Brendon Pongia

Brendon Pongia (born 27 June 1969) is a New Zealand television presenter and basketball player, formerly for the national team, the Tall Blacks. He co-hosted Good Morning alongside Sarah Bradley from 2006-2011. He has also featured in the documentary 'Missing Piece' and in the reality TV show 'Shock Treatment'. He has appeared on the Māori Television show Iwi All-Stars and Code.

Pongia grew up in Greymouth and is of Māori descent. He has a degree in marketing.

He married human resources manager Michelle Kirkland in Hawke's Bay on 20 March 2009.^[1] The couple are based in Wellington.

Sports career

Pongia played basketball with the Tall Blacks for nearly a decade, before going on to work as a sports presenter, reporter and commentator, and radio host.

Playing in the National Basketball League for sixteen years through the 1990s, Pongia earned greatest recognition in 2001 as a member of the Tall Black squad that defeated Australia to qualify for the 2002 world championships. Although he saw little actual court time, he was front and centre in the pre-match build-ups as leader of the haka. He captured an NBL title with the Waikato Titans in 2002,^[2] but lost his place in the national side. Pongia attended the world tournament in Indianapolis as a spectator and enjoyed a high profile in TV coverage, leading the supporters' haka. He was subsequently offered a presenter's role with TVNZ and, later, Sky TV in 2003.

Television career

Pongia has been a contestant in Dancing With The Stars in 2007, with dance partner Hayley Holt. The couple was eliminated in the penultimate episode.

References