Leah Panapa
Leah Panapa
| Leah Panapa | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 September 1969 Auckland, New Zealand |
| 🏳️ Nationality | New Zealand Irish Maori Decent |
| 💼 Occupation | Broadcaster |
| 📆 Years active | 1985 - Present |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Michael Nesbitt |
| 👴 👵 Parents |
|
| Family | Sisters, Deidre Panapa, Aria Grace. |
| 🏅 Awards | Hauraki FM, Morning Pirates, Best Breakfast Radio Show 1994 and 1995. The Rock FM, The Morning Rumble, Best Breakfast Radio Show, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.[1] |
Early life[edit]
Leah was born in Auckland but grew up in the Hawksbay area around Hastings. She attended Karamu High School[2], the same School attended by radio peer Paul Holmes and Jason Reeves. She grew up with a passion for horses and radio. Her late night listenings to local radio and the ability to ring up and talk to hosts drove her initial ambition.
Career[edit]
Leah started her career in a local station at 15 years old, licking stamps, making coffee, organizing the vinyl list for the next show and pretty much anything that would keep her there. Through watching the day Jocks Leah learned how to use the DJ desk and became quite proficient fast. She was told one day when a DJ called in sick that "She was on air" which gave her her first break. She called her sister Deidre to come into the station, for moral support, and did the shift with almost no incident, well Just a few scratchy needle drops and slow wind-ups on the vinyl.
Leah quickly got some notoriety and assumed a position in Taupo on Kiss FM, which later became More FM[3], where she stayed for a few years before Auckland called. Leah's career took a small stumble where she was dropped from Radio X and was unemployed for a short spell. She was then picked up by Hauraki FM[4] a classic rock station and also became the first New Zealand advertorial queen on TV, hosting the Glad Wrap infomercials. Hauraki FM was a 4 years spell with co-hosts, Dean Lonergan[5], Arron Ironside, Mark Perry, and Comedian Andrew Clay.
She left radio to pursue an OE in 2000 and returned to New Zealand to resuming news reading at Radio Pacific, which later became Radio Live. Reading news for Mark Benette and Paul Henry[6] where she would interact with the hosts after news reads. She was then called to read news for the Rock FM and was quickly indoctrinated into the Show as a full-time member and content contributor.
12 years with the Rock FM was a signal for her to move on where she found a slot in the The Sound (radio station)[7] where it felt like she had gone full circle with the music back to classic rock.
Leah has won 10 New Zealand Radio Awards[8] and has been a further 5 times finalist in her career.
She has also appear in Celebrity home with Erin Simpson[9]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ 2013 New Zealand Radio Awards
- ↑ Karamu High School
- ↑ More FM
- ↑ Hauraki FM Classic rock radio station
- ↑ Dean Lonergan Ex Rugby League Player and now successful sports promoter.
- ↑ Paul Henry TV and Radio host from New Zealand
- ↑ The Sound (radio station) Classic rock radio station
- ↑ "About the NZ Radio Awards". NZ Radio Awards. Radio Broadcasting Association. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ↑ Panapa, Leah. "Celebrity open home: Leah Panapa", Stuff, Stuff, Sept 2017.
This article "Leah Panapa" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Leah Panapa. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
