201d feels almost trivial, but it\u2019s true. He\u2019s always been so cheeky \u2013 he warned me on that first date. And it\u2019s been 11 years of him making life fun and silly with that cheeky outlook. <\/p>\n

As for what\u2019s next: if anyone wants to dog-sit a high-maintenance dog for a week or so, Micheal and I would love to travel and explore Thailand. <\/p>\n

\""My“My first impression was immediate and not subtle: ‘This is the hottest man I\u2019ve ever laid eyes on’,” Parker says.<\/p>\n

Micheal McCabe, 32, designer and lecturer <\/p>\n

Everyone tells you your wedding will be the best day of your life. It is, although I\u2019ll admit it\u2019s a close call with the time Chris and I had banana fritters in Vietnam. <\/p>\n

What people don\u2019t warn you about is how you cry until there is absolutely nothing left in you: I\u2019m a Capricorn with huge feelings. But it was also the most present I\u2019ve ever been in my life. We designed the day to bring our worlds together over a huge dinner. There were speeches, vows, films (two) and readings between each course. <\/p>\n

Not everything has been smooth. During lockdown, there was a stretch where I didn\u2019t leave the house for 35 days. It wasn\u2019t a good time for me, but then again, it wasn\u2019t really a good time for anyone. Chris has this infinite generosity, though, and it gets us through a lot. <\/p>\n

Our day-to-day life is pretty shared: morning coffee, walking the dog, overhearing each other\u2019s work calls in our one-bedroom apartment. <\/p>\n

When we\u2019re apart, if Chris is on tour or I\u2019m deep in a project, it becomes a lot of voice memos sent throughout the day. Chris\u2019 manager even added me to his work calendar. <\/p>\n

\""It\u2019s“It\u2019s been 11 years of him making life fun and silly with that cheeky outlook,” Parker says of McCabe. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve never really had a full-blown argument. I\u2019m actually quite a fiery person, but over time Chris has evened out my spikes. If a friend is having a hard time, I come in swinging, and Chris sees it more diplomatically.<\/p>\n

When something does come up between the two of us, we take a moment, sit quietly with it, and let the tension settle. Once I can let go of the instinct to \u201cwin\u201d (seven years of debating will do that to you), we just talk directly and then move on. <\/p>\n

Over the years, we\u2019ve grown together; despite that, we have also been able to maintain the things that make us who we are. For me, it\u2019s knowing where I end and Chris begins. <\/p>\n

We decided early on that kids weren\u2019t for us. Sharing a dog has brought us infinite joy, but Margot is where it ends. <\/p>\n

Chris Parker\u2019s Take a Good Hard Look at Me New Zealand Tour begins in Wellington on September 4 before heading to Christchurch on September 5 and finishing in Auckland on September 11 and 12.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before he jets off, the T\u0101maki Makaurau couple share their plans, why kids aren\u2019t on the cards and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[13991,95,2346,10779,3390,430,3623,3276,40367,3682,156,64227,221,10109,2514,702,1899,5812,245412,27243,636,205656,111,139,69,90,17472,10512,1305,170558,58228,3270,4576,80],"class_list":["post-489339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-13991","tag-and","tag-award","tag-awards","tag-best","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-chris","tag-comedian","tag-comedy","tag-entertainment","tag-fred","tag-how","tag-husband","tag-island","tag-it","tag-kids","tag-make","tag-manic","tag-margot","tag-marriage","tag-micheal","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-parker","tag-prize","tag-show","tag-topp","tag-treasure","tag-we","tag-work","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489339","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=489339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}