Miss Universe hopefuls ready for camp

Miss Universe New Zealand hopefuls will battle it out at beauty boot camp in Auckland on Sunday and two Tauranga models have won spots in the line-up.

National director Evana Patterson said hundreds of young women entered from around the country but only 80 were selected to participate in camps at Auckland and Wellington before the top 20 vied for the crown.

Kylee Tan is no stranger to the podium and won Miss Hamilton and was second runner-up at Miss New Zealand Queen of the World, last year.

The 23-year-old fulltime pre-school teacher said the pageants were fun and had given her the confidence to pursue the title.

"I had such fun last year, it was so exciting and gave me an excuse to dress up," she told the Bay of Plenty Times.

"It's all about stepping out of your comfort zone really."

The boot camp idea also appealed to Miss Tan, who said it was the ideal opportunity to learn new skills. Now it was just a case of having nerves of steel.

"You always get a bit of nerves before you go on stage and hope you don't trip on your dress or stumble on your words," she said.

Sarah Hayward was an Indulge Bay Model 2012 finalist and said that experience inspired her to "take a big leap forward".

The 19-year-old cafe assistant had been a regular on the Bay of Plenty circuit for the past seven years.

"I have done quite a lot but you never stop learning. I do photo shoots for local photographers around the region like glamour, fashion and car shots as well as hair modelling."

She was looking forward to learning as much as possible from the workshops.

The boot camps encompassed seven key elements covering make-up, modelling, fashion and photography. Miss Universe New Zealand will be televised live on Juice TV. The winner will travel to Moscow to compete in Miss Universe.