Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has rubbished claims by Dame Susan Devoy that he made comments on her weight in 1987, saying he was meaning to make a compliment on her sporting ability.
"I said she was an exceptional sports person because she could win without being fit," he said at a press conference today.
"I thought it was a compliment."
The now Race Relation Commissioner, and once highly successful squash player, described New Zealand's deputy prime minister Winston Peters as "obnoxious" during a light-hearted question and answer session at the TP McLean sports journalism awards last night.
She said the NZ First leader once allegedly told her she was a "bit round" in 1987 according to NZ Herald, and suggested the now Human Rights Commissioner walked New Zealand to lose weight.
However Mr Peters said the conversation happened "years before" her 1988 walk of the length of New Zealand, saying there was no connection.
Mr Peters was asked if he had called her "a bit round", he said: "The answer is no, no, no. That's not the kind of phrase I would use."
The question and answer part of the sports awards last night was reportedly an entertainment section of the night that was closed to the public.
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