One of the most beloved icons of New Zealand television is about to re-release two classic songs and some brand new episodes of her wildly popular children's show You and Me. Suzy Cato ONZM talks to Emma Hildesley about battling imposter syndrome, kids on screens, and her confidence and happiness in being 58.
Tell me about the new season of You and Me coming to Youtube?
I am incredibly excited. Thirty-odd years from when I was filming, to be now filming again, not only as a presenter and one of the song writers, but also as an executive producer. It's a huge honour to be gifted the copyright and all the content to be able to utilise to make a new series amazing.
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Does it feel like quite a 'full circle' moment for you?
Oh, it certainly is. Look, I've never actually gone away. Once You and Me finished, I made Suzy's World, and since then, I've been creating live shows all around the country and so I've always been there for kids.
I've got a YouTube channel that's been there since 2016. But this is truly giving me an opportunity to reconnect with a whole new generation. What I love is that, because those songs and that program are part of our DNA now, the mums and dads feel all the heart with those songs too. [It's Our Time and You and Me are both being re-released this weekend].
Over that 28-year period you became a mother yourself, how has that changed you?
My children didn't actually get a chance to watch the program on TV. As I fell pregnant, it came off TV, but luckily, we had DVDs. The only thing is, my children found it quite strange that the mum on TV who only sang, danced and did drawings didn't ever ask them to put their shoes on or tidy their room, which this one did!
How has your understanding of children changed in that time?
I'm coming to it with a totally different mindset, loving it so much more, and understanding all the different levels at which this program can be enjoyed – from the kids' point of view, the entertainment side of things, the underlying education that comes through there, but [also] the ability to be able to show parents different ideas and strategies that they can use with their kids.
Do you think children are different now to the way that they were in the 90s?
Children essentially are exactly the same. They are exactly the same.
There are the screens, the devices and things that they spend time on which does rewire their brain a little bit. As parents we used to be a lot more free range. We didn't have all those screen options. We got bored, and we learned how to entertain ourselves.
So given the opportunity, children will do that, but they need to be given the opportunity, and they need to be given some encouragement. And because with screens, they are being fed everything, and everything's being done for them, they don't get that.
So the moment the screen disappears, it's like, 'oh, what do I do? I'm bored'. In You and Me we mention a telephone once or twice when we're [talking about emergencies] and 111, but [the rest] is playing with blocks, using our imagination going out into the garden, looking for bugs and worms.
Do you think social media plays a role in that?
We want to keep kids [as] kids for as long as possible. And don't get me wrong, screens have an important place in our lives. It's how we utilise them and how we as parents utilise them as well, putting the jolly things down and actually being with the kids. The biggest gift we can give our children is our time, our undivided attention.
Not all the time, as we need to be true to ourselves as well, but the more one-on-one that we can give our child, playing games, singing songs, watching a movie together, reading books... all the simplest things that don't cost the earth.
How have you changed over the past 30 years?
When I was younger and on the screen, I loved it. I was blown away by the opportunity. I had so much fun, but I wasn't anywhere near as confident as I am now, and that only comes with age and comes with experience.
There's no regrets, but it's a case of now I know that I need to maximise every opportunity and make the most of it, as we all do. We only have X number of cycles around the sun, and boy, I'm making the most of mine now.
And I guess that's part of the gratitude philosophy that I've had for a long time. That's another thing that we're trying to instil within the program too, being grateful for the small things, and then we can be grateful for the bigger things as they come.
How have you overcome challenges throughout that time?
As a teen, I struggled. I was a very shy child, I had a lot of self doubt, a lot of angst and a lot of sleepless nights wondering what I was going to do. The meaning of life, you know? All those big things that young people are going through now, without all the added pressures that they have from their jolly screens.
You end up having a sense of imposter syndrome. It's like one day somebody's going to wake up and realise that I'm not really that good a presenter, and that I don't deserve all this. But the older you get, and the more experience you have, the more tools you provide yourself with. You realise that actually everybody has value, everybody has worth, and we just need to live in the now and make the most of the moment and be the best person that we can be at all times.
Are there any aspects you're nervous about with the new show?
I guess I am nervous, because you just want to do the best you can do, and you want it to reach those tamariki the way it did all those years ago. To be able to do what I did all those years ago as a 24-year-old again now as a 58 year old, that's a gift.
The original team that made You and Me made it with such heart, they were all preschool educators. And Rick Simpson, who was the executive producer and the creator of this concept, he wanted to make something very special, and he did, and we made over 2000 episodes. And I would love for the program to reach people the way that that program did, that I could connect through the screen and just say, 'Hello, my friend. How are you?'
With You and Me all those years ago, we had a lot of elderly who were sitting at home, and I might be the only person that they had say hello to them during their day. I know that because I had people come up and tell me I'm the only person that asks about them during their day.
So to be able to connect, to do all the things that the original series did, and then take it to the next level, that's my desire, my goal. So yes, I'm nervous from that point of view.
I've never had any work done, but there's a lot of value in having older faces on our screen. I've still got lots of strength in my knees, and I can get up and dance around [doing] head, shoulders, knees and toes. I want to be on your screens for as long as I can. I want to be a part of your lives. I want to be a part of your whānau and for us to have fun and learn together. I want to cry again! Because it's an absolute gift for me. It keeps me young, it keeps me so happy.
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This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
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