Comedian Guy Montgomery is best known for his TV show, Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee. Here, the 38-year-old talks about the teachers who influenced him, and how meeting his life partner changed him.
My maternal granny, Helen, lived in Christchurch, New Zealand; she had a quick laugh and was chatty. She also had a carpeted bathroom! She married my granddad, Peter, who ran a tourism business and owned a black “poofy” dog I didn’t trust, then got a pug called Ella. She died of Alzheimer’s in 2011.
My paternal granny, Mary Montgomery, lived in Pukekohe [on New Zealand’s North Island] and my parents would send me by plane as an unaccompanied minor to stay with her. She had big eyes and was a phenomenal cello and piano player, and a keen gardener. She passed in 2017. I read a poem at her funeral and couldn’t get through it.
My mum, Charlotte, was a Montessori teacher and has an incredible curiosity and magic touch with young children. After she had my eldest sister, Alice, she focused on being a mum.
Alice is two years older than me, and my sister Annie is three years younger. We are all close. Alice is the most protective and has the strongest sense of discipline. Annie and I would be thick as thieves one minute, but also quicker to argue with one another.
In year 3, Miss Fitzsimons used to check our lunch boxes before we could play. I didn’t want to eat my sandwiches and shoved them down a drain. She told me she was disappointed. I spent my playtime picking up rubbish and never forgot it.
As a nine-year-old, I wasn’t old enough to conceive of physical attraction, but still old enough to be like, ‘Oh man, I’m quite into this woman.’
Guy Montgomery
My first CD was Shania Twain’s Come on Over, in 1997. As a nine-year-old, I wasn’t old enough to conceive of physical attraction, but still old enough to be like, “Oh man, I’m quite into this woman.”
I had my first kiss at a year 9 dance. I was thrown by it, not knowing what to do. I opened my eyes mid-kiss, and another guy in my year walked past and saw me with my eyes open and poked me to shut them again.
I had my first girlfriend in my second year at Victoria University of Wellington when I was 19. We met via mutual family friends and it was a transformative experience – I learnt how good it feels to be invested in the happiness of another person. We dated for a year and it ended amicably, but on her terms.
I had another serious relationship in my mid- to late 20s which was fantastic. But as it went on, I had a sense that it might not be forever.
I didn’t fall head over heels in love until I met my partner, Chelsie, in 2018. I was living in New York and came back to New Zealand to work. I hosted an improv show, and she was in the audience. We spoke at the bar after the show for three hours. I texted the next day and organised dinner and a theatre show.
Chelsie had a two-year-old daughter when we met. At first, it felt like a summer romance. But as we began to spend time together, we fell intensely in love. We did long-distance for two years.
Chelsie came to visit me in New York to see if we could make it work. The difficult circumstances meant we showed all of ourselves. In doing so, letting all of myself out and letting someone in happened.
I moved back to New Zealand in December 2019 and we co-parented through lockdown. I proposed to her in a hotel in Sydney in November 2023. I tried to make it look like a magic trick – conjuring a ring from behind her ear. I was nervous, and asked Chelsie if she’d like to do this forever. She was confused by the unconventional nature of my request, but said yes. We had a baby in August 2025.
We are happily engaged and think it’s a nice place to leave it for now. I’ve grown and emotionally opened up in the course of our relationship. Chelsie has motivated me to get to the bottom of whatever is happening personally or in my work life.
Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is touring Australia throughout October.
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Jane Rocca is a regular contributor to Sunday Life Magazine, Executive Style, The Age EG, columnist and features writer at Domain Review, Domain Living’s Personal Space page. She is a published author of four books.Connect via X or email.
