Melissa Tania Stokes (born ) is a New Zealand television newsreader and reporter. She is the newsreader of "1News" during the weekends.
Early life and education.
Stokes grew up in Tauranga. Her first job was working at the deli section of a New World supermarket. 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 and attended broadcasting school. Her uncle, Spencer Jolly, was a TVNZ journalist during Robert Muldoon's term as prime minister, and later worked for Channel 9 in Brisbane. Because of this, as a teenager Stokes visited the channel's studio. She has said her uncle partly inspired her to work in television.
Career.
Stokes began working for TVNZ in 2001, as a reporter for the morning news programme "Breakfast". Between 2006 and 2008, she was the TVNZ Europe correspondent. In December 2018 it was announced that Stokes would replace Peter Williams to become the "1News at 6pm" newsreader during the weekends. On the same day of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Stokes travelled to the United Kingdom as a presenter for TVNZ's rolling coverage of the event.
Personal life.
Stokes is married to Dave Pierce, a cameraman, and they have two children. Her mother chose to die by euthanasia after having cancer for about seven years.