Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - BONUS: A Kiwi Lady Who Found Her Dad After 31 Years.

Episode Date: January 22, 2023

We talked to Sharnee Butler, the lady from New Zealand who reconnected with her father after 31 years of searching.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hits, the Jono and Ben podcast. Now after 31 years of thinking her father was said to have passed away, a lady from Christchurch just tracked her down in the most unusual way. Yeah, and she joins us from the Garden City now. Sharni, how are you? Good, how are you? Are you Sharni or Sharnay? Sharnay.

You could be a Sharnay if you want to mix it up later in life and go, Hey, put an accent above the last E. Yeah. Yeah. You've made world news. I did. Yeah. So what, 31 years you've gone thinking your father was no longer with us.

And now you've tracked him down. How did that happen? So I kind of had a feeling when I was a teenager that something kind of just didn't sit right. And then I've been searching for so long and I've applied for missing pieces lost some sounds with no luck and then I just took it into my own hands and one night just looked on social media and then hours later I found this man that fit every description that I was given wow that is so you really did you did your own episode of missing pieces without the born guy flying all over the world The guy looks like my dad

So you found what you believed to be your father on the other side of the world What was that moment like when you started corresponding with him? I literally just messaged this man and I gave him no information And what he was giving me back, it was like insanely weird, like uncanny that everything was correct. And then when he said, I could be your dad, I literally just broke down. Oh, I bet you did, mate. What was that moment like? You tell us.

Oh, unreal. Like, I can't even describe how it was, but all I remember was sitting at my doctor's, reading and then just breaking down the floor oh it's just a yeah I can imagine the waves of emotion the feelings that you'd be feeling yeah so do you have any idea about you none none whatsoever I imagine when you first messaged him he probably thought you're a bloody European sex bot or something some sort of scam, you know. He did try to flirt back at one point. What was the first, like, you said you asked him a couple of things. What was the first thing you led with?

So the first thing I said was, this is going to sound a bit strange, but did you live in Christchurch, you know, 1990 to 91? And he goes, yes, yes, I did. And he's like, who are you? That kind of thing. What's your bank account number? And then, yeah, he's like, I was like, how old are you? And he's like, oh, I'm a lot older than what you are, kind of thing.

And then I was like, this is going to sound even more strange, but did you sleep with, you know, any woman at this time? He's like, oh, dear God. How do you ask this strange man this question of his sex life? Well, it's gone viral. The whole conversation

that you posted on TikTok, viewed more than 10 million times it's been viewed. Now, it's not obviously official. 12 million now. Check the numbers, Ben. Check the numbers, baby. It's not official yet, but you're hoping to go to the UK. He's in Wales, from what I understand, and do DNA tests. Yeah.

You've spoken every day, I understand. So what are you hoping for? To mess up 31 years of memories. Oh, I can imagine. And we've talked every day, and me and my partner, we want to get married, and he's like, well, I want imagine. You know, and we've talked every day, and, you know, me and my partner, we want to get married, and he's like, well, I want to give you away. Oh, that is really special. Because I imagine going through life and just having this big question mark

over your existence for 30 years would be, you'd never feel comfortable, I imagine. No. And also, you know, he probably owes you for a few birthdays, Christmases as well. You've got a few Father's Days to make up for as well. So, you know, there's a bit of that to sort out when you're over there. Well, I hope you get over there.

You've started up a Give A Little page, right? I did, yeah. Where can people head to, mate? What do we type in? So it's actually public on my Facebook page as well. Sharni Butler? Yep, that's me. Or Sharni if she decides on a rebrand.

Get a bit bougie. Get a bit bougie. What a lovely story to start the year with. Has he got a family and stuff in wait? He does. He's got two sons. Oh, so right. So you might go over there and meet your brothers. Yeah, I know. How crazy.

Geez, he had some news to come home with from work that day, didn't he? Yeah. Oh, well, that's awesome. I'm so well done on tracking him down. And I hope it goes well over there. And I hope you get to the UK. And I hope it goes really well. And if you want to help Sharni out, we'll put the details of her Give A Little on the Hits Instagram.

And all the best, Sharni. We can't wait to hear how it goes on. Cool. Thank you.