View source for Simon Barnett

{{Short description|New Zealand broadcaster}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox presenter
|name = Simon Barnett
|image = <!-- only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people – see [[WP:NONFREE]] -->
|caption = 
|birth_name = Simon Andrew Barnett
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|3|23}}
|birth_place = [[Ashburton, New Zealand|Ashburton]], New Zealand
|death_date = 
|death_place = 
|death_cause = 
|station = [[More FM]]
|timeslot = Breakfast Show
|show2 = 
|station2 = 
|timeslot2 = 
|style = Program Host
|country = New Zealand
|prevshow = 
|website = [http://www.morefm.co.nz/?tabid=78 More FM Canterbury]
}}
'''Simon Barnett''' (born 23 March 1967) is a radio and television host and presenter in New Zealand.

==Career==
Barnett hosted ''Clash of the Codes'', a television programme in the 1990s where sportspeople participated in various physical challenges. He presented a similar show in 2018 called ''XVenture Family Challenge''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Henderson |first=Calum |date=2018-02-17 |title=90s-style Kiwi family game show to hit screens |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/90s-style-kiwi-family-game-show-to-hit-screens/QBEGNPJXDEQ4IPYC7G4UC5PTMY/ |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=2024-06-11 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611093649/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/90s-style-kiwi-family-game-show-to-hit-screens/QBEGNPJXDEQ4IPYC7G4UC5PTMY/ |archivedate=2024-06-11 }}</ref>

Barnett co-hosted the morning show on Christchurch radio station [[More FM|92 More FM]] with [[Gary McCormick]] until 2018, and previously with [[Phil Gifford]]. He has hosted a breakfast slot on [[ZM (New Zealand)|91ZM]], worked for [[Radio Nelson]] and has acted, appearing in a New Zealand feature film ''[[Ruby and Rata]]'' (1990). Barnett also won the 2015 series of [[Dancing with the Stars (New Zealand TV series)|the New Zealand version of ''Dancing with The Stars'']].

Barnett was a host on the children's TV programme ''[[What Now (TV programme)|What Now?]]'' from 1988 to 1992. He hosted the New Zealand version of the UK musical talent show, ''[[Stars in Their Eyes (New Zealand)|Stars in Their Eyes]]'' from 2008 to 2009. He was the host of the 2013 series of ''[[Mitre 10 Dream Home]]'' in the [[2011 Christchurch earthquake|post-earthquake]] town of [[Kaiapoi]], [[Canterbury Region|Canterbury]].<ref>[http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1210/S00410/simon-barnett-to-host-mitre-10-dream-home.htm Simon Barnett to host Mitre 10 Dream Home], TVNZ, retrieved from Scoop, 23 October 2012</ref>

In 2019, Simon Barnett joined Newstalk ZB in Christchurch but shifted back to More FM in January 2025, saying "for me it [is] like walking in the front door of the family home after doing my OE for a few years".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barton |first=Monika |title=What Simon Barnett wants listeners to know ahead of his return to More FM |url=https://www.rova.nz/articles/simon-barnett-returns-to-more-fm |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=rova.nz |language=en-NZ}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Barnett was born in [[Ashburton, New Zealand|Ashburton]], near Christchurch in [[Canterbury Region|Canterbury]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=Why New Zealand continues to love Simon Barnett |last=Croot |first=James |date=2018-05-25 |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/103546952/why-new-zealand-continues-to-love-simon-barnett |publisher=Stuff|location=New Zealand}}</ref> attending [[Ashburton College]] from 1980 and graduating in 1984, when he was Head Boy.

He was married since 1991, to wife Jodi, with whom he had four daughters. In October 2023, Jodi died of brain cancer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-christchurch/tearful-simon-barnetts-radio-return-i-hope-and-pray-my-wife-listening | title=Tearful Simon Barnett's radio return: 'I hope and pray my wife is listening somehow' | date=23 January 2024 }}</ref> She had suffered from seizures, which prompted Barnett to leave his role as Christchurch More FM's breakfast show host.<ref>[https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/109533442/simon-barnett-signsoff-twodecade-more-fm-career-in-sad-silence?cid=outbrain:cpc:pc:entertainment Simon Barnett signs-off two-decade More FM career in sad silence]</ref>

He opposed the [[Child Discipline Bill]] proposed in the [[New Zealand Parliament]], supporting the "Vote NO" campaign in the [[2009 New Zealand corporal punishment referendum|2009 corporal punishment referendum]].

==See also==
*[[List of New Zealand television personalities]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0055979|name=Simon Barnett}}
* Children's TV show "[[What Now (TV programme)|What Now]]" with [[Catherine McPherson]]
* "[[Clash of the Codes]]" (1994) TV Series.
* "[[Wheel of Fortune (New Zealand)|Wheel of Fortune]]" (New Zealand version – took over from [[Phillip Leishman]])
* Official [http://tvnz.co.nz/stars-in-their-eyes Stars in Their Eyes] page at [[Television New Zealand|TVNZ]]
* Official [http://www.morefm.co.nz/Home/Regions/Christchurch/Shows/Breakfast/tabid/74/Default.aspx# Si and Gary Breakfast page] at [[MORE FM]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Simon}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:People from Ashburton, New Zealand]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New Zealand radio presenters]]
[[Category:New Zealand television presenters]]
[[Category:People educated at Ashburton College]]
[[Category:More FM]]
[[Category:Dancing with the Stars (New Zealand TV series) winners]]


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