Secrets of Amber Peebles - TV's party girl

Brooke Howard-Smith and Amber Peebles are what Rachel Glucina describes as a 'plus one' couple. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Party girl and pretty MTV presenter Amber Peebles knows she has to wear a different outfit to every party. When she can't borrow a new frock from Sarah Lilly or Black Sheep, she's been known to whip something up herself on the Bernina.

Yet she denies she's hooked into the celebrity circuit and says Kiwis generally aren't too fussed about celebs.

The 25-year-old former Miss World New Zealand wouldn't be drawn on how to play the party game to its full potential, claiming herself to be "nana" when it comes to enjoying a quiet night at home.

"I'm quite a nana ... I mean, I only go out a few times a month."

But Peebles observers say she's one of the best in the business at getting her face and name in the social and gossip pages without doing or saying particularly much. A quick check of the Herald on Sunday and NZ Herald's photo stock shows more than 130 photos of Peebles taken at parties and functions, wearing mostly different outfits.

Herald on Sunday Spy gossip columnist Rachel Glucina says Peebles would go to the "opening of an envelope" and doesn't seem to worry about over-exposure. Glucina describes Peebles and her new hubby, TV's Target presenter Brooke Howard-Smith, as a "plus one" couple - minor celebrities who team up and together have more pulling power on the circuit.

Peebles came on the scene six years ago as a Miss World New Zealand winner. One lifestyle editor at the time remembers Peebles as being "young, sweet and pretty", but conscious of being in the shadow of well-connected society girl Rachel Huljich, who had won the title the previous year. So she took advice from the editor and, she says, from established party-goers like Ricardo Simich. Peebles changed her hair, clothes and image and aimed for the celebrity circuit. She landed a job with MTV, a job that often takes her overseas.

Says Glucina: "Lo and behold she became a celebrity. For sheer determination and game plan nous, she deserves to be commended. "

But Peebles downplays her role in the fame game, saying it's just the Auckland social pages. "Like it's not a big deal, it's just the social rags. It's cool and it's a bit of visual entertainment for a Sunday but it's not like you're on the front cover of Vogue or Marie Claire."

Her family and friends would "give me hell" if she took herself too seriously, she says. Peebles claims she doesn't think too much about her celebrity status, although admits to selling stories about herself to women's magazines.

After Howard-Smith proposed marriage in Paris, he called New Idea - having already hinted to the magazine editor that he had something planned. Says Glucina: "I've never known her to say no to a photo."