Flava star Azura - SHE'S A KNOCKOUT

The radio host reveals the family news that  broke her heart and how she's fighting back

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Until recently, radio star Azura Lane would never have called herself a morning person. But these days, as the newest host of the Flava Breakfast show alongside Stacey Morrison and Mike Puru, she's no stranger to an early start.

"I get up at 4.30am!" she laughs incredulously. "If I wasn't a morning person before, I am now!" Taking over the morning mic after Anika Moa recently left the show is a dream come true for the 25-year-old Aucklander, who is of Ngāpuhi descent.

"There were some nerves," admits Azura, who started presenting Flava's night show six years ago. "Co-hosting with two people who are such broadcasting legends, I hoped I could do it justice!

"But it took us all by surprise how much we got on - it just works! They teach me a lot and I think I teach them too. I couldn't be happier, especially because I spent five years speaking to myself. I never had anyone hosting with me before!"

Working solo was particularly lonely for Azura during the COVID lockdowns in 2021. "Doing radio can be quite an isolating job," shares the announcer, who was hosting Flava's afternoon show at the time. "There would be no one else in the building and everyone I lived with had chosen to leave town, apart from one couple."