Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 34, 2024 i New Zealand Woman's Weekly

Madonna feared she might never mark another birthday after a serious bacterial infection last year saw her admitted to ICU and put in a medically-induced coma. Now, the Vogue singer’s determined to make the most of all the special occasions in her life, which is why she pushed the boat out for her 66th birthday. She enjoyed a string of celebrations at various locations across Italy, including an ancient amphitheatre in Pompeii. Accompanied by her boyfriend, footballer Akeem Morris, 28, she also found time to help son Rocco commemorate his 24th birthday four days before. Her other children, Lourdes, 27, David, 18, Mercy, 18, and twins Stella and Estere, 11, joined in the fun, with a pal saying, “This party and trip is about thanking all of her loved ones…

Matthew Perry was injected three times with the drug ketamine on the day he died by his live-in assistant Kenny Iwamasa, and his final words to Kenny – the last person to see him alive – were, “Shoot me up with a big one.” Kenny, 59, then left the Friends star’s Los Angeles home to run errands and returned to find the 54-yearold actor dead in his jacuzzi. The assistant is one of five people charged in connection with Matthew’s death in October last year, which was due to the acute effects of ketamine. Kenny has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and court documents reveal that he and Matthew had spent $90,000 on the dissociative drug in the 29 days leading up to Matthew’s fatal overdose.…

When the Weekly caught up with former Good Morning host Sarah Bradley on her lifestyle block on the outskirts of Auckland, the talented broadcaster was brimming with good news. Not only had Sarah, 58, just completed her PhD in international relations, but her daughter Melinda, 20, was home from holidaying in the US. She explains, “Melinda was hanging out with my sister, who lives in New York, and partying in the Hamptons with friends she’d made when I worked at the United Nations.” Sarah is also basking in the glow of her new-ish relationship with Kevin Woollett, 64, a former firefighter turned entrepreneur. “We met on Tinder about two years ago and we travel really well together,” says Sarah. “We’re both super-organised, so before we go anywhere, we create spreadsheets…

At 20, Gareth Lynch was loving student life at Canterbury University. He was super-sporty, with a great group of mates, a steady girlfriend and full of plans for the future. But on September 16, 2016, the unthinkable happened. “There was a tradition for students to do stunts as part of an election process for a university social club executive,” says Gareth, 27. “I decided I’d jump off a roof into a pool. Unfortunately, I jumped too far and the momentum carried me into the bottom of the pool.” ‘I can do all kinds of things I technically shouldn’t be able to’ Face-down in the water and fully conscious, Gareth knew it was serious. “I couldn’t feel anything from my shoulders down. All I could do was hold my breath and…

Alexia Hilbertidou’s defining moment came at age 16 when she won a national coding competition. Male high school classmates told her she had only won because she was a girl. She was the only female in her digital technology class and, a year later, the only girl studying advanced physics. Feeling isolated and impassioned about equality statistics, Alexia was galvanised to make a change. So the young trailblazer founded GirlBoss New Zealand, an organisation dedicated to empowering young females and closing the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Chatting to the Weekly from her Hibiscus Coast, Auckland home, Alexia, 25, dishes up the best advice celebrity chef Jamie Oliver gave her and why her late Samoan nana is the original GirlBoss. You made Queen Elizabeth giggle in…

Note For an alcohol-free option, replace the amount of liqueur with brewed coffee. Mocha self-saucing pudding SERVES 6 PREP & COOK TIME 1 HOUR 120g butter 1 cup (250ml) milk 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoon instant coffee granules 1 ½ cups (330g) caster sugar 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, plus 2 tablespoons extra 1 ½ cups (330g) firmly packed brown sugar 1/3 cup (80ml) Kahlua coffee liqueur (see note) Raspberries (see tip) and icing sugar, to serve 1 Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Grease a 1.5-litre (6-cup) ovenproof dish. 2 Melt butter with milk in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, then stir in vanilla, coffee and caster sugar, then sifted flour and cocoa. Spread mixture into dish.  3 Sift brown sugar and the…

Desperately in need of a self-care day? Clear your calendar, turn your bathroom into a retreat and give yourself some love at home. Here’s how to create the perfect spa session for serious Zen... STEAM AND SCRUB Replicate a mini steam room by popping your shower onto a high heat, then get set to buff! Resurface dry skin with an exfoliating polish like Essano Coconut Oil Invigorating Body Scrub, $15.99, to gently buff and shine. Call in a pumice stone, such as Manicare Mouse Pumice, $8.99, for extra-rough skin on areas like your hands, knees and feet. BATHING BEAUTY Melt away the day and dissolve oil, dirt and make-up with Glossiersier Milky Jelly Face Cleanser, $41. Then treat yourself to a warm bath with major beauty benefitsefits and give…

Researchers have found a new thing to add to the list of the way the Covid pandemic changed our lives – women’s feet are flatter. Not “flat feet” as in the kind that stop you being able to join the army because those collapsed arches make marching inadvisable. But “flat feet” in the sense that more women are choosing to keep our feet flat on the ground. Turns out, once we’d kicked off our high heels during various lockdowns and got used to putting our whole foot down, vast numbers of us discovered we really liked it and we’re not going back. Research in the UK has revealed a spike in the sales of flatter shoe styles for women – from ballet flats and loafers to low heels of less…

As someone who will be celebrating their 60th this December – all things going well – I love a good birthday bash. There are many and varied ways to enjoy a birthday. Quietly and with a minimum of fuss (not my preferred way of marking one’s special day), sophisticated lunches with friends, dress-up parties and surprise parties. For my 50th, I had a party at home with friends, but then I spent the next year travelling the world. To Vegas with my daughter to see Fleetwood Mac. To Africa on safari with a great group of people. To Tahiti on a fabulous cruise around the islands. And the year ended with me running my sixth – and final – marathon in Queenstown. It was a hell of a way to…

Best little place on Earth An island community is about to steal your heart Escaping to a tropical island is a fantasy for many of us and this adorable comfort read is possibly the next best thing to being whisked away for real. Romantic, poignant, funny, transporting, filled with sunshine and lovely people… It is all the good things. Charlotte Walker is a veterinary scientist who has seized her chance to escape a domineering mother by signing up to a fellowship on the far-flung island of Tuga de Oro in the South Atlantic. She will be spending a year studying a rare breed of tortoise that lives in the wild. But there’s another reason Charlotte has been drawn to Tuga. She wants to solve the mystery of who her father…

The song I listen to when I need a pick-me-up… I keep finding myself going back to Nina Simone’s Wild as the Wind. Although it’s not your typical pick-me-up tune, I find something so empowering about her interpretation that invigorates me! My favourite song from Rigoletto is… Spoiler alert! I’d have to say it’s the final duet when Gilda is singing her last words as she’s dying and finding comfort in the fact she will finally meet her mother in heaven. I’m looking forward to performing with Sol3 Mio’s Amitai Pati because… I have heard he and his brothers are really lovely, down-to-earth people! That’s something I’m looking forward to in New Zealand – making music with great people. The moment Kiwi audiences will be stunned in Rigoletto is... When…

It feels particularly fitting that this week’s issue is brimming with stories of new beginnings and fresh starts. My working day starts at 7am, which for many months has meant leaving the house in darkness. But just in the past couple of weeks, a hint of light has started to peek through. Recently, while walking in the Auckland Domain, I noticed there were bursts of colour emerging with daffodils in bloom. Like the weather, our lives also have seasons, and the women featured in these pages are embracing new energy and forging new paths. Sarah Bradley was on our screens for many years before unexpectedly losing her role on Good Morning. She returned to university to study for her Master’s and PhD, explored the world and is now living on…

The highly-anticipated return of character Martin Platt to Coronation Street has been scrapped, with the actor who plays him suddenly leaving the show. Sean Wilson, who starred as the café worker turned nurse between 1985 and 2005, was brought back as part of the exit storyline for Martin’s ex-wife Gail Rodwell, after the actor who plays her, Helen Worth, 73, announced she was leaving after 50 years. Sean, 59, had begun filming scenes in July and expressed his excitement about returning. “Playing Martin has been a joy since day one and in a way I’ll be slipping back to where I left off, which will no doubt throw a spanner into the heart of the Platt family.” However, he was called to a meeting with producers and never…

‘My tank is quite empty. I don’t even sing at home at all’ Famous for her love of a pint at her local pub, followed by a good old-fashioned British takeaway, there was a time Adele couldn’t imagine moving away from her beloved Blighty. Global fame and the lure of a fortune beyond her wildest dreams, of course, eventually did lure her to California. But now, it seems, the singer has had her fill of Hollywood’s bright lights. Multiple sources have confirmed a homesick Adele, 36, is planning to move back to her homeland eight years after she packed her bags and left. Those close to the Easy on Me hitmaker say the high crime rate in Los Angeles, combined with the city’s cut-off gated communities and racial divides,…

Asa 19-yearold university student and cheerleader with a booming social life, Sophie Brown felt on top of the world. “I really did feel invincible,” she tells the Weekly. But in 2017, her world came crashing down and changed the trajectory of her life dramatically when she was sexually assaulted by one of the now notorious Jaz brothers at Christchurch bar Mama Hooch. Last year, former hospitality workers Danny and Roberto Jaz were convicted of 69 charges between them, including rape, sexual violation, indecent assault, stupefying, disabling, making intimate recordings of women without their knowledge or consent and supplying illicit drugs. ‘I felt I’d gotten to a place where I could talk about it’ Sophie, now 26, was one of their victims – and the first to go to the police,…

How to sterilise your jars Heat kills bugs and bugs can cause preserves to lose quality or even go off. If you want to sterilise just one bottle or a few jars, place them with their lids in a saucepan of cold water on their sides, making sure they’re full of water and submerged. Boil and simmer for 10 minutes. This will kill just about all the bugs. The only downside of this method is that it’s a little tricky to remove hot bottles from a pot of boiling water, though there are special tongs on the market to help you. A good thing to note is that hot sauces and jams will crack a cold jar, but this method allows you to have your jars prewarmed ready to pour…

YOU WILL NEED ● 3.15m rope or thick cord (about 1cm in diameter) ● Scissors ● 12 skeins embroidery thread in six colours (two of each colour) ● Darning needle ● Cotton 1 Cut a 15cm length of rope and set aside – this will be the hanger. Divide the remaining rope into 6 x 50cm lengths. 2 On a flat surface, make a rainbow shape by stacking the six pieces one above the other. Trim so ends are level with each other. 3 Decide the order of your colours from the outer to the inner rope of the rainbow. 4 Starting 5cm in from the end of one piece of rope, tie on the embroidery thread in your chosen colour with a knot. Then wind it along the length…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Shania Twain’s still the one we want – but what would you get a superstar singer for her 59th on August 28? After all, friends and family don’t want to hear, That Don’t Impress Me Much! Elsewhere, it seems just like yesterday Richard Gere left us Breathless in An Officer and a Gentleman and Pretty Woman, and now he’s turning 75 on August 31. Enjoy your Party for Two, guys. LIBRA Sep 24 – Oct 23 There’s a problem you’ve been avoiding. It’s not going anywhere and it’s not that difficult to resolve. It’s a matter of getting a pen, sitting down and sorting it out. A phone call or two later and you’ll feel so much better. Tackle everything head on and it’ll make a difference. Just…

Letters to the Editor SALUTING ALAN ● Winning letter Well done, Alan Farragher (NZWW, August 26) for your efforts to get men talking about mental health through your Diamond Workwear initiative. I spent two years in psychiatric hospitals, but what got me through was having loving family and friends who stood by me. I think men in particular find it really hard to talk about issues causing them mental distress because of our Kiwi ethic that they have to just tough it out. I was shocked when I read how many suicides were occurring in the construction industry. Good on you, Alan, for getting this in the open and encouraging men to get help! Katie Your prize This week’s winning letter writer receives a Stratton prize pack, worth more than…

Best in film The Kiwi director of The Piano, Dame Jane Campion, 70, received a Leopard lifetime achievement award at the 77th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. Purrfect party Lupita Nyong’o, 41, went all out celebrating her cat’s third birthday! “Go, Yoyo!” she shared, adding “#childlesscatlady”! FLIPPIN’ GOOD Anne Hathaway protected her flawless skin from the Mediterranean sun admirably! The Devil Wears Prada star, 41, says her mum taught her to wear SPF30 every day. Band of friends Our Wildest Dreams came true! Taylor Swift, 34, performed with her best mate Ed Sheeran, 33, at Wembley Stadium in London. New mum Suki Waterhouse, 32, opened for Taylor. Fair maidens The Watcher star Naomi Watts, 55, and actor Blythe Danner exuded Hamptons chic at a benefit auction. Blythe, 81, is known…

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s recent trip to Colombia was meant to promote messages like the dangers of the digital age. However, the “faux royal visit” mostly made the couple look like they’re desperate to be taken seriously, say critics, and may make the chance of reconciling with Harry’s estranged family even more unlikely. The Sussexes undertook a four-day visit to the South American nation to talk about topics like safeguarding young people online, along with female empowerment and mental health – causes they care deeply about. They also visited a school and Harry, 39, took part in an Invictus Games training session. But they’ve been slammed for “playing at being real royals” on a “fake tour” that has allegedly upset the King and Prince William. Royal author…

It’s official: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have split. J.Lo, 55, filed legal documents last week in an LA court herself, without using an attorney on August 20 – the date that would have been the second anniversary of their traditional wedding ceremony in Georgia. The On the Floor hitmaker listed the date of separation as April 26, 2024 and insiders say the couple didn’t sign a pre-nuptial agreement, meaning whatever earnings Ben, 52, and Jen have made over the past two years are classified as community property. J.Lo – who has an estimated net worth of $440 million, has put out four major films since marrying Ben, including her $22 million, self-funded project This is Me... Now: A Love Story, about the couple’s romance. She also launched a cocktail…

She’s one of the country’s most experienced actors and at 61, Jennifer Ward-Lealand has no plans to take her foot off the gas... But she’s careful about where she spends her energy. As well as her role as the president of Equity New Zealand, she’s currently working in her first long-term full-time job since her repertory theatre days. She is an intimacy coordinator for the rebooted Spartacus series – and she will soon start rehearsing with her husband Michael Hurst for the play In Other Words. For the first time ever, the acting royalty duo will perform together. “I’m still very passionate about my work,” she says. “I’m very enthusiastic. I’m probably teaching at a better level than I ever have been. I think everybody as they get older realises…

Chana dhal with yoghurt PREP + COOK TIME 30 MINUTES SERVES 4 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 large onion, sliced thinly 1½ teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger 2 teaspoons brown sugar ⅓ cup (75g) korma curry paste 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon sweet paprika 400g can diced tomatoes 250g cherry tomatoes 1 cup (250ml) water 1 cup (250ml) coconut milk 400g can brown lentils, drained, rinsed 400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed ⅔ cup (190g) Greek-style yoghurt, to serve 2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, to serve 1Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion, ginger and sugar, stirring, for 8 minutes or until soft. Add paste and spices. Cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add canned tomatoes, 2 cherry tomatoes, water, coconut milk, lentils and chickpeas…

I’ve joined the oldies “Exercise to Stay Young” class at the gym. That’s a laugh to start with. The name suggests we’re young and wish to stay that way. But only old people do stuff to stay young. Young people don’t need to do. They ARE young. They go to the gym for sport or to look even more gorgeous. Old people can’t stay young. They can only try to stay less old. My wife encouraged me to go and after observing the class for a year from the gym’s exercise bike, I decided I was probably now of an age to join. I had to overcome my shyness – 90 percent of the class is women. But deep down, I felt assured that as possibly the youngest in the…

Recently, I was listening to my colleague and friend Jesse Mulligan on a podcast called Between Two Beers. It was, as you would expect, smart, entertaining and funny. It was also enlightening in that I learned some new things about him. Things you’d expect a friend to know. Things you’d think a friend should have shared previously. After further rumination, I realised many blokes I know, including myself, tend to open up and reveal more of ourselves on such podcasts. There are several reasons for this, the first of which is: us males need purpose. Women have known forever that talking is one of the best purposes in the world. Men see talking as the thing you do before you actually get started and do the thing. A podcast is…

WEEKLY STAFF EDITOR Marilynn McLachlan LIFESTYLE & BEAUTY EDITOR Anna Lee SENIOR WRITER Catherine Milford CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Denise Bowden SUB-EDITOR Darren Bevan ART DIRECTOR Mirella Monteiro DESIGNERS Anna Pétursdóttir, Béla Trussell-Cullen, Debby Wei, Hayley Pearce PHOTO & EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Kellie Blizard CONTRIBUTORS Donna Fleming, Elisabeth Easther, Fleur Guthrie, Hayley McLarin, Kasia De Vydt-Jillings, Leigh Matheson, Megan McChesney, Nicky Pellegrino, Sam Brooks, Wendyl Nissen ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Claire Chisholm claire.chisholm@aremedia.co.nz SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Jacquie Fraser jacquie.fraser@aremedia.co.nz  COMMERCIAL BRAND MANAGER Bridget Hewitt 021 1591265 bridget.hewitt@aremedia.co.nz  SALES MANAGER Chloe Jordan chloe.jordan@aremedia.co.nz  SENIOR CAMPAIGN MANAGER Angela Wei angela.wei@aremedia.co.nz  DIRECTORY SALES MANAGER Kim Chapman 021 673133 classifieds@xtra.co.nz the world, including in Australia, USA, the Philippines and the European Union.  ARE MEDIA GROUP MANAGEMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jane Huxley  GENERAL MANAGER Stuart Dick  EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Sarah…