Paul Henry Hopes (born 4 August 1960), known professionally as Paul Henry, is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster who was the host of the late night show The Paul Henry Show on New Zealand's TV3 which ended December 2014 so that Henry could host a new cross-platform three-hour breakfast show Monday to Friday on TV3, RadioLive and online. Paul Henry launched on 7 April 2015 and initially had an audience larger than the two shows it replaced on radio and TV. For nine months in 2012, he also co-hosted an Australian television show, Breakfast, which ceased production on 30 November 2012, due to low ratings. & sits on the board of Television New Zealand.

Early life

Paul Henry Hopes was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 4 August 1960. He attended Cockle Bay Primary in Howick, Auckland. In 1992, Henry sold the station to the owner of Port FM.

In the early 2000s, Henry was a panellist on the show How's Life?. Henry went on to be a foreign correspondent and weekend talkback host for Radio Pacific, later presenting breakfast programme The Morning Grill with Arch Tambakis, then Pam Corkery. He also presented the station's drive programme, and was the inaugural drive presenter at Radio Live when the station launched in 2005.

In 2004, Henry was appointed co-host of TV One's Breakfast. In 2009, ratings for the show had improved to around 150,000 viewers from a base of around 100,000. Between 2007 and 2008, Henry also presented episodes of This Is Your Life, and was a backup host for current affairs show Close Up. At the 2010 Qantas Film and Television Awards, Henry was awarded the People's Choice Award for Best Presenter.

Following the effects of the coronavirus pandemic in New Zealand, MediaWorks announced a new show hosted by Henry titled Rebuilding Paradise with Paul Henry. The show ran over four weeks in April 2020 and featured live interviews in regards to the country's response to COVID-19. This is the first project Henry has taken part in since the announcement of this period of "semi-retirement".

In June 2024, Henry spoke as a guest speaker at the ACT Party's 2024 "Change Makers" event. In his speech, he accused the previous Labour Government of saddling the country with "astonishing debt." Henry said that New Zealand was "broken and in desperate need of repair." He also said that he "believed that ACT could be the last cab left on the rank heading in the right difection."

Personal life

Henry is currently married to entrepreneur Diane Foreman. He was previously married to Rachael Hopes (née Orsman), with whom he had three children. Henry was also previously married to radio producer Linzi Dryburgh.

In 2014 it was reported in an interview that Henry was a nudist,

New Zealand Indian Central Association president Paul Singh Bains said the fact that TVNZ was still "promoting" the clip on its website showed it had "totally lost the plot" and was insensitive to the offence Henry had caused.

  • Paul Henry RadioLIVE host page
  • Timeline of Paul Henry controversies
  • Paul Henry AMA