Lee Donoghue

Lee grew up in Lower Hutt but he also lived in Perth, Australia for 3 years when he was younger. He attended local Catholic boys college Saint Bernard's College, finishing in 2001, where he was involved in cricket, debating and was a prefect. His family has two cats, a British Blue called Molley and Zane, who is a Birman.[2]

Lee's acting career began when a friend of the family suggested his mother take him to a talent agency, which they did and he quickly gained work acting in commercials. His first taste of acting came at 8 years old when he won a starring role in a TVNZ advertising campaign.

He was then given a small role in television mini-series Fall Out in which he played Byron Lange. After that he went on to take on roles in shows such as The Tribe and the British production Atlantis High. During this time he also took part in Young and Hungry, a youth amateur theatre.[3]

In 2006 he was part way through gaining his qualifications from Wellington's Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, when he was offered the role of Hunter McKay, the wayward son of Callum McKay and Justine Jones on New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. His first scenes were aired in December 2006, since debuting he has gone on to star in several major storylines such as him and onscreen sister Sophie tormenting Scarlett Valentine to the brink of her trying to run them down with her father's car[4] and getting involved with a 34-year-old widow who worked with his parents.[5]

In 2023, Donoghue returned to New Zealand and became a candidate for the New Zealand First party for the 2023 general election.[6] On 16 September, he was ranked 12th on the NZ Frist party list and contested the Hutt South electorate.[7]

Since becoming a candidate, Donoghue has voiced his views on a range of social issues. He has said he believes the New Zealand education system suffers from a "woke virus" and the "ever-increasing sexualisation of children" in primary schools which are "teaching kids about different sexual preferences, acts, genders at a very young age”, calling for a return to basic sexual education that begins when children reach intermediate or high school.[1] On the issue of transgender rights, Donoghue said that "More kids now are transgendering, or transitioning, than ever before." He has publicly supported New Zealand First's stance on restricting toilets access on the basis of biological sex , saying "We have people basically saying to us 'hey, I was assaulted in a bathroom by a biological male, this is wrong". Asked about the frequency of such incidents, he said "I don’t have them in front of me right now, but it’s a true thing. We want to make sure everyone’s safe."[8] Donoghue has also stated support for New Zealand First's stance on withholding public funding to sports bodies that do not have exclusive biological female categories, stating that New Zealand Olympian Lorraine Moller told him "biological men participating in female sports, blowing them away, in their changing spaces, and what it's doing is discouraging women from actually participating now."[9]

In 2007, he became involved with an online support site for people dealing with depression called The Lowdown. He did so in his capacity as Shortland Street actor along with other celebrities such as musicians, TV and radio personalities. He is no longer serving in this capacity.[11]

He was a contestant in the 2007 Cleo Bachelor of The Year. During this time he was featured in the Cleo Bachelors Calendar.[12]

• Lee's TVNZ Profile
• Lee Donoghue at IMDb