Society Insider: Newstalk ZB host Matt Heath engaged after romantic Auckland proposal

Lydiard, who sells real estate for Ray White in West Auckland, tells Society Insider she thought it was odd Heath had booked dinner at a nice restaurant - and odder still that she arrived home to find him wearing a suit.

“He then took his bag into the restaurant, which was even weirder,” Lydiard says.

At dinner, Heath pulled a box of Lydiard’s favourite cookies out of his bag, and there was a ring in with them.

“The ring was perfect; it was actually very romantic… for Matt,” she says.

Heath tells Society Insider he was worried he’d get the ring wrong.

“I asked our good friend Biddie to go undercover and measure Tracey’s finger, and got her help selecting the ring.”

Heath says when he proposed, Lydiard was at first confused, asking if the ring was an engagement ring.

“I’d asked her too fast, so I composed myself and delivered the request more clearly. And she said yes - I was stoked with how happy it made her.”

Heath, who has two teenage sons from a previous relationship, says he and Lydiard met the old-fashioned way, at a bar on Ponsonby Rd in 2023, and immediately hit it off.

“I told her I’d written a song called Tracy [different spelling] in 2006,” Heath says. “I played it to her, and she loved it.”

Lydiard actually wasn’t impressed with his song, but she was charmed by Heath’s cheeky smile.

Three years on, Heath says their lives are a well-oiled machine.

“Tracey gets up for the gym every morning at 5am - and wakes me up - she makes me breakfast when she gets back,” he says. Lydiard says Heath carries her bags to her car every morning in his pyjamas.

Lydiard’s great-uncle was Sir Arthur Lydiard, an accomplished runner and athletics coach, and it seems fitness runs in the family: Lydiard competes in fitness competitions like Hyrox and has become Heath’s biggest cheerleader as he’s taken up marathon running.

The pair enjoys travelling the country for marathons. Next up is September’s Dunedin Marathon.

“Tracey is more of a sideline person when it comes to running, which is odd because she’s a Lydiard,” Heath says. “When I met her, I thought running training would be in her blood, and she’d increase my speed.”

He says Lydiard was an excellent support crew when he ran the Queenstown Marathon last November.

“She appeared four times at different places on my run with energy gels and moral support for me.”

At home, Lydiard says they complement each other well, and that Heath is super practical and always fixing things.

“Matt is always doing large outside projects, while I have a lot of indoor projects,” she says. “We just love hanging out together, whether it’s out and about or house life.”

She says Heath has weekly long lunches with his mates, and she spends plenty of time with her friends – but they love coming back together.

Heath says what made him fall in love with Lydiard is her kindness, humour and beauty, while Lydiard says Heath is funny and generous.

“Matt has a magnetic presence that makes him great to be around,” she says.

The couple are keen to marry soon, with a small and simple ceremony, followed by something bigger at a later date. They’re excited to travel to Europe together later this year.

Like father like son for IndyCar legend Sir Scott Dixon

While Sir Scott Dixon continues to cement his own legacy in motorsport, another Dixon is beginning to make a name for himself on the track.

The six-time IndyCar champion and his wife, Welsh former track athlete Lady Emma Davies-Dixon, have been cheering on 6-year-old son Kit, as he makes a name for himself in karting - a sport Dixon started at age 7.

During Kit’s summer break in the US, he’s been cup-karting and notching up wins. Last weekend, he made his parents proud by placing second in the Kid Kart class at the CKNA Summer Nationals at the Motorsports Country Club of Cincinnati.

In December, at the opening of KartSport facility, the Sir Colin Giltrap Raceway in Auckland, Kit was the first to turn laps on the fresh asphalt.

Last weekend Dixon told local Instagram channel Kart Chaser that he was more nervous watching Kit race than when he was in his IndyCar seat.

“He’s only 6, I think this is his fifth race ... you don’t want to make it too technical and too much pressure, where he really doesn’t enjoy it,” Dixon told Kart Chaser.

He also said Kit could be “pretty aggressive” while racing and hoped his son was looking forwards on the track, as in his race the day before he had been looking backwards.

It’s been a busy year for the Dixon family. After returning to New Zealand for the summer – where Dixon received a New Year’s knighthood and the family holidayed in Queenstown and Waiheke Island – they have been based primarily at their country estate in southern England, where teenage daughters Poppy and Tilly, along with Kit, attend school.

During the IndyCar season, Dixon is based at the family’s second home in Indianapolis, with Emma and the children regularly flying in to support him at major race weekends.

Dixon officially joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in May at a ceremony at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, becoming one of the few active drivers ever inducted. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2024.

Last month, Dixon took to the stage at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington to promote the Freedom 250 GP. Afterwards, New Zealand Ambassador to the United States, Chris Seed, welcomed Dixon to the New Zealand Embassy, where he enjoyed a taste of home with pies and lamingtons.

Meanwhile, he is also eyeing his career off the track, with an investment in NASCAR.

Last week Dixon, alongside good friends and fellow motoring greats Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, was announced as a member of a strategic ownership group for NASCAR’s Legacy Motor Club (LMC).

At LMC, Dixon joins an ownership group of athletes - including fellow athletes, UK tennis star Andy Roddick, US surfing champion Kelly Slater and baseball star Bryce Harper. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, a good friend of Dixon’s, holds the majority stake.

Legacy’s group spans championship sport, entertainment, finance, entrepreneurship, and consumer brands.

Perhaps plans have been afoot for a while: in November 2024, Society Insider reported that Scott and Emma spent Thanksgiving at the luxury Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland with Franchitti and Johnson and their families.

The news of his involvement in LMC comes a month after Dixon announced that next year he will be racing for Arrow McLaren for IndyCar, whose team principal is Kanaan.

Dixon told the Herald that leaving Chip Ganassi Racing was a hard decision to make.

“You get to a point where I was kind of second-guessing myself, whether if I left the sport, would I regret it more than not trying something different, or going with another team. I obviously spent 24 years at the same team and feel like we’d kind of plateaued a bit as a group.

“I think it was just time for a change.”

Dixon will be part of fellow New Zealander Bruce McLaren’s legacy through Arrow McLaren in IndyCar.

Meanwhile, another famous former Kiwi karting star, Liam Lawson, has returned to New Zealand for some R&R during the F1 summer break after finishing eighth at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Lawson is enjoying time away from speculation about his future within Red Bull’s ranks. Since arriving home, he’s gone trail riding with mates and choppered up to Tara Iti.

Party People of the Week

Diane Foreman’s new hotel preview

Wealthy businesswoman Diane Foreman, and her husband, Act candidate Paul Henry, welcomed more than 100 guests to preview Foreman’s new hotel on Saturday.

The Newmarket Central Boutique Hotel is on the corner of Remuera Rd and Middleton Rd and guests were invited for a first look at the renovated buildings, which were formerly the Newmarket Police Station.

They were treated to Champagne on arrival, with an open bar of beer and wine, and canapés from Remuera favourite, Browns.

Guests toured the former sergeant’s house, the large red brick station and The Cells.

Henry gave a speech, welcoming former High Court Judge Timothy Brewer to cut the ribbon.

Guests included property buyer Alexandra Vincent Martelli, who stood in for her fiancée Act leader David Seymour, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown and Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson and her husband, former National Party president Peter Goodfellow, former Speaker of the House Sir Lockwood Smith, Newmarket Business Association CEO Mark Knoff-Thomas; Johnson & Laird owner Imogen Johnson and hospitality legend Emerald Gilmour.

Celebrating Restaurant Month

Restaurant Month 2026 officially launched on Thursday evening with more than 200 guests attending an exclusive event at City Rail Link’s Te Waihorotiu Station. The underground venue was transformed into a neon-lit celebration of some of the city centre’s most well-known restaurants, hidden gems and the cultural diversity that defines Auckland’s food scene.

The evening brought together chefs, restaurant teams, partners, media, industry leaders and influencers, with food from GOAT by Sid Chopra, Tanuki Japanese Restaurant and Culprit, with drinks from Campari Group, Premium Liquor and Kumeu River Wines.

Guests included Heart of the City CEO Viv Beck, Auckland Transport interim CEO Stacey van der Putten, an array of Auckland’s top chefs including Gareth Stewart, Josh Emett, Kyle Street, Wallace Mua and Al Brown, Soul Bar and Bistro general manager Geeling Ng, and co-founder of Giapo, Gianpaolo Grazioli.

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