Since welcoming their gorgeous daughter Adeline in February, life has been a whirlwind for Kiwi TV power couple Holly Shervey and Emmett Skilton<\/a> as they\u2019ve juggled sleepless nights with launch parties, media interviews and international acclaim for their series Crackhead<\/a>, which premiered just three weeks after their little girl\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n \u201cAddie\u2019s due date was actually 10 days before the launch of the show, so we were glad she came early,\u201d smiles former Shortland Street star Holly, 36. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an intense, exhausting and magical time, but I wouldn\u2019t change a thing!\u201d<\/p>\n To adjust to their baby\u2019s rhythms and becoming new parents, the actress\/writer and her actor\/director husband spent their first five weeks after Addie\u2019s arrival camped out with her in the lounge of their Auckland home.<\/p>\n Emmett tells, \u201cA 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Both admit to finding the sleepless nights brutal at first, but they managed to find fun in the chaos.<\/p>\n Holly explains, \u201cI worked night shifts in hospo when I was younger, so after we\u2019d had a really rough night, we\u2019d say, \u2018We\u2019re doing a hospo shift again tonight,\u2019 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\u2019re obsessed!\u201d<\/p>\n But it wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThis wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t have to hide it. We\u2019re so lucky being creatives and having the lifestyle we do as it\u2019s allowed us to be at home together during Addie\u2019s first months.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s also sadness that Holly\u2019s mum Jo \u2013 who passed away from cancer when Holly was just six \u2013 isn\u2019t here to meet her precious granddaughter.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one time in my life that I\u2019ve missed my mum more than ever,\u201d the actress admits. <\/p>\n \u201cIt can be hard going sometimes with just the two of us here as my family is in Queenstown and Emmett\u2019s is in Wellington. I\u2019ve found myself gravitating towards really maternal women.\u201d<\/p>\n Addie\u2019s middle name is Jo, after Holly\u2019s mum, and the new parents often call her Addie Jo, which has already become her official name at swimming lessons.<\/p>\n \u201cAddie 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,\u201d smiles Emmett.<\/p>\n Now their little girl is mostly sleeping through the night, the couple is loving being in their blissful baby bubble.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been avoiding work like crazy!\u201d jokes former Shorty star Emmett. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment, I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n While Woman\u2019s Day chats with Holly and Emmett, four-month-old Addie smiles and gurgles happily on their knees. She\u2019s already a pro at navigating the media, accompanying her parents to five radio interviews \u2013 the first when she was just two weeks old!<\/p>\n 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 \u201cfantastic night\u201d with the show\u2019s stellar cast, crew, supporters and industry peers all \u201cdressed to the nines\u201d on the red carpet as they celebrated the launch of the series, which was created and written by Holly, and directed by Emmett.<\/p>\n \u201cThere 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,\u201d recalls Holly, adding it was incredible to see the audience\u2019s reaction to the show on a big screen.<\/p>\n \u201cI still get emotional when I think back to how proud I felt that night.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019s a deeply personal story for Holly, whose own stint in psychiatric care in her early twenties provided the inspiration for the show.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI was terrified about being that vulnerable, but there hasn\u2019t been the judgement I imagined,\u201d confesses Holly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe response has been mind-blowing, with people really connecting to the heart of the story. We\u2019ve had so many messages from people going through similar experiences or who have family members who are. It\u2019s been our dream response.\u201d<\/p>\n Crackhead has struck a chord beyond New Zealand, with HBO Max<\/a> picking up the series in Australia, where it spent several weeks in the platform\u2019s top five most-watched shows alongside hits like The Pitt, DTF St Louis and Rooster.<\/p>\n Holly has also achieved another \u201cbig dream\u201d, scoring representation with US agency Artists First. While she\u2019s currently developing three TV projects of her own, the couple is also hopeful a second series of Crackhead might be on the cards too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all really exciting!\u201d enthuses Holly. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n As their happy, curious little girl reaches new milestones, Emmett says he and Holly are closer and more of a team than ever.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always there for each other and when either of us has to work outside Auckland, we\u2019ll travel as a family from now on,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n Holly agrees, \u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d <\/p>\n Crackhead streams on ThreeNow<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/api.photon.aremedia.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2026\/06\/29-6-26-holly-emett-4-6a41d528d1bb3.jpg?fit=1024%2C854&resize=1920%2C1600\")
Adeline Jo Skilton \u2013 Born: 7 February 2026, Weight: 3.7kg (Credit: Emily Chalk.)<\/p>\nSleepless nights<\/h2>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re obsessed!\u201d says the smitten new mum. (Credit: Emily Chalk.)<\/p>\nKeeping her mum\u2019s memory close<\/h2>\n
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(Credit: Emily Chalk.)<\/p>\nEnjoying the baby bliss<\/h2>\n
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(Credit: Emily Chalk.)<\/p>\nBaby Addie\u2019s already stealing the spotlight<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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(Credit: Emily Chalk.)<\/p>\nA risk that\u2019s paying off<\/h2>\n
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\u201cI\u2019ve been avoiding work like crazy!\u201d says doting dad Emmett. (Credit: Emily Chalk.)<\/p>\nDreaming big<\/h2>\n
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Addictive watch Crackhead has been a hit.<\/p>\nRelated<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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