Lorna Riley
Broadcaster | MC | Speaker
About Lorna
Lorna Riley is one of the most familiar voices in New Zealand radio. She hosts Days on Coast, on air nationwide every weekday through to 3pm, and has built a broadcasting career spanning three decades across radio, television and print.
Warm, upbeat and quick on her feet, Lorna is a natural fit for events that need energy and genuine connection with a room. She speaks openly about her breast cancer experience, the celebrities she's interviewed over the years, and travels that have taken her from leper colonies in Nepal to the vineyards of Provence, always with optimism and a ready smile.
Broadcasting
Lorna has been a familiar face on television, a familiar voice on radio and a familiar name in print. She is a three-time finalist at the New Zealand Radio Awards, and has also worked in voiceover and acting, including on Shortland Street.
Alongside her Coast show, she is:
Host of Trip Notes, the NZ Herald's weekly travel podcast, where she interviews travel and tourism experts from New Zealand and around the world
A travel writer for NZ Herald Travel and travel commentator on Herald NOW
A regular panellist on Newstalk ZB's Sunday Panel
She took up travel in earnest after turning 50, reinventing herself along the way as "Lorna the Explorer."
Advocacy
Lorna is an ambassador for Breast Cancer Foundation NZ. She has faced breast cancer twice and has spoken publicly throughout, using her platform to urge New Zealand women to know their bodies and book their mammograms. She has hosted a dedicated Breast Cancer Awareness Month podcast series for NZME, and regularly fronts Pink Ribbon Breakfast campaigns.
She describes optimism as her superpower, and it is the thread running through everything she brings to a stage.
Speaking Topics
Her breast cancer journey, and finding optimism through it
Resilience and rebuilding after life-changing news
Travel stories from around the world
Three decades in New Zealand media, and the people she's interviewedsmile.