Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 13 February.

Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday 13 February. 
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Full Show Podcast: 13 February 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/360d4b69-b53a-42e7-a4ef-b3f000663375/transcript

I'm sure, like many people of my generation who grew up through their 20s and 30s with Russell Brand as a big part of pop culture, the news that he is behind bars will have come as a shock.

I'm not surprised, though.

If you've been following the rape trial like I have, it would have dawned on you pretty early on in the testimony of those women that he was going to go down for this. Their stories of what he did to them were too compelling. They were not, in many cases, even dramatic. It was almost like they were explaining something as ordinary as folding socks. It just happened.

The events themselves, and the way they unfolded, were so ordinary. So believable. And yet, of course, so completely unacceptable that it became clear early on, I thought, that the jury was going to believe these women, and they did.

And it was a jury, by the way, of eight men and four women, and I think that makeup says a lot about how much those women were believed.

Now, there are real questions that will be asked of the BBC again because Russell Brand is just the latest in a very long line of presenters and high-profile staff who have been caught up in sex-related scandals while working for the BBC. Jimmy Savile, Huw Edwards, Gregg Wallace, Rolf Harris. Brand is simply the latest.

And he's quoted as suggesting that the BBC boss during his time there gave him a free pass for bad behaviour. He said she was incredibly tolerant of his inappropriate sexual behaviour while he was a star radio presenter and that she, quote, "loved me and gave me lots of room, so I took that room".

He said that was basically how things were run during the mid-2000s.

Now, maybe this is not exclusively a BBC problem. Maybe this is just what happens when you're employing really high-profile, highly valuable, bankable talent like Russell Brand. You give them free passes.

But what everybody fails to remember when that is happening is that power, fame and bankability are passing phases. They pass.

Eventually, you become an ordinary human being again. And as that list of men has shown, when you become an ordinary human being again, the consequences of your actions catch up with you.

Brand is simply the latest to learn that.

LISTEN ABOVE

I'm sure, like many people of my generation who grew up through their 20s and 30s with Russell Brand as a big part of pop culture, the news that he is behind bars will have come as a shock.
I'm not surprised, though.
If you've been following the rape trial like I have, it would have dawned on you pretty early on in the testimony of those women that he was going to go down for this. Their stories of what he did to them were too compelling. They were not, in many cases, even dramatic. It was almost like they were explaining something as ordinary as folding socks. It just happened.
The events themselves, and the way they unfolded, were so ordinary. So believable. And yet, of course, so completely unacceptable that it became clear early on, I thought, that the jury was going to believe these women, and they did.
And it was a jury, by the way, of eight men and four women, and I think that makeup says a lot about how much those women were believed.
Now, there are real questions that will be asked of the BBC again because Russell Brand is just the latest in a very long line of presenters and high-profile staff who have been caught up in sex-related scandals while working for the BBC. Jimmy Savile, Huw Edwards, Gregg Wallace, Rolf Harris. Brand is simply the latest.
And he's quoted as suggesting that the BBC boss during his time there gave him a free pass for bad behaviour. He said she was incredibly tolerant of his inappropriate sexual behaviour while he was a star radio presenter and that she, quote, "loved me and gave me lots of room, so I took that room".
He said that was basically how things were run during the mid-2000s.
Now, maybe this is not exclusively a BBC problem. Maybe this is just what happens when you're employing really high-profile, highly valuable, bankable talent like Russell Brand. You give them free passes.
But what everybody fails to remember when that is happening is that power, fame and bankability are passing phases. They pass.
Eventually, you become an ordinary human being again. And as that list of men has shown, when you become an ordinary human being again, the consequences of your actions catch up with you.
Brand is simply the latest to learn that.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I'm not surprised about Russell Brand

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/8a042748-ae8f-4083-a093-b4fc0031c12a/transcript

One former National Party head is confident the coalition will secure a second term, despite the race being tight.

Preliminary results give National, ACT and New Zealand First 67 seats, while Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Māori won 57 seats.

Simon Bridges says the most likely outcome from all this is the continuation of the current Government, but the special votes are yet to be counted.

"Even if they muck things around a bit, I still think - yeah, continuation of the current Government."

LISTEN ABOVE

One former National Party head is confident the coalition will secure a second term, despite the race being tight.
Preliminary results give National, ACT and New Zealand First 67 seats, while Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Māori won 57 seats.
Simon Bridges says the most likely outcome from all this is the continuation of the current Government, but the special votes are yet to be counted.
"Even if they muck things around a bit, I still think - yeah, continuation of the current Government."
LISTEN ABOVE

The Debrief: former National leader Simon Bridges on whether the coalition can secure a second term

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/061d30da-7908-4c07-b898-b4fb018a46bd/transcript

Former broadcaster and now ACT MP Paul Henry believes there's no regrets, as a move to Wellington looks likely.

ACT is currently sitting on 10.92 percent, giving it 13 seats based on provisional results - with Henry 4th on the party list.

He says he'll be doing a great disservice if he changes his mind now.

"There's no room for second thoughts, or I would have just completely wasted my time, wouldn't I? There's a huge job to be done." 

LISTEN ABOVE

Former broadcaster and now ACT MP Paul Henry believes there's no regrets, as a move to Wellington looks likely.
ACT is currently sitting on 10.92 percent, giving it 13 seats based on provisional results - with Henry 4th on the party list.
He says he'll be doing a great disservice if he changes his mind now.
"There's no room for second thoughts, or I would have just completely wasted my time, wouldn't I? There's a huge job to be done."&nbsp;
LISTEN ABOVE

The Debrief: ACT's Paul Henry on whether the right bloc has the numbers to form a Government

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/208c0f38-c217-476c-9fac-b4fb01837373/transcript

Full Show Podcast: 13 February 2026

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