HelenaMcAlpine
- Presenter
Brit-born Helena McAlpine moved to NZ in her 20s. Soon she was DJing on The Edge and being headhunted by C4, where she became one of the music channel’s main hosts. After discovering she had breast cancer, she got busy on a large bucket list, including cameoing on Shortland Street, campaigning for the Breast Cancer Foundation, and flying a plane once again. McAlpine died on 23 September 2015.
Screenography
Biography
Broadcaster Helena McAlpine's adventurous spirit was in evidence at an early age; as a teenager she became a champion rifle shooter, rebuilt tank engines and learnt to fly a plane.
Born in London in 1978 to an English mother and a father from the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena, McAlpine went on to a varied career in her native England. She moved to New Zealand in her early 20s, after meeting and marrying a Kiwi. Realising she was a performer at heart, she began making contacts and was soon working behind-the-scenes in radio, eventually scoring an on-air role at The Edge.
“I decided to make my experience with breast cancer a positive thing. So I shared my journey with as many people as possible ... women from all over the world contacted me and most of them got their breasts checked as a result. ”