Pictures: Amalia Osborne.
Three months after being brought together for Flava’s breakfast show, K’Lee McNabb, Azura Lane and Charlie Pomee have quickly become besties. But behind the jibes and jokes they shower on each other on and off air, there’s a deeper bond uniting the broadcasters.
Like many listeners, the trio often struggle to navigate body image, insecurities, and finding time for health and wellness. They’ve now turned to each other for support and as Woman’s Day visited their Auckland studio, they didn’t hold back about the battles they face learning to love and prioritise their bodies.
“I’m nine months post- C-section and my body isn’t the same,” shares K’Lee, who welcomed her sixth child, Micah, last July. “I don’t like looking at my scar and I’ve still got this pouch!”
“I don’t think body image ever goes away,” adds Azura, before turning to Charlie. “This guy’s got abs and probably still has insecurities, eh?”
Charlie pauses, prompting the trio to erupt in laughter. “He’s like, ‘Nah, I’m jacked, bro!’” chuckles Azura.
The exchange reflects the humour that has bonded the three as they breathe new life into Flava’s breakfast show following Stacey Morrison’s departure. K’Lee, 41, had been enjoying a break from radio while working as a broadcasting lecturer for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. But as she was departing for her Hawke’s Bay wedding to Lama Saga in November, she was offered the breakfast gig.
It only took one show to feel like a dream team, but the trio soon discovered how much they could help each other off air. Azura, 27, says Charlie, 38, has been her greatest fitness motivator.
“This guy became a personal trainer!” she tells. “And K’Lee’s had six kids and is getting back into fitness. Being around people who prioritise health has shown me exercising is about showing up for yourself.”
When Woman’s Day last caught up with Azura, she was dealing with her nan’s ongoing myeloma (bone cancer) and her dad’s lymphoma (he’s now cancer-free), which highlighted the importance of health. She now has health insurance, is vigilant about check-ups and exercises regularly.
“Sometimes there’s clothes I want to wear that I can’t, so I’d love to lose weight, but that’s not the goal any more” Azura explains. “I’m exercising to feel good and hopefully the rest will follow.”
For former popstar K’Lee, her self-image was partly shaped by entering the music industry in her teens.
She recalls, “I had people poking and prodding me, and going, ‘You should be wearing this.’ I was used to wearing netball skirts and rugby gear, and playing sports, so I literally had to take lessons on walking in heels and putting makeup on. I was so green and did what I was told.”
She eventually learned to take control, however, motherhood kickstarted new body battles. She gave birth naturally to Iliana, 17, Kahuriki, 16, and Kaylam, 10, which enabled her to return to running, and feeling fit and strong. But after requiring a C-section for six-year-old daughter Naila, she accepted her body wouldn’t “spring back”.
“When I went into Dancing With The Stars, I was seven months post- C-section. That was a wake-up call,” says K’Lee, who next welcomed daughter Honour, now four, before Micah. “I needed a waist trainer because I had no core muscle. I had to get reacquainted with my body.
“There are moments I can’t fit old jeans, look at this massive scar and cry, or feel low because it’s natural to mourn the loss of my previous body or things I could once do. You go through this grieving process of who you were, then eventually go, ‘Fine, this is who I am now’. Then you go through it again with another kid!
“But at the same time, you’re so grateful. You’re ecstatic to have this beautiful baby and think, ‘I created this baby. My body’s awesome.’”
While getting married five months post-birth could have been daunting, K’Lee found dress-shopping empowering.
“The ladies made me feel like a goddess,” says the Broken Wings singer. “It made me realise I don’t have to conform to the image of a skinny bride. Sure, I would’ve loved to have looked fitter and maybe married younger, but this is where my life is and I felt beautiful.”
Meanwhile, for dad-of-three Charlie, his dedication to fitness stems from his youth.
“I wanted to be a rugby league player, so training and sports have always been there,” he says. “When that didn’t happen, training became a way of bonding with my mates and brothers.
“I love that when things get tough mentally, it’s therapeutic. I’ve been through a bit and some people turn to alcohol, but my escape was the gym.
“Surrounding myself with like-minded people was great because there were people going through similar things and we could talk about our problems while working out. It’s always been my escape, but now it’s less about escaping my problems – it’s now a lifestyle!”
Azura agrees working out has been a mental gamechanger. While she takes medication for anxiety, exercise has become just as vital. For example, it was crucial when she recently felt stressed about a family situation. “I did two workouts in a day and felt completely better,” she says.
Azura and Charlie are now doing an eight-week fitness challenge at their gym Body Fit Training. Charlie also did fitness competition Hyrox with Lama and he’s also training with 11-year-old son Pili.
“He’s the sporty one,” says Charlie, who’s also dad to Lopeti, 12, and Noa, five. “My dad never ran around with us at the park, but he probably had no energy. I told myself if I ever became a dad, I’d 100% be running around with my kids.”
Finding the balance between being an active father and focusing on his own fitness goals hasn’t come easy. There was a time where Charlie’s mentality was “train first and sort the kids after”, whereas his sons now come first.
He also gets gym sessions in during school hours, with wife Seini joining in. Of course, there are times Charlie enters personal-trainer mode, which doesn’t always sit well.
“She tells you to shut up, eh!” laughs K’Lee.
“No,” replies Charlie. “She’ll say, ‘Coach, I need to swap partners because I can’t work out with my husband’. So sometimes we train at different gyms!”
K’Lee, meanwhile, knows better than to exercise with Lama, who runs Empire Training Box. Like Charlie, parenting keeps her active, whether it’s doing lunges with Micah or jogging around the park with the pram.
The trio also ran Round the Bays together. “We finished and went, ‘Far out, we’re superhuman!’” says Azura.
Adds K’Lee, “Then we took off our shoes and went, ‘Look at our blisters!’”
Round the Bays combined the clan’s passion for fitness with their love for meeting Flava listeners, who have embraced the new breakfast line-up.
“Radio’s like an arranged marriage, and thankfully they’ve arranged it well because we’re like brothers and sisters,” says Azura. “We all bring something different because the lives we’re living couldn’t be further from each other. K’Lee’s got six kids, Charlie has three boys, and I’m 27, single, no kids and flatting.”
Charlie quips, “Put ‘single’ in the article. In bold!”
The trio has also hosted Rhythm & Bingo nights and are preparing to take contest winners to the NRL’s Magic Round in Brisbane. Then there was the night Charlie – a musician who released new song Reason Why with his band Three Houses Down – and K’Lee spontaneously performed a duet at Auckland bar The Lula Inn.
While they don’t rule out a future collab, for now, they’re busy with family, fitness and Flava. K’Lee’s also still lecturing and credits Lama for keeping the household running as she juggles two jobs.
And while she may be candid about her insecurities, K’Lee avoids negative self-talk around her children.
“They have social media telling them what beauty and strength are, but I tell them, ‘Beauty comes from the inside first’. I’m also conscious of not picking my body apart in front of them because I used to see my mother get down on herself and say, ‘I’ve got a fat bum!’ I’d look at Mum, going, ‘But you’re this beautiful, amazing Wonder Woman and I love every part of you’. That’s how I want my daughters to look at me, each other and other women.”
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