Heather du Plessis-Allan: Biography, Age, Baby, Parents, Wedding

May 29, 2024 Off By Chloe Lee

Heather du Plessis-Allan is a South African-born Journalist, reporter, and presenter. She is best known as the drive host for Newstalk ZB and a columnist for the Herald on Sunday.

Du Plessis-Allan has been a broadcast journalist for over ten years. She told her listeners on air that she was expecting her first child, a boy. She and her husband welcomed their baby boy, Iggy, in 2022.

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Heather du Plessis-Allan
Heather studied politics at Auckland University.
Quick Facts
Name:	Heather du Plessis-Allan
Age:	39 years old
Place of birth:	South Africa
Nationality:	South African New Zealander
Education:	Politics
Alma mater:	Auckland University
Parents:	Elizabeth du Plessis
Spouse:	Barry Soper
Occupation:	Reporter, presenter

Early Life

Heather du Plessis-Allan was born in South Africa. She relocated, with her family, to New Zealand at twelve and grew up in Pukekohe. She has two younger brothers.

Her parents separated when she was five. Her stepfather was from New Zealand and a massive alcoholic who got in so much trouble with the coppers. Du Plessis Allan’s mother’s second marriage ended when she was about to complete high school.

Her mother, Elizabeth du Plessis, is Afrikaans and hails from a small farming town. Heather attended a school in South Africa that could be considered a strict, “semi-private” school. When she and her mother moved close to Pukekohe, she registered at Decile 2 Tuakau College.

Heather did some jobs while growing up. She worked as a paper delivery girl and later at McDonald’s.

Education

Du Plessis-Allan studied politics at Auckland University. She returned to school and did her honors degree for a year when she left TV3.

Career

Heather du Plessis-Allan did stints urging teachers to vote for United Future. She joined the Herald on Sunday as a columnist in 2014.

The broadcaster landed stints at TV3 and Radio Live. She was also a reporter for TVNZ for almost ten years. She worked for Seven Sharp for two years and has worked as a political reporter.

Du Plessis-Allan returned to TV3 as a co-host for the primetime current affairs show Story. She also returned to Radio Live.

During lockdown, Heather still went into the studio. She put the mask on and maintained social distance. She is a driving force at the center of New Zealand’s biggest newsroom. In late 2016, she left TV3 at the end of the current affairs show, Story.

Personal Life

Heather du Plessis-Allan married Barry Soper in 2009. An earthquake, which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale, briefly interrupted the proceedings, immediately past 6 pm, at their wedding in Wellington.

The couple followed in the footsteps of Speaker Lockwood Smith and had their wedding in the historic Parliament’s Grand Hall. Her husband, Barry Soper, is originally from Gore.

Du Plessis-Allan welcomed her son, Finbar Ignatius Pieter du Plessis-Soper, on 26 February 2022 at 8.15 am, weighing 3.58kg. The baby is their first child together. Soper had five adult children from his previous marriages.

Heather would want another child, but she doesn’t take anything for granted. Speaking to Now to Love, she said, “I’d like Iggy to have a sibling. I don’t want him to be a little prince, but falling pregnant at my age isn’t always a given, so we’ll have to see what happens.” She lost her grandmother to Covid 19.