Four daughters, three grandchildren, and 35 years of marriage are the achievements radio presenter Simon Barnett is most proud of.

Since losing his wife, Jodi Barnett to brain cancer at age 61 in October, the family man is now navigating his new normal.

The Ashburton-raised presenter is a household name. His voice, heard by the nation for decades, currently occupies the frequency of Newstalk ZB.

His familiar face is much-loved by generations of television audiences from his What Now days to Dancing with the Stars. But behind his signature charm, sincerity and “child-like” humour was always Barnett’s biggest fan, Jodi.

“She was my absolute confidant and confidence and the most stoic supporter of me.

“Jodi just made me want to be a better man with everything. She made me want to be more patient, more kind, more compassionate with others, more of a listener than a talker.”

When the Barnetts received Jodi’s diagnosis, Simon found it “very hard to be professional at times”.

Jodi would tune into his broadcasts from an iPad he’d set her up with on the couch, while he worked out of a studio in the garage of their family home.

In a seven-minute window where the news, weather and sport released him from his talk-back duties, Barnett would tend to Jodi, who could no longer speak. Their eyes formed a silent language between them.

“She would just look at me and I could tell exactly where she was at now, whether she was uncomfortable, in pain, scared. I could just tell.”

Despite Barnett’s preparedness to do anything for his wife, “it wasn’t to be”.

“I would have given absolutely everything up; my job, any money I have, my house, everything, the batch. I'd give everything away and live in a tent with her if I could have had her for another 30 years.”

Now, seven months since Jodi passed away, Barnett is taking steps to “find some joy in [his] life”.

This includes his move back to the More FM Breakfast Club in 2025 where Barnett has 20 years of experience.

He hopes that shifting to a more light-hearted environment will make his career a more sustainable one.

“[Talkback] can be really combative news, and politics is very divisive and it’s robust, and I just don’t have the mental capacity to do that long term.”

Away from work, Barnett ventures south to his family’s Queenstown batch. The Ashburton leg serves as memory lane.

“It evokes all these lovely, warm emotions of just biking over the railway bridge to get to Ashburton Intermediate.

“The people are always exceptionally generous spirited to me, and I've just got lovely, lovely memories of the place.”

Barnett believes he is hardwired to thinking about legacy and says that despite being “trite”, “genuine love and kindness” makes the “most phenomenal legacy”.

By Georgia Woods