Since welcoming their gorgeous daughter Adeline in February, life has been a whirlwind for Kiwi TV power couple Holly Shervey and Emmett Skilton as they’ve juggled sleepless nights with launch parties, media interviews and international acclaim for their series Crackhead, which premiered just three weeks after their little girl’s arrival.
“Addie’s due date was actually 10 days before the launch of the show, so we were glad she came early,” smiles former Shortland Street star Holly, 36.
“It’s been an intense, exhausting and magical time, but I wouldn’t change a thing!”
To adjust to their baby’s rhythms and becoming new parents, the actress/writer and her actor/director husband spent their first five weeks after Addie’s arrival camped out with her in the lounge of their Auckland home.
Emmett tells, “A massive silver lining of creating our own little village at home was how it has brought Holly, Addie and I so close together. We binge-watched the whole of Game Of Thrones again while Holly learnt how to feed and we slowly began to understand what Addie needed.”
Both admit to finding the sleepless nights brutal at first, but they managed to find fun in the chaos.
Adeline Jo Skilton – Born: 7 February 2026, Weight: 3.7kg (Credit: Emily Chalk.)
Sleepless nights
Holly explains, “I worked night shifts in hospo when I was younger, so after we’d had a really rough night, we’d say, ‘We’re doing a hospo shift again tonight,’ which made it a little easier to deal with. The first night Addie slept in her own room, we went straight back downstairs and started scrolling through our phones looking at pictures of the day she was born. We’re obsessed!”
But it wasn’t the sleepless nights that proved the biggest challenge for Holly, who admits to struggles with her mental health as she navigated new anxieties as a first-time mum.
“This wasn’t a surprise given my history, but I have some good tools and was able to work through things pretty quickly. Having Emmett beside me meant I didn’t have to hide it. We’re so lucky being creatives and having the lifestyle we do as it’s allowed us to be at home together during Addie’s first months.”
“We’re obsessed!” says the smitten new mum. (Credit: Emily Chalk.)
Keeping her mum’s memory close
There’s also sadness that Holly’s mum Jo – who passed away from cancer when Holly was just six – isn’t here to meet her precious granddaughter.
“This is one time in my life that I’ve missed my mum more than ever,” the actress admits.
“It can be hard going sometimes with just the two of us here as my family is in Queenstown and Emmett’s is in Wellington. I’ve found myself gravitating towards really maternal women.”
Addie’s middle name is Jo, after Holly’s mum, and the new parents often call her Addie Jo, which has already become her official name at swimming lessons.
“Addie has so many nicknames, from Bean to JoJo, but when we signed her up for swimming lessons, we had to pick a name and Addie Jo it was,” smiles Emmett.
(Credit: Emily Chalk.)
Enjoying the baby bliss
Now their little girl is mostly sleeping through the night, the couple is loving being in their blissful baby bubble.
“I’ve been avoiding work like crazy!” jokes former Shorty star Emmett.
“At the moment, I’m embracing this time with Holly and Addie, and thinking about how becoming a parent might inform my work now I have all these new experiences to apply to the rest of my world.”
(Credit: Emily Chalk.)
Baby Addie’s already stealing the spotlight
While Woman’s Day chats with Holly and Emmett, four-month-old Addie smiles and gurgles happily on their knees. She’s already a pro at navigating the media, accompanying her parents to five radio interviews – the first when she was just two weeks old!
One week later, Holly and Emmett glammed up and celebrated their first date night since her birth at the launch party for the dark ThreeNow comedy Crackhead. Holly says it was a “fantastic night” with the show’s stellar cast, crew, supporters and industry peers all “dressed to the nines” on the red carpet as they celebrated the launch of the series, which was created and written by Holly, and directed by Emmett.
“There was a lot going on as it was our first night away from Addie, but my whole family came up from Queenstown for the party and were our tag team of babysitters,” recalls Holly, adding it was incredible to see the audience’s reaction to the show on a big screen.
“I still get emotional when I think back to how proud I felt that night.”
(Credit: Emily Chalk.)
A risk that’s paying off
As well as writing the wickedly funny series, Holly stars as central character Frankie Jones, whose struggles with addiction and mental health land her in rehab. It’s a deeply personal story for Holly, whose own stint in psychiatric care in her early twenties provided the inspiration for the show.
She admits to a few sleepless nights before the launch, worrying how people would react to Crackhead and her own personal story, which she was sharing for the first time.
“I was terrified about being that vulnerable, but there hasn’t been the judgement I imagined,” confesses Holly.
“The response has been mind-blowing, with people really connecting to the heart of the story. We’ve had so many messages from people going through similar experiences or who have family members who are. It’s been our dream response.”
Crackhead has struck a chord beyond New Zealand, with HBO Max picking up the series in Australia, where it spent several weeks in the platform’s top five most-watched shows alongside hits like The Pitt, DTF St Louis and Rooster.
“I’ve been avoiding work like crazy!” says doting dad Emmett. (Credit: Emily Chalk.)
Dreaming big
Holly has also achieved another “big dream”, scoring representation with US agency Artists First. While she’s currently developing three TV projects of her own, the couple is also hopeful a second series of Crackhead might be on the cards too.
“It’s all really exciting!” enthuses Holly.
“I’ve always been an early riser, so I do most of my writing between 4am and 7am, before Addie wakes up. Emmett is such an amazing support and I usually take Addie for a big walk during the day so he can work on his creative projects too.”
As their happy, curious little girl reaches new milestones, Emmett says he and Holly are closer and more of a team than ever.
“We’re always there for each other and when either of us has to work outside Auckland, we’ll travel as a family from now on,” he shares.
Holly agrees, “It’s so fun working on creative projects with Emmett and now we get to do parenthood together with our gorgeous girl. It really is the dream.”
Addictive watch Crackhead has been a hit.
Crackhead streams on ThreeNow.
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