Vaughan Smith (born 20 February 1982-) is a New Zealand radio presenter and media personality, best known for co-hosting the popular morning radio show ''Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley'' on ZM. He has also known for his role as a permanent panellist on the New Zealand edition of '' Have You Been Paying Attention?''.

Early life and education

Vaughan Alan Smith was born in

Morrinsville Morrinsville () is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. Morrinsville is a service town for the local dairy industry; the area surrounding the town has the highest concentration of dairy cattle in New Zealand. ...

, New Zealand, to Christine and Ian Smith, on 20 February 1982. He attended Morrinsville Intermediate where he served on the student council alongside future prime minister

Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...

. Smith studied at

Morrinsville College Morrinsville College is a state secondary school located in Morrinsville, Waikato, New Zealand. The school has a roll of approximately students from years 9 to 13 (approx ages 13 to 18) as of The school dates back to 1923 when Morrinsville Sc ...

. While at school, Smith worked as a forecourt attendant at

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

and as a relief-milker at local dairy farms. After completing high school, Smith studied broadcasting at the short-lived Auckland campus of the New Zealand Broadcasting School.

Career

2000's

Smith's radio career began in May 2002 at The Generator radio station in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. He initially worked as an unpaid intern before progressing to a position as an announcer and music director. In 2004, while still working at The Generator, Smith entered a "Quit your day job" contest run by

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is a British-Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist o ...

radio station. The prize was a position as a night announcer at station. However, due to staffing issues, the position was changed mid-contest to announcer on the afternoon drive show. After completing a number of radio stunts, Smith was eventually selected as the winner. The next week after winning, he joined existing presenters Carl "Fletch" Fletcher and Chang Hung to form the ''Fletch, Vaughan & Chang Drive Show''. In November 2009, completed the Auckland Marathon along with fellow The Edge presenters

Jay-Jay Feeney Jay-Jay Feeney (previously Jay-Jay Harvey; born 28 March 1974) is a New Zealand media personality, podcast studio director and former radio host. She previously was a co-host for More FM's drive show, ''Jay-Jay & Flynny Driving You Home'', with ...

, Dom Harvey, and Fletcher.

2010's

In 2013, Smith launched a successful campaign to get Toto's 1982 hit "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

" to No. 1 on the New Zealand iTunes charts. In April 2014, Smith, Fletcher and Megan Papas moved to the ZM network. Their new show, ''The Fletch, Vaughan & Megan Show'' airs in the prime breakfast radio time slot. In 2016, Smith starred in comedic miniseries The Critic and the Pig with comedian

Josh Thomson Joshua Joseph Thomson (born September 21, 1978) is an American mixed martial arts podcaster, commentator, analyst and former mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2001, Thomson has competed in Bellator MMA, PRIDE, Strikeforce, U ...

on ''WatchMe''. Smith and Thompson visit Auckland restaurants and rate them out of a possible five trotters. In 2018, Smith presented online series MediaScrap on ''WatchMe''. In the show, Smith comedically reviews clips collected from New Zealand television and online. Since 2019, Smith has been a permanent panellist on the

TVNZ 2 TVNZ 2 () is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up consists of dramas, comedie ...

panel show Have You Been Paying Attention?.

2020's

In 2021, Megan Papas left the show and was replaced by

Hayley Sproull Hayley Jayne Sproull (born 1989) is a New Zealand comedian, actor, scriptwriter, television show host and radio show co-host. She is the host of '' The Great Kiwi Bake Off'' and the New Zealand edition of '' Have You Been Paying Attention?'' Bi ...

, leading to the rebranding of the program as ''Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley''. The new trio continued the show's success, maintaining high listener ratings and a strong social media presence. In 2024, Smith celebrated 20 years on air with Fletcher

Personal life

Smith lives on a

hobby farm A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block, acreage living, or rural residential) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to n ...

in West Auckland with his wife, Sharde Smith, and two daughters.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Vaughan New Zealand radio presenters 1982 births Living people