Voting support needed for Miss World New Zealand

Miss World New Zealand is calling on Aotearoa to vote for her in order for her to win the multimedia section at Miss World.

The Māori Television reporter and presenter Jessica Tyson is in China at the Miss World pageant, here she is up against 118 contestants from around the world.

“I’m so excited to be here and represent our beautiful country. It’s been a huge dream of mine to come here so I’m living my dream,” says the 25-year-old of Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārangi.

"The competition here is tough, especially going up against countries with hundreds and thousands of supporters. It would mean so much to me to have support from everyone back home,” she says.

The public can vote via four different online media outlets including the MobStar app, the Miss World website, a China-based website Model Live and by liking the Miss World – New Zealand Facebook page.

The competition so far

Tyson has already stood out at the competition after being chosen to feature in the Dance of Nations performance at the final show.

“I’m going to be performing a long poi routine alongside Miss Cook Islands and it’s going to be amazing,” says Tyson.

She also placed in the top 30 in the Top Model show.

“Placing in the top model section was a huge surprise for me. I’ve never really considered myself to be a runway model so being recognised in this section taught me to never doubt myself,” she says.

In the coming weeks, the contestants will also be judged in a sports competition, interview with the judges, multimedia and Beauty with a Purpose charity project.

For Tyson’s charity project earlier this year she started her own charity Brave to help young people affected by sexual violence, after coming out about being a survivor of child sexual abuse.

“This is the most important part about taking part in Miss World and I feel so excited to present the work that we have done with Brave to the judges,” she says.

The final show is to be held on December 8.