{{Short description|New Zealand newsreader and reporter}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=May 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Melissa Stokes | birth_name = Melissa Tania Stokes | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|41|2020|February}}<ref name=":2" /> | birth_place = | television = {{Hlist|''[[1News]]''|''[[Breakfast (New Zealand TV programme)|Breakfast]]''}} }} '''Melissa Tania Stokes''' (born {{Birth based on age as of date|41|2020|February|noage=y}}<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=20 February 2020 |title=TVNZ presenter Melissa Stokes on balancing working mum life |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/tv-guide/119578799/tvnz-presenter-melissa-stokes-on-her-career-and-custommade-wardrobe |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]]}}</ref>) is a New Zealand television presenter and reporter. Since 28 November, she has been presenter of [[1 News at Six|1News at Six]] during the weekdays.
== Early life and education == Stokes grew up in [[Tauranga]].<ref name=":2" /> Her first job was working at the deli section of a [[New World (supermarket)|New World]] supermarket.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 October 2024 |title=TVNZ newsreader Melissa Stokes opens up about parenting her ADHD son - No Such Thing as Normal |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/tvnz-newsreader-melissa-stokes-opens-up-about-parenting-her-adhd-son-no-such-thing-as-normal/WMLH6XCOJRDOLNN334Z3JJMZZM/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref> Her parents ran fabric shops and she worked for them as a teenager. At age 16, she and her family moved to [[Christchurch]], where she finished high school.<ref name=":2" /> She did one year of law at the [[University of Canterbury]] with the intention of becoming a lawyer, but later described it as "really dull" and realised that she probably would not perform in front of a [[judge]] and [[jury]], like she wanted to. She later attended broadcasting school,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/11/29/live-tv-can-be-terrifying-melissa-stokes-on-25-years-in-front-of-the-camera/|title='Live TV can be terrifying': Melissa Stokes on 25 years in front of the camera|date=29 November 2025|access-date=29 November 2025|work=[[1News]]}}</ref> also in Christchurch. Her uncle, Spencer Jolly, was a [[TVNZ]] journalist during [[Robert Muldoon]]'s term as prime minister, and later worked for [[Channel 9 (Australia)|Channel 9]] in [[Brisbane]], Australia. Because of this, as a teenager Stokes visited the channel's studio. She has said her uncle partly inspired her to work in television.<ref name=":2" /> At broadcasting school she got an internship at the [[Prime TV (New Zealand)|Prime TV]] newsroom in Christchurch, which she found slightly disappointing because her friends were getting internships at TVNZ and [[Newstalk ZB]], but she later described it as a "great opportunity" because of the mentorship of her boss Steve Bloxham.<ref name=":3" />
== Career == Stokes began working for [[TVNZ]] in 2001, as a reporter for the morning news programme ''[[Breakfast (New Zealand TV programme)|Breakfast]]''.<ref name=":2" /> Between 2006 and 2008, she was the TVNZ Europe correspondent.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=11 December 2023 |title='Her Majesty': The story Melissa Stokes will never forget |url=https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/12/11/her-majesty-the-story-melissa-stokes-will-never-forget/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=[[1News]]}}</ref> In December 2018 it was announced that Stokes would replace [[Peter Williams (broadcaster)|Peter Williams]] to become the ''[[1News|1News at 6pm]]'' newsreader during the weekends.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=6 December 2018 |title=Melissa Stokes to replace Peter Williams as the host of 1 News on the weekends |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/109139282/melissa-stokes-to-replace-peter-williams-as-the-host-of-1-news-on-the-weekends |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]]}}</ref> On the same day of the [[Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|death of Queen Elizabeth II]], Stokes travelled to the United Kingdom as a presenter for TVNZ's rolling coverage of the event.<ref name=":1" /> In early November 2025 TVNZ announced that Stokes would replace [[Simon Dallow]] as the main weekday presenter for 1News. She assumed the role on 28 November, after Dallow stood down.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 November 2025 |title=TVNZ reveals Melissa Stokes as new 6pm news presenter |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/tvnz-reveals-melissa-stokes-as-new-6pm-news-presenter/2VPXW7WX5JADFLRZHIRYRXPZQ4/ |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref>
== Personal life == Stokes is married to Dave Pierce, a cameraman,<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 January 2024 |title=Melissa Stokes on her mum's lasting legacy: "She didn't want to be in pain anymore" |url=https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/celebrity/celeb-news/melissa-stokes-mum-cancer-48175/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Woman's Day}}</ref> and they have two children.<ref name=":2" /> Her mother chose to die by [[euthanasia]] after having cancer for about seven years.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 January 2024 |title=Melissa Stokes: The day my much-loved mother chose to die |url=https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/01/15/melissa-stokes-the-day-my-much-loved-mother-chose-to-die/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=[[1News]]}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Melissa}} [[Category:1970s births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Tauranga]] [[Category:New Zealand television presenters]] [[Category:New Zealand journalists]]