Why Former 'Breakfast' Host Alison Pugh is 'Much Happier' Now

A former Breakfast presenter says she is enjoying her new life away from TVNZ's flagship morning news show, which underwent a major overhaul recently.

"I couldn't imagine doing that job right now," Pugh tells the latest edition of Woman's Day. "I mean, it was very cool for the stage of life I was at, but I'm much happier with the set-up now."

Pugh left screens to have her first child, daughter Theadora, a year ago, with Nadine Chalmers-Ross stepping in to her role.

While Pugh was on maternity leave, Breakfast was heavily restructured with her former co-presenters Rawdon Christie and Peter Williams leaving the show, along with Chalmers-Ross.

They were replaced by an all-new team fronted by Hilary Barry and Jack Tame.

Pugh's given the new-look show the thumbs up.

"I've watched the show, I think it's great, and it's really cool seeing Jack and Hilary on there. I feel almost blessed with how it all worked out," she tells Woman's Day.

Christchurch-based Pugh has since returned to reporting for TVNZ three days a week, but admits struggling with a return to nine-hour days in an office.

"Yeah, it was about 10 past nine and I had to yell out, 'Um, so how do I turn the computer screen on?' And I forgot my swipe card, you know, so all the usual first-day night mares," she says.

- NZ Herald