Alison Mau has discussed for the first time how she was hounded by the media over her split with Simon Dallow and same-sex relationship.
"I wasn't given that opportunity to process it myself because I was outed by Woman's Day and the Herald on Sunday," Mau told Anika Moa during an interview that aired on Maori Television.
"It was awful. It's a wee while ago now, and it's faded a bit, but ..."
Mau and Dallow were one of television's most high-profile couples thanks to their roles presenting One News on weekends between 1999-2003.
After having two children together, they divorced in 2009 and in 2010 Mau admitted she was bisexual when she introduced her girlfriend Karleen Edmonds to the audience at a fundraising event.
"I have fallen in love with a wonderful woman and it was just so unexpected," she was reported to have said at the time.
Media coverage of Mau's same-sex relationship was condemned by Gaynz.com.
"It is an intensely private and personal thing," content editor Jay Bennie told Newshub. "It's been taken out of her hands - it's disgraceful.
"Coming out is an intense process, it is often a difficult and soul-searching process - it's not to be used for public titillation. A person needs to have control over it."
Watch excerpts from the full interview below:
