Seven Sharp host Hilary Barry had to have a few words with her co-host Jeremy Wells after he called the newly-appointed Police Commissioner “very, very handsome”.
Andrew Coster was interviewed on TVNZ’s Seven Sharp last night as he tried to rally the public into assisting help police spread the message about the importance of following lockdown rules.
But his new clean-shaven look attracted attention too.
“To be honest, clean-shaven, though, you’re looking very, very handsome," Wells commented.
Barry quickly followed the comment with an apology to Mr Coster, who laughed.
“I’m sorry, you appear on the show, you get the odd inappropriate question,” she said.
But "a lot” of viewers sided with Wells.
“I think it was wonderful you told the policeman tonight he looked handsome, because he sure did," one viewer wrote in.
“Men look fabulous clean-shaven. Go Jeremy, don’t worry about Hilary, she’s getting old.”
But Barry would not back down.
“I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you, particularly, in your role, to be commenting on the looks or otherwise of the Police Commissioner," she told her co-host.
Mr Coster shaved his beard — which he spent 18 months growing — a few days ago in solidarity with police working at the frontline. Police use personal protective equipment to keep themselves safe amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I couldn't ask our people to do this [shave] if I wasn’t prepared to,” he said.
“So, now the face masks will fit… they don’t work as well if you’ve got facial hair and we need our people to be safe.
“I do feel sorry for those with much better beards than I was sporting at the time.”
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