Manaia Stewart has filled the empty seat left behind by a departing Matt Heath on the station’s breakfast show.
Mr Stewart, known for his previous work on the station’s drive show and current antics with the Alternative Commentary Collective (ACC), joined Jeremy Wells to co-present the show at the start of the year.
He said it was great to get the new gig.
"When Matt moved on to Newstalk ZB the idea was they were going to try a bunch of people out, well that was the theory, but they just ended up using me and my boss at the time, G. Lane from the ACC who worked down the hallway.
"That’s about how far they got, down the hallway, which worked for me."
"I’d known Jerry for a while but last year as part of a promo we went to Oktoberfest in Munich together and you really get to learn the essence of a man at Oktoberfest."
It had been a very enjoyable first couple of months in the role, he said.
"We’ve had a lot of fun making it so far, and I think, to be honest, that’s about all you can control, because whether people like it or not is a completely different story.
"If you’re having fun I think that hopefully translates on air and that’s all I’m aiming for."
He said a career in radio had always been the main goal.
"When I was a kid I used to listen to Port FM and it was Mel and OJ in the morning back then.
"I thought I just sort of wanted to do that but I didn’t know how because I grew up in Waimate.
"I went to university and studied media then moved back to South Canterbury and thought what do I do with this, so I just ended up at the Pareora freezing works like everyone else does."
"I’ve been there off and on since," Mr Stewart said.
The new breakfast host said he still tries to get to Waimate as often as he can.
"I was at a wedding [earlier this month] at Gunn’s Bush Methodist Camp just out of Waimate.
"The problem is, as South Cantabrians, know, is it’s very hard to get from Auckland to Timaru."
He said Aucklanders did not even know where South Canterbury was, they thought it was Hornby.
"I always say it’s easier to get to Tonga than it is to get to Timaru.
"To get to Waimate you have to fly to Christchurch then drive three hours or fly to Wellington then to Timaru which costs an arm and a leg and then that flight is the most cancelled in the country so there’s a chance you get stuck somewhere else.
"I don’t get down as often as I should because you can’t just do a weekend trip, which sucks."
He said he tried to champion being from South Canterbury.
"I talk about it a lot but every now and then I have an attack of conscience and be like, shut up, you don’t live in South Canterbury any more.
"You moved away, but like I said, Aucklanders have no idea where Timaru is and so part of me talking about it is I’d like more people to talk about it.
"When I was a kid I wished people would talk about the place, the part of the country that I’m from, it’s what makes me different."
He said though he was not a very "farmy" bloke when he was sitting in the studio with Jeremy Wells suddenly he became the man from Footrot Flats.
"I think that’s how he sees me but they then start talking about South Canterbury and Waimate, Timaru, Geraldine, all these places that never get any airtime, which I quite like."
His advice for any young South Canterbury children wanting to get into radio was to just go for it.
"I think about what advice I’d give often.
"I don’t even know how I did it."
Christchurch or Auckland were where you would need to be to break into radio, he said.
"People don’t care if you’re tired, hungover or a bit s... at the job but as long as you’re there they don’t have to worry about you calling them if things are wrong.
"Just show up, that’s been my story, basically I was just always there.
"When I went on Drive Jason Hoyte left and I basically sat closest to the door so they brought me in and when Matt left it was basically the same situation."
He said it was about getting your foot in the door.
"You don’t even have to be good, to be honest. I’m walking proof of that."
