Mau (right) and her partner Karleen Edmonds at Friday's Pride Gala Ali Mau has been warmly welcomed by Radio Live listeners in her first talkback stint. The experienced broadcaster’s joined Willie Jackson as the new co-host of Radio Live’s afternoon show, replacing John Tamihere. It’s a stark change for the show, with Tamihere a notorious homophobe and Mau being openly-bisexual. “I’m a little bit nervous,” Mau admitted after she was welcomed by Jackson in her first show on Monday afternoon. “I’ve never done talkback.” Within the first half hour the pair chatted about the Pride Gala, which Mau hosted, and the Big Gay Out. Mau mentioned how she accidentally called the Big Gay Out the Big Day Out on the Paul Henry show in Friday night, saying it was a ‘slip of the tongue’. She brushed off Jackson’s comment about two people he thinks may “swing both ways” and then launched into talkback which was dominated by Jesse Ryder’s drinking. Callers to the show were positive and welcoming to Mau throughout her three hour talkback debut. The show has a history of being plagued with homophobic talkback, led by Tamihere. The Willie Jackson and Ali Mau show is on Radio Live weekdays from midday.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 11th February 2014 - 11:56am