Barnett returned as host of the More FM breakfast show on Monday morning. He spent 20 years on More FM before he left the station in 2018.
His return today comes after Barnett's wife Jodi died peacefully at the couple’s Christchurch home in October 2023 after a five-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer.
Jodi had undergone four brain surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment since April 2018, when she suffered a seizure out of the blue at home.
Barnett told Your Weekend his decision to return to radio was part of his healing process.
"This is a very intentional decision on my part, I want to find joy again in my life … my job is to try and make people’s lives better,” he told Your Weekend.
"The thing in the sadness is when you find the moment of joy, you really celebrate that."
Barnett told Your Weekend his return to More FM felt like coming "home".
He has rejoined colleagues, including Lana Cochrane-Searle, Adam Percival, and Paul Ego.
"There’s this lovely sense of a city coming to life with breakfast radio. The city is waking up and you are a part of it,” he said.
"Truly, it sounds like a cliche but for me it will be like walking in the front door of the family home after doing my OE for a few years ... kicking off the shoes, putting on my lounge pants, jumping up on the couch and putting on Netflix! It just feels right! I love this radio station and what it represents."
- APL
