Maori heritage could be the key to Miss World crown

Winning the Miss World New Zealand title has proved that Whanganui local, Jess Tyson, has beauty as well as brains.

The 25-year-old journalist is as proud to wear the sash and crown her new role brings as she is of the unwavering support she gets from her iwi, Te Ātihaunui-a-Pāpārangi, and her upbringing.

‘I feel really lucky to have grown up in Whanganui because it taught me how to enjoy the small things in life, like spending quality time with my whānau,” she says.

Jess is a presenter and online journalist at Māori Television, a dream job, which allows her to juggle her work commitments with her duties as Miss World New Zealand.

She joined the broadcaster after a stint at TVNZ, a job she landed after gaining a Bachelor of Communication Studies majoring in journalism at AUT University.

“My father, Raymond Tyson, is a shareholder of Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation. I’m grateful because the incorporation helped me throughout my time at university by granting me financial assistance to support my study,” she says.

“I get to learn so much about the world through my work because I’m always so up-to-date with what’s happening all over the globe.”

Winning her first pageant at 15, Jess has always set her sights on the Miss World New Zealand crown and the chance to represent Aotearoa at the world’s most prestigious beauty contest.

“I love Miss World because of its ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ campaign, which is the heart and soul of the pageant. This is a judged category, requiring each national titleholder to work on one charity project, focusing on one of the most pressing issues affecting young people in their country.”

Image: Neil Gussey, Belle Photography

“Miss World representatives are women who genuinely care about helping others and I feel that the way I was brought up really shaped me to be like that.”

Jess will travel to China in November to compete at Miss World. Despite the stiff competition, many online blogs predict Jess as one of the favourites to win.

“I know these blogs are only predictions and have nothing to do with the actual final judges’ scores, so I don’t take them too seriously. But I do appreciate the enormous support from so many people around the world who choose me and believe that I am a strong contender.”

Jess says that her Māori culture will make her stand out from the rest of the competition. She wasn’t raised to speak te reo but studied full-time to learn the language.

“It changed my life,” she says. “I fell in love with the language because it taught me so much about where I am from, the history of my whānau and the Māori culture. It is also such a beautiful language with a lot of my favourite Māori phrases unable to be translated into English because they are so unique.”

Her job at Māori Television has really helped with her confidence in speaking te reo Māori.

Image: Anand Kulkarni, Anand K Photographry

“I love telling stories about our Māori people and our achievements. Being able to showcase our people in a positive light and our unique culture through my news stories is so rewarding.”

Keria Ponga, chair of the Te Āti Hau Trust, is pleased Jess has the opportunity to bring Māori language and culture to a world stage.

“One of the reasons the Trust was so happy to support Jess in her studies was because of her commitment to te reo Māori. The Trust and I are very proud of the way she is bringing our language to the world’s attention. We wish her every success in China.”

In recent times, beauty pageants have come under fire for being irrelevant and exploiting women. Jess says this criticism is unfair and views pageants in a positive light.

“Pageants serve a purpose. They provide young woman with ways to build their confidence, become leaders and help others through charity work and community projects.”

She says the best part of being a beauty queen is being able to inspire other young women.

“It’s important for girls to always be positive and realise that there are so many reasons to love themselves, their own bodies and their life.”