Spy: The rise and fall of Miss New Zealand

A montage of former Miss New Zealand winners featured in the upcoming documentary about the competition.

A fascinating documentary is being made about the rise and fall of the Miss New Zealand competition.

During the 1960s, 70s and 80s, winning the title was the equivalent of being an All Black in terms of fame. But now, the competition barely causes a ripple.

Documentary-maker Neil Gussey says the competition winners from the era were our version of Lady Di. He's right, they accompanied royalty on the cover of women's magazines right through those decades and many had hugely successful careers in the worlds of fashion, beauty and television.

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"The documentary is a light-hearted trip back in time, talking to the various winners and recalling their experiences in the year that they reigned," says Gussey, who has worked with some of the biggest names in the business as a photographer since the 80s.

He has selected a nine of the winners from the years he thinks stood out the most both at the time of their wins and beyond.

Included is our most famous beauty queen Lorraine Downes, who became our first Miss Universe in 1983, and Elaine Daley (Miscall), who became a celebrity for decades when she came second in Miss World in 1963.

Mrs World 1987 winner Barbara McDowell will feature and Gussey says some of the funniest tales come from Tracey Allan and her mother, Lorraine, who were named Miss Mother and Daughter New Zealand 1988 and jetted off to Guam and made the finals.

Along with interviews with past winners, Gussey has interviewed some other famous faces and industry experts, including Colin Mathura-Jeffree, Paula Ryan, Dame Trelise Cooper, Di Goldsworthy and of course the eyes and ears of the times, the great David Hartnell, to tell the backstories and whether it really was a fairytale for everyone.

A nugget people forget, says Gussey, is that we had a near-miss with Miss Universe three years before Downes took the crown in 1983 in Delyse Borley (Nottle)

"Two days before the Miss Universe 1980 final, the press photographers voted Denyse as the winner of Miss Photogenic and she rocketed up and, out of the 75 contestants, was equal favourite to win, along with Miss Sweden and Miss USA with bookies' odds of 3-1."

Nottle ended up as 2nd runner up and went on to become a successful international model working in Europe for years and is now based in London.

Documentary-maker Neil Gussey is working on a doco exploring the Miss New Zealand competition.

Gussey thinks the height of the competition was the mid-80s, when Downes captured the crown and the viewing numbers on TV were through the roof.

With regards to the fall of the competition, he says it happened in 1989, when TVNZ stopped screening it and times had moved on. Gussey says he has seen a resurgence in the modern era with the rise of reality TV and social media.

He has included Holly Michelle Cassidy from 2013, who competed in Russia for Miss Universe when Donald Trump was running the competition, and Jess Tyson from 2018, who went to Miss World and reached the top six.

Gussey hopes to have interviews done by the end of August. Watch out for a big screening at Event Cinemas with all proceeds going to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre.

It will then be entered into the various film festivals next year and be available to watch online.