RADIO STAR SARAH'S SANCTUARY 'IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON'

After beating breast cancer, the More FM presenter s making a fresh start

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It was love at first sight when Sarah Gandy walked into the backyard oasis of her New Lynn home 17 years ago. With native trees, chirping birds and sprawling lush greenery, the More FM radio host and her now-husband Luke Haigh snapped up the Auckland house and turned its “secret garden” into a fun-filled space for New Year's Eve parties and starlit spas.

It also became the sanctuary that helped heal Sarah, 42, as she fought breast cancer.

She explains, “The day after chemo, I would go for a walk and feel like I'd been hit by a bus, so then I’d just sit on the patio watching the birds, hearing the insects and admiring the greenery. It was an amazing place to recover.”

With so many ups and downs experienced at the property, Sarah has shed some tears now they've made the difficult decision to sell the house where they built their life together. But having paused plans for a full move to Los Angeles after Sarah was offered a role co-hosting the More FM Drive show, the pair were excited instead about making a fresh start in Auckland.

Sarah was just 24 when she and film editor Luke bought the home, 18 months into their romance. Their mates frowned upon the pair leaving hip Grey Lynn for up-and-coming New Lynn. “It was rougher back then!” laughs Luke, 45.

“We'd have New Year's parties called ‘New Lynn & Wines’ instead of Rhythm & Vines,” Sarah fondly recalls. “People would turn up not knowing anybody, then have five new best friends by the end of the night.”

Luke adds, “And since the section’s so big, we would build different zones like ‘The Womb, this light installation under a tree, which people could wander down to. It was like a mini Splore Festival!”