Shooting the Breeze JEANETTE'S LIFE LESSONS

The radio and TV host reveals she once went to the police about John Farnham!

- Fleur Guthrie

Jeanette Thomas, 52, has blitzed it for years on television and breakfast radio gigs. In her varied 29-year broadcasting career she has co-hosted shows like Good Morning, Crime Scene and Target.

For the past decade, the mum-of-two has been a fixture in the morning on The Breeze radio station.

Away from the airwaves, she lives in North Auckland with her husband, Dave, 57 and two “weather anxious” pups, Benny and Sam. But she tells the Weekly why it’s You’re the Voice singer John Farnham’s face who peers out from her phone lock screen.

What were you like as a teenager, Jeanette?

My late mum Carrol would tell you I was a very good teenager, but there was a lot she didn’t know. I had a naughty side back then - I can’t share things that my friends saw – but because butter didn’t melt in my mouth, Mum never suspected. I’m the youngest of three and I like to keep the peace and make sure everyone is happy, so that’s predominantly how I remember myself. I was quite sporty and played basketball for my school team and we went to a couple of NZ champs in the ’80s.

Did your love for Aussie singer John Farnham start back then too?

When I first discovered him as a 13-year-old in 1986, I became absolutely obsessed with him. I'd watch his concerts on VHS back-to-back and knew every single spoken word. I had hundreds of pictures of him on my walls. There was no wall space! A friend brought back a life-size cut-out of him for me on a bus from a record shop in Tauranga. I had one on my ceiling and one beside my bed. I went to Melbourne once for his concert and went to the police station to ask what his address was. Strangely, she wouldn’t tell me! When my son Charlie was three, he used to tell people that John Farnham was his dad.