Kate's life after Newshub 'HOW I GOT MY POWER BACK'

The movie lover dishes on her favourite celebrity interviews and a shock secret!

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Tell us what you've been up to since Newshub closed last year?

Carol Hirschfeld [TVNZ's GM of production operations] told me I'm not allowed to call myself a dirty freelancer, but rather that. I have a "portfolio career", which I kind of dig. And it's given me some of my power back with all respect to my 21 years at Newshub. My side hustle of hosting corporate conferences and emceeing panels or awards nights took off. The phone just seemed to start ringing.

The NZ Film Commission asked me to host their new film podcast Lights, Camera, Kōrero, Radio New Zealand expanded my entertainment chats with Jesse Mulligan and TVNZ Breakfast asked me to be their regular film girl. The Breeze has also just welcomed me into their fold as a weekend host. I'd already made my mind up that I was going to say yes to everything. It's paid off.

What have you learned about yourself since becoming redundant?

I'm braver than I thought. At 58, I found the courage to give a new way of working a go and I could still use all of that institutional knowledge as a foundation for that. I do feel the pressure of being the only breadwinner. For me, there's no retirement in my future any time soon. There's no way I can stop earning for another decade at least. The Newshub closure really was terrifying at the time, but I'm getting used to the freelance way of paying the bills.

Which movie had the biggest influence on you?

I'm looking around my home and there's Han Solo over there, some Stormtrooper helmets and a Boba Fett doll... so yes, I'm a Star Wars geek! That was the one film that turned me into someone who wanted to watch every sci-fi movie that came out. What might shock people, though - I was the sporty kid at high school.

Who ignited "mainstream movie-going Kate"?