TVNZ's Jenny-May Clarkson breaks down when saying goodbye on last Breakfast show for 2019

TVNZ Breakfast host Jenny-May Clarkson broke down in tears live on air during the show's last episode of the year.

Clarkson, who recently joined the Breakfast team this year, became emotional when saying her goodbyes during this morning's show.

As she said her thank yous and goodbyes she also passed a message on to those who have lost someone close to them.

"For those of us who have lost someone this year, remember them with fondness, laughter and love," she said tearing up as her fellow presenters comforted her.

"We keep their legacy alive by telling their stories, so laugh, love and live these Christmas holidays, and be kind to yourself."

The former Silver Ferns' brother, Jeffrey Coffin, lost his battle against bowel cancer last year in July.

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Previously speaking to the Herald about her brother's death, she said it felt like the whole room was closing in when he broke the news to the family.

"You don't know where to look. What to say. I didn't want to look at my mother, because I knew the pain she would be going through ... I was too afraid to speak to him," she said.

"But he still talked about the fact that he was going to beat this. And even in his last breath, he didn't want to go. He fought to the end."

After he died, she said: "You knew at that point that there was no more pain."

Just over three months after Jeff's death, her father Waka Coffin suffered a fatal heart attack.

"I believe that part of it was him having to watch his son go through all of that," Clarkson says. "And in the end I just think it was a broken heart."

She added that after their deaths she had several on-air panic attacks.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.