Paul Henry: TVNZ turned on me

Controversial former Breakfast host Paul Henry believes he was hung out to dry in the wake of the race storm which forced his resignation from TVNZ.

In an exclusive interview with New Idea magazine, Henry said that his former employers fuelled his outspoken nature, then turned on him when his provocative comments backfired.

"They did capitalise on me," he told New Idea.

"I was the performing snake with the sting in its tail. The better the performance, the greater the encouragement. And then when I turned around and bit someone's head off, they were happy to see the demise of the snake."

He doesn't feel the way TVNZ behaved was reasonable.

"I was surprised with the speed with which the mood changed. My overwhelming feeling was I'd turned from an asset into a liability."

However, he refused to point the finger at TVNZ CEO Rick Ellis, who he considers a friend, saying he only has respect for his former boss.

Henry told New Idea he still feels nothing to be sorry about, despite the public backlash when he ridiculed the name of Indian minister Sheila Dikshit, and queried whether Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand was "even a New Zealander".

He was "appalled" that New Zealand officially apologised to India and feels it was "unreasonable" for India to seek an apology.

"We are apologising for one person in the country exercising their right to freedom of speech. I think that's an outrage."

Giving an example of the support he's received since the incident, Henry describes being mobbed in petrol stations, supermarkets and shopping centres by fans - including Indians.

"I was at the service station and there were Indians everywhere," he said.

"There'd been sheepish looks from behind the counter and the Indian bloke who's serving me says 'I miss you so much on television in the morning, are you coming back?' Then that was the license for them all to join in."

As for who will replace him on Breakfast, Henry did not want to speculate, saying it's time for him to move on.

Henry today told Stuff he didn't want to do any further interviews about leaving television.

"It was important to me to do one interview and that's the only interview I want to do," he said.

He would not comment on whether he was paid for the article, but insiders speculated it may have been worth more than $20,000.

Former New Idea editor turned PR consultant Fleur Revell-Devlin said although men did not often sell well on the cover of magazines, Henry was an exception and the editor would have been prepared to pay for that.

"The editor seems to have a good relationship with Paul. You could expect she'd know he sells well for her."

Revell-Devlin declined to put a figure on the article, but said weddings and first baby pictures sold from $20,000 upwards.

One of the magazine's highest-selling stories, featuring Lana Coc-Kroft's near-death experience in the Pacific, had reportedly sold for as much as $40,000 in 2004.

The magazine will reveal Henry's future plans in next week's edition.

- © Fairfax NZ News