Much-loved radio host K’Lee is the first to admit she’s easily bored. That’s why the busy Auckland mum-of-five juggles her broadcast career with te reo Māori studies. Luckily then, 2024 will be anything but dull for the former pop princess and Dancing With The Stars contestant, who is about to embrace three major life changes!
As well as setting a date for her festival-style wedding in Hawke’s Bay this November, K’Lee is stepping down from her 13-year career at Mai FM to embark on new work challenges, before she manages a surprise plot twist – the arrival of her and fiancé Lama Saga’s sixth child.
“There are big things happening for our family this year and some were definitely planned, while others are unexpected,” laughs K’Lee, whose children, Iliana, 16, Kahuriki, 15, Kaylam, nine, Naila, five, and Honour, three, are over the moon about the wedding.
“I entered the relationship with Lama 10 years ago with my eldest two children, so we were an instant blended family. The wedding is a celebration of us really solidifying that we’re one. It’s like the icing on the cake… literally!”
While K’Lee’s latest pregnancy news was exciting for the music-loving couple, who got engaged during a family trip to Taupō in 2020, it was also riddled with worry. The joy came off the back of a traumatic two years following the arrival of Honour, who was born almost 12 weeks premature.
When the radio star’s waters broke without her knowing and she went into labour dangerously early, K’Lee nearly lost her baby daughter, who spent the first three months of her life in Auckland City Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. A tiny but strong Honour also clung for life two more times when she suffered respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and later a common cold.
“It was really touch and go, and we had many scary moments,” shares the Broken Wings singer. “To not know why she came so early gives me a little anxiety with this pregnancy, but at the same time, God got us through that tumultuous time, so I just need to have faith I’ll make it to 40 weeks.
“Honour is doing great now! Seeing her fly through last year and really go from strength to strength is what gave Lama and I the confidence to go, ‘OK, we can start planning a wedding now!’”
While K’Lee hasn’t found a wedding dress yet, she and Lama, both 40, have managed to complete the “stressful” task of negotiating the guest list, cutting it down to 120 people, including their children, her whānau from Australia and his loved ones from Samoa.
“I thought it was going to be a lot easier, but Māori and Samoans have a lot of family,” laughs the bubbly radio personality, who is four months pregnant and plans to keep their baby’s gender a surprise.
The couple agreed on Hawke’s Bay as their wedding destination after K’Lee visited the cyclone-affected community with Mai FM to deliver food early last year. She adored the people and felt an instant connection to the region, which is close to her whakapapa and iwi Ngāti Kahungunu.
K’Lee tells, “I said to Lama, ‘Man, despite everything they’ve been through, they’re such beautiful people.’ Then he went down to play golf a couple of times and fell in love with the area too, so we decided to have the wedding there. Plus, it’s way cheaper than Auckland!”
The soon-to-be-bride picked a private rustic venue that’s surrounded by forest and she plans to go with a naturalistic theme, which will include elements of Lama’s Samoan culture and her Māori heritage.
“We’d like it to be quite minimalist because I don’t want loads of decorations that’ll just get thrown away and wasted,” says K’Lee. “But at the same time, we’re such vibrant people and want that colour in there, and we’ll have things like toetoe and harakeke.
“We love how the venue has exclusivity, so we can just enjoy ourselves and not have to turn music down or bother anyone! I definitely want a live band, and I’d love to get up and jam with them – and with my mum. She has a beautiful voice.”
When it comes to their first dance, the couple has already agreed on a song, inspired by an evening together watching Lama’s favourite Julia Roberts film Notting Hill.
“You’ve Got A Way by Shania Twain came on and I asked if it should be the song we do our first dance to,” shares K’Lee. “It embodies a lot about what Lama has done for me, our relationship and family.
“After coming from a really horrific relationship overseas, moving back to New Zealand and becoming a solo mum, I had to rebuild myself. Then I met Lama, who just has a beautiful way.”
Like all things in her life, Lama has supported the longtime radio DJ’s decision to resign from Mai FM this year. The big change means K’Lee will be more available for her kids and she recently accepted a part-time job lecturing at radio broadcasting school Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
“I’m stepping down and it’s not because I’m pregnant – I found out afterwards,” she says. “But it’s time for me to invest a little more into myself and to hand down my knowledge to the new rangatahi [youth] who come through.
“Mai FM is a youth station and not only am I out of the demographic, but some people were born when Broken Wings came out! I was 16 when that song was released.”
K’Lee is also launching her podcast, Knocked Up, through the Rova app this month, which will offer a raw, insightful and humorous account of pregnancy as she experiences it for the sixth time.
“I’ll be taking listeners through the things they know about pregnancy, the things they never knew they should know and everything in between. I’m using it as my sanity to get through the 40 weeks! It’s also for me to really be me and connect with wāhine on a different level, with the inclusion of tikanga Māori practices.”
Determined to commit to learning more reo Māori now she has more time to do face-to-face classes, K’Lee is excited for her colourful year ahead. She’s also relaxed about finally tying the knot with the love of her life.
“The wedding is a new season for our family after 10 years of growth, especially the last three because they were the most difficult,” says K’Lee. “We’re really excited to celebrate with our wider family and have that aroha going around.
“It’ll be good vibes with great music, great food and great people. But we still don’t know who’ll walk the baby down the aisle!”
Don’t miss K’Lee’s last week with Mai FM, from 10am Monday.
AuthorCloe Willetts
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