Former TV presenter and radio show host Danny Watson has died after a short illness, aged 73.<\/p>\n
Watson died peacefully on Thursday “surrounded by wh\u0101nau and deep aroha”, his family said today in a statement. <\/p>\n
“To many across Aotearoa, Danny was a familiar voice and face, who brought warmth, humour, and genuine human connection to television screens and radio airwaves for decades. But to us, he was the heart of our wh\u0101nau.”<\/p>\n
It continued: “Danny lived life with boundless energy, generous spirit, and an extraordinary capacity for loving people. Danny made everyone feel seen and valued.<\/p>\n
“We are profoundly grateful for the kindness, care, and support shown to Danny and his wh\u0101nau by medical staff, the North Harbour Hospice, friends, and the wider community.”<\/p>\n
The media personality got his start on children\u2019s TV programme Spot On, followed by a stint behind the scenes of another classic kids\u2019 show, What Now?<\/p>\n
It was his “boundless energy” that made Watson a perfect fit for radio, where he hosted Newstalk ZB\u2019s Afternoons from 2000 to 2015.<\/p>\n
Beside his long and illustrious career in media, Watson’s family said he was passionate about Te Ao M\u0101ori o Waitaha, Ng\u0101 Puhi Kaum\u0101tua, Seido karate, and beekeeping \u2013 among many other endeavours. <\/p>\n
His loved ones said they would take the time to \u201cgrieve and celebrate his incredible life privately\u201d.<\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers, the wh\u0101nau asked people to donate to hospice.<\/p>\n
“In Danny\u2019s honour, we encourage you to do what he did best: share a good story, check in on a neighbour, and hold your loved ones close.”<\/p>\n
‘Greatly missed’<\/p>\n
In a statement, Newstalk ZB owner NZME said it was “deeply saddened by the death of Danny Watson, a much-loved voice on Newstalk ZB for more than 15 years”. <\/p>\n
NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said Watson was “a big part of the Newstalk ZB family and his loss will be felt right across the company”. <\/p>\n
“Many of our people worked alongside Danny over the years, and today is a very sad day for all of us at Newstalk ZB and NZME,” Boggs said.<\/p>\n
“Danny had a real gift for connecting with listeners, and for so many New Zealanders his voice was part of everyday life. He was a wonderful colleague and friend to many here, and he will be greatly missed.<\/p>\n
“So many of our team loved catching up with Danny at our recent ZB 100-year celebration, and all our thoughts are with his wife Teresa, their children, his wider family and friends.”<\/p>\n
Watson is survived by his wife, four tamariki and six mokopuna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former TV presenter and radio show host Danny Watson has died after a short illness, aged 73. Watson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,1073,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-632199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-media","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632199","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=632199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}