Jacinda Ardern is marrying Clarke Gayford this weekend: here’s everything you need to know about her future husband

Jacinda Ardern will marry her longtime partner Clarke Gayford at a luxury venue in New Zealand on Saturday after several years of delays and cancellations.

The couple is yet to tie the knot as the former New Zealand Prime Minister faced a series of tragedies, including the horror attack in Christchurch, the White Island volcanic eruption and the coronavirus pandemic.

Just a year after the couple got engaged at Easter in 2019, Covid-19 restrictions were introduced by Ardern’s government, reducing gatherings to 100 people.

As a result, they were forced to cancel their plans to get married in the summer of 2022 at the luxury Nick’s Head Station estate, 16 miles south of Gisborne.

“That’s life,” the former prime minister said of their decision to call off the wedding.

“My wedding is cancelled, but I simply join many other New Zealanders who have had such an experience as a result of the pandemic.

“I’m no different to, dare I say, thousands of other New Zealanders.”

Local media have reported that the rescheduled ceremony will take place on January 13 at a vineyard 200km away from the original location in Hawke’s Bay.

Ms Ardern, 43, and Mr Gayford, 47, first met at an awards ceremony in 2012, but they only started dating in 2014 after Mr Gayford contacted the then Labor politician in 2013 about proposed legislation .

She arranged a meeting with Clarke to discuss the matter over coffee.

It didn’t take long for the pair to realize they had a lot in common, including a shared love of music and previous experience spinning tables as a DJ. They became friends, before their relationship began to blossom into something more.

In an interview with Woman’s Weekly, Clarke revealed he took the politician on a fishing trip on their first date so he could share his greatest passion with her – and realized he had met his match when she caught a 12lb snapper brought in.

He said: ‘The sea was glassy and we had a huge pod of dolphins with us. It was literally Jacinda’s first cast and she was like, ‘Ooh! Something’s pulling!’

“She reeled in a 12-pound snapper. And she said, ‘Is that okay?’ And I thought, ‘That’s really good!’

The couple grew closer as they bonded over fishing and seafood, with Clarke revealing he wooed her by coming to her house with crayfish.

They had their daughter Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford in 2018.

Before dating Ms Ardern, Mr Gayford was famous in New Zealand, with various roles in the media as a radio host, DJ and broadcaster.

Mr. Gayford is the current host of “Fish of the Day,” a series dedicated to Pacific fishing, and “Moving Houses,” a show that revolves around the process of moving houses.

He has continued to work in the media throughout his relationship with Ms Ardern.

Mr Gayford was there last January to support Ms Ardern when she announced she would not stand for re-election, citing exhaustion.

She made light of the wedding debacle and gave a special shout-out to her partner in the speech, telling him, “And to Clarke, let’s finally get married.”

In January 2023, Ms Ardern shocked the world when she announced she would not seek re-election as Prime Minister after five years in office.

She was elected on October 26, 2017 and, at the age of 37, was New Zealand’s youngest ever Prime Minister. Before that, she was the youngest sitting MP in 2008, at the age of 28.

Ms Ardern told a news conference that she hoped to find the energy and heart to stay in her job over the Christmas holidays, “but I haven’t been able to do that.”

“Once I realized this wasn’t the case, I knew there wasn’t much choice but to hand it over now, unfortunately,” she told a Labor meeting.

‘I am a human. Politicians are people. We give everything we can, while we can – and then it’s time. And for me it’s time. I know what this job costs.

When asked what she would do next, Ms Ardern said she was looking forward to spending time with her young daughter and eventually marrying her fiancé.

She also admitted that she did not expect to become prime minister.

Ms Ardern joined Ivy League institution Harvard University in late 2023 in three fellowship roles in leadership and countering online extremism.

She will spend a semester at the Harvard Kennedy School as the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and as a Hauser Leader in the school’s Center for Public Leadership, engaging with students about “principled leadership.”

Ms Ardern has also signed with Penguin Random House to write a book on how to ‘be your own kind of leader and still make a difference’.

The former leader is said to have received a $1.5 million advance for the book.