![\"Stan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/stan-walker-speaks-to-breakfast-in-july-2026-SYBH7ZGQRJBQRP33NDXDXFDDWM.png\")
<\/p>\nKiwi singer Stan Walker has spoken about his health, fatherhood and comments made last year by Chris Bishop ahead of his return to New Zealand’s stage after a six-year hiatus. <\/p>\n
The singer, actor and television personality rose to stardom after winning Australian Idol in 2009, and was well-known for his songs Take It Easy and Black Box. <\/p>\n
The 35-year-old told Breakfast it has been “quite a lot of work” to pull together his vision for Stan Walker – A Symphonic Experience, a one-night performance at The Trusts Arena on October 17, which he said aimed to create “an immersive experience”. <\/p>\n
Walker told Breakfast he had been “wanting to do a big show for myself and for my fans” in Aotearoa for a while. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stan Walker speaks to Breakfast in July 2026 (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n
“I feel like my shows, the way that I create them and the way that I do them, they’re like a two-hour minimum show. It’s storytelling. It’s like coming to a movie,” he explained. <\/p>\n
“We’ve got a full orchestra, so I think it’s like a 35-piece orchestra plus my band, which is my full band. <\/p>\n
“So there’ll be like over 50 people on stage, and I want to create an experience for people. Like when they walk in, I want them to feel it, I want them to hear it, I want them to see it, I want them to leave feeling so moved.” <\/p>\n
Walker also spoke about his health following his stomach removal surgery in 2017, after he was diagnosed with the rare cancer-causing gene CDH1, that runs in his family and has claimed the lives of 25 of his relatives.<\/p>\n
“I’m doing really good,” he smiled. <\/p>\n
He said he had managed to “put on a lot of weight”, as he was “trying to get fit and healthy and getting ready for the show”.<\/p>\n
“But in a bad way, I’m like a ‘fat skinny’,” he laughed. “Like I’m very grateful that my body can reproduce things that an organ used to do. <\/p>\n
Walker said becoming a father had been part of his “drive” to keep his health steady. <\/p>\n
“I think mostly being a father, and being a husband has been the biggest drive, and it’s added to my purpose and made my purpose so much bigger,” he said. <\/p>\n
Last year, video footage circulated online from the Aotearoa Music Awards evening in Auckland, which showed National’s Chris Bishop responding during a performance by Walker which featured a large Toit\u016b Te Tiriti banner on stage.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has responded after comments made by Chris Bishop at the Aotearoa Music Award prompted criticism. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n
At the time, Bishop said he would not apologise to the singer, but conceded he should have kept his views to himself. <\/p>\n
Bishop added that he didn’t have an issue with Walker as an artist, citing his frustration with the “politicisation” of the segment as the reason for his comments.<\/p>\n
Today, Walker told Breakfast “to be honest, I know this sounds sad, but I don’t really care”.<\/p>\n
“I’m a storyteller ultimately, and I’m telling stories not just on behalf of myself, but on behalf of people that I represent. <\/p>\n
“For me, it was a moment that I get to express myself and express the feelings and the hearts of our people in that moment. And I always take those moments really seriously because that’s my platform at that time, and it belongs to me. <\/p>\n
“And I get to be able to speak to people and share with people. I think it was just a beautiful moment to express how a lot of people were feeling at that time,” he said. <\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a strong quake rocks the south, and the rescue of a man stuck in a portaloo. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi singer Stan Walker has spoken about his health, fatherhood and comments made last year by Chris Bishop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,134,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-529696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-health","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529696","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=529696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}