Paul Henry

Paul Henry Hopes (born 4 August 1960), known professionally as Paul Henry, is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster. After starting his career at the BBC Henry spent time working for National Radio, and later 2ZD, before starting his own station, TodayFM. Henry then spent much of the early 2000s working for Television New Zealand and Radio Live. In 2012 Henry moved to Australia to host Network Ten's new morning show.

Upon his return, Henry spent much of the 2010s working for TV3, first hosting late night show The Paul Henry Show, before hosting simulcast breakfast show Paul Henry on TV3 and Radio Live. In 2016, Henry announced his semi-retirement. Since then he has hosted two seasons of The Traitors NZ. He won Bronze as Best Host for series 1 at the New York Festivals in April 2024. As of 2026, Henry is now host of The Chase New Zealand and has sat on the board of Television New Zealand.

Early life Paul Henry Hopes was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 4 August 1960. He attended Cockle Bay Primary in Howick, Auckland. In 1992, Henry sold the station to the owner of Port FM.

In the early 2000s, Henry was a panellist on the show How's Life?. Henry went on to be a foreign correspondent and weekend talkback host for Radio Pacific, later presenting breakfast programme The Morning Grill with Arch Tambakis, then Pam Corkery. He also presented the station's drive programme, and was the inaugural drive presenter at Radio Live when the station launched in 2005.

In 2004, Henry was appointed co-host of TV One's Breakfast. In 2009, ratings for the show had improved to around 150,000 viewers from a base of around 100,000. Between 2007 and 2008, Henry also presented episodes of This Is Your Life, and was a backup host for current affairs show Close Up. At the 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards, Henry was awarded the People's Choice Award for Best Presenter.

Following the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in New Zealand, MediaWorks announced a new show hosted by Henry titled Rebuilding Paradise with Paul Henry. The show ran over four weeks in April 2020 and featured live interviews in regards to the country's response to COVID-19. This is the first project Henry has taken part in since the announcement of this period of "semi-retirement".

In late 2020, Henry released his third bestseller, titled I'm in a United State.

Henry has released three vintages of Central Otago Pinot Noir, the most recent in 2020. All sold out within weeks.

In June 2024, Henry spoke as a guest speaker at the ACT Party's 2024 "Change Makers" event. In his speech, he accused the previous Labour Government of saddling the country with "astonishing debt." Henry said that New Zealand was "broken and in desperate need of repair." He also said that he "believed that ACT could be the last cab left on the rank heading in the right direction."

Henry hosted series 1 and 2 of The Traitors NZ. He won Bronze as Best Host for series 1 at the New York Festivals in April 2024. Series 2 aired in 2024.

In 2025, Henry was announced as host of The Chase New Zealand which aired in of 2026. In June 2025, Henry was appointed to the board of Television New Zealand and held that position until his resignation in July 2026 following his political candidacy announcement for the ACT Party.

Personal life Henry is currently married to entrepreneur Diane Foreman. He was previously married to Rachael Hopes (née Orsman ), with whom he had three children. Henry was also previously married to radio producer Linzi Dryburgh.

In 2014 it was reported in an interview that Henry was a nudist,

Views and controversies

Female facial hair In March 2009, Henry caused offence by making fun of the facial hair of female guest anti-nuclear campaigner and Greenpeace worker Stephanie Mills. TVNZ stated that it had received a "handful" of complaints. Henry stated to the Sunday Star Times: "I certainly have no intention of apologising to people who have written in and complained. The key thing to me is what a fortunate life they must have that they can afford time and energy to complain about such an insignificant thing."

New Zealand Indian Central Association president Paul Singh Bains said the fact that TVNZ was still "promoting" the clip on its website showed it had "totally lost the plot" and was insensitive to the offence Henry had caused.