Daniel Faitaua announced as new TVNZ Breakfast show host

TVNZ journalist Daniel Faitaua has been announced as the new Breakfast host.

Faitaua will present TVNZ’s flagship morning news programme alongside Jenny-May Clarkson, Chris Chang and Anna Burns-Francis.

“Daniel is no stranger to early starts, having previously been on Breakfast from 2016-2019,” TVNZ said in a statement.

“He left the show to take up the role of TVNZ’s Europe correspondent. Most recently, Daniel has been presenting 1News at 6 and has been a reporter on Seven Sharp.”

Faitaua said he was thrilled to be returning to Breakfast, which returns on Monday, “and joining the amazing stable of talent, in front and behind the camera”.

“I’ve always loved the excitement of live TV and now I get to jump back into three hours of it, waking up with you every morning. I’ll be there bright and early on Monday, a large coffee in hand, and ready to kickstart an exciting 2024.”

Former co-host Matty McLean bid farewell to the show in December.

Speaking to the Herald before his final day, McLean revealed that once he made his decision to leave the show after more than 16 years, he had concerns about how it was going to be received by the public and his on-screen family.

“When I resigned from TVNZ, it was such a big deal for me,” he says, adding, “I did worry about how it might be received, how people would feel about it and whether they’d be mad or annoyed or think I was making a mistake.”

He was not leaving New Zealand broadcasting entirely and would instead be swapping TV for radio, where he will join PJ Harding on the newly announced The Hits Drive show.

As for how the host wanted to be remembered for his time on Breakfast, McLean said he had one simple wish:

“All I’ve ever wanted to do is to make people smile. There’s so many things going on in our world, right, and life can be really heavy sometimes, and especially these last few years. It’s just felt like everything is against us sometimes so I just hope that I’ve been able to put smiles on people’s faces.

“Does that sound cheesy?” he chuckled, “I hope it doesn’t sound cheesy.”

Meanwhile, disgraced broadcaster Kamahl Santamaria says he will be taking legal action against former employer TVNZ following his sudden departure from Breakfast in 2022.

The 43-year-old lasted just 32 days on the show before leaving the network last year. TVNZ originally said his departure was the result of a “family emergency”.

The Emmy-nominated former Breakfast host admitted in October that his exit from TVNZ followed a complaint that he inappropriately touched a colleague in the newsroom.

Santamaria said he was taking TVNZ to the Employment Relations Authority and had already lodged a statement of problem with the authority.

He said he was facing the prospect of having to sell his Auckland home in part to fund the legal action.