Kiwi pageant quest - FILMMAKER'S BEAUTY HUNT

Finding the sashed superstars turned out to be a documentary delight

-  Cloe Willetts

Neil Gussey was 13 when he came home from school to see a beautiful blonde model splashed across the front page of the newspaper. It was Lorraine Downes, New Zealand’s first ever Miss Universe.

Like most of the country, Auckland fashion photographer Neil couldn’t get enough of the biggest news event of 1983, when families excitedly gathered in their living rooms to watch the glamorous Miss New Zealand pageant on TV.

“My dad Colin used to listen to the show on the radio, so he knew all the results, and then we’d watch it as a family that night and he’d pretend to pick the top five. We thought he was so clever!” laughs Neil, 51, creator of the upcoming documentary The Rise and Fall of Miss New Zealand, which takes a nostalgic look into the history of the once treasured beauty contest. “It was like watching the Olympics and the whole country sat down to see it.”

Over the past seven months, the former My Kitchen Rules contestant has interviewed 37 people for the piece, including 12 Miss New Zealands, and fashion designers Paula Ryan and Dame Trelise Cooper.