Wearing a gorgeous gown, a tiara and her sash, Celestina Aolele Grant looks every inch the regal beauty queen at our photo shoot.
Crowned Miss Mana Wahine at Miss Rotorua in 2022, you’d never guess that just three years earlier, she was at rock bottom – a P addict who sold both drugs and her body.
Celestina, 48, who is of Ngāti Awa and Te Arawa descent, tells Woman’s Day her struggles started when she was being raised by her grandparents in the Bay of Plenty.
“My mother left early on to live in Australia, so I grew up with her brothers and sisters,” shares Celestina. “They were jealous of me and I rebelled. I left at 13 to live with my mum.”
It was a decision she came to regret for the rest of her life. “I wish I had never gone,” she admits. “I didn’t get on with my mum. Her husband told his family that I was her niece.”
Feeling rejected and unloved in Adelaide, Celestina fled to Sydney to live with another relative, but he had his own problems and this move sealed her fate for the next 30 years.
“He was a drug taker,” says Celestina. “I ended up making some fast, easy money as a sex worker in King’s Cross. It was there that the drug addiction really took hold.”
Esta historia es de la edición 06 April, 2023 de Woman’s Day Magazine NZ.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición 06 April, 2023 de Woman’s Day Magazine NZ.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
TREASURE & TRAUMA
The launch of the new season of Celebrity Treasure Island doubled as an eighth wedding anniversary celebration for contestant Millen Baird and his wife Siobhan Marshall, who came fourth on the show back in 2022.
JUDGE JAY-JAY
Radio diva Jay-Jay Feeney delivers her verdict on your biggest dilemmas
CASEY'S BABY JOY 'OUR GIRL IS ALREADY SO LOVED'
The Te Puke gym owner refused to let a devastating accident stop her from becoming a mother
DEAD FUNNY! SHOSHANA'S GOING SOLO
The Emmy Award-winning writer is starring in a macabre new comedy
TWO RAW SISTERS BABY MAKES THREE!
Rosa and Margo have a new cookbook and bundle of joy on the way
HOME AND AWAY'S NEW MÃORI STAR
The son of a Kiwi sporting Legend, Cantona Stewart is making waves in Summer Bay
TV STAR AIDEE 'THE NIGHT I ALMOST DIED'
The actress and director opens up about her terrifying ordeal
CARMEL SEPULONI I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FIGHTER!
Our former deputy PM the lessons she's learnt in politics on CTI
KENNEDY & SOLLY'S ROMANTIC RACE TO THE ALTAR
The Black Ferns co-captain and her rugby star husband organised the ir nuptials in just five days!
THE BRAD & GEORGE SHOW is back!
Their lovable bromance is stealing the spotlight in Venice!