As a breakfast TV veteran, David Koch has rubbed shoulders with some of the best and brightest across a wide range of fields and experiences.
Having learnt so much in the job, Kochie has looked back on the “life-changing” advice and hacks he has taken on board which, years later, are still common practice.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: David Koch’s wife Libby lifts the lid on the host’s life behind the camera.
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“You get to talk to every expert under the sun for a lot of the segments,” Kochie tells 7Life of having co-hosted Sunrise for a record-breaking two decades.
One particular tip that stuck with him came from Australian supermodel Jennifer Hawkins – and it was all about complimenting women.
“We were talking about men and how they compliment women and how they look,” he says.
“She said the problem with the blokes is very simple. You say to your partner, ‘I like that dress’.
“Well the dress is so obvious,” he jokingly stresses.
“You think you’re being suave, but your partner thinks, ‘Ah he’s such a boofhead’ because it’s the only thing you see.”
Instead of pointing out the obvious, Hawkins encouraged the host to look for more specific things about which to make favourable comments.
“If you say, ‘I love the way how your earrings match your handbag’, then the love of your life will go, ‘Oh they’re really noticing’,” Kochie says.
“Or how your nail polish matches your handbag.
“Noticing the little things is the best thing for your relationship. And I’ve tried that.”
Kochie put the advice to the test, first showering his wife Libby with a specific compliment.
“Libby just looked at me strangely the first time I did it and said, ‘Who have you been talking to?’”
His advice was later extended to his broader family and it is something that sticks with him.
The tip was officially ingrained in him after he interviewed “the nicest bloke you have ever met in the world”, Hollywood actor Matt Damon.
“A couple of months after (Jennifer Hawkins’ tip), I was interviewing Matt Damon, who was out here promoting the Bourne Identity movies, which I love.
“We sat down for the interview and he goes ‘I love your boots’, and I thought, ‘There you go!’”
Kochie teases that, after this compliment from Damon, it was “love at first sight”.
As for a hack, the host says he loves a piece of advice from chef Michael Weldon who appeared on Sunrise to prepare a mango salad.
Michael showed off the “trick” of using a glass to remove the mango flesh.
“We are massive mango eaters in our place and I married a girl from Lismore – which is mango country – we eat trays and trays of mangoes,” the outgoing host details.
“I hate cutting them up.
“That was life-changing, that bit of advice.”
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