How I live...From council to the catwalk 'I'M A BEAUTY QUEEN AT 73'

And the winner is... one brave champion for women who radiates wisdom and self-belief

- Kasia Jillings

“In 2021, I was asked to be a judge at the pageant,” she explains. “I was so impressed with the transformations of the women. Many of them had lived through real hardship and I admired their courage so much.

 A proud Miss Te Arawa alongside her fellow beauties.

“I looked at the classes they were taking part in and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to experience that and just focus on yourself for a while?’ The last 20 years has been head-down, bum-up, getting on with work for me, so I asked the director Kharl WiRepa if I could take part in the classes on the quiet.

“I was a bit shocked when he said, ‘No way, you can’t pick and choose – you’re either all in or not at all.’

“I remember thinking, ‘What will people say about a woman of my age entering the pageant?’

“But this event is so unique, it’s for women of all ages, sizes, abilities and ethnicities. So much of the pageant was about inner beauty which, of course, has no age.

"I've never worried about what people thought of me, so I decided to do something for myself and I absolutely loved the experience.