WAGs, presenters, top models: Qld celebs who started in beauty pageants
From a TV news anchor to a Real Housewife and some of the country’s best known models, take a look back at the Queensland identities who started their careers as pageant queens
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From Justin Timberlake to Sharon Stone, Oprah Winfrey and Australia’s own Jennifer Hawkins – many of the world’s best known stars started their careers in the beauty pageant system.
And Queensland is no different, with a strong representation in the Miss World and Miss Universe competitions in the last two decades including four consecutive Miss World Australia winners between 2013 and 2016.
Similarly to their global counterparts many of them have gone on to enjoy varied successful careers in television, modelling and business.
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From a TV news anchor to a Real Housewife and some of the country’s best known models, The Courier-Mail has taken a look into the archives to reveal which Queensland identities started their careers in beauty pageants.
Erin McNaught
Miss Universe Australia 2006
Winning the Miss Universe Australia title in 2006 began a whirlwind career in the spotlight for Erin McNaught.
She was a rising model in Brisbane at the time and racy shots published in a men’s magazine sparked controversy, with some pageant judges calling for her to be stripped of her title.
The media storm led to the nickname “McNaughty”, which – having taken it in her stride – is still her Instagram handle in 2022.
She managed to leverage the spotlight to land a number of TV gigs in the years following her pageant win, landing a role on Neighbours, appearing on Dancing With The Stars and presenting on a number of shows including an MTV music show.
It was there she interviewed British rapper Example, aka Elliot Gleave, in 2011, and the pair were engaged by the end of the following year.
After a period of time living in London, where they welcomed two sons, the couple relocated to Brisbane in 2019 and McNaught has since landed a number of top modelling campaigns as well as appearing on SAS Australia.
She was recently named the as The Star’s ambassador for the Gold Coast Magic Millions Carnival.
Rachael Finch
Miss Universe Australia 2009
After being plucked out of North Queensland to be crowned Miss Universe Australia in 2009, Finch has become one of Australia’s best known models and presenters.
She had always wanted to be a model growing up in Townsville and initially won the Queensland Model of the Year title in 2004. It took her to Brisbane where she was scouted at a modelling event.
Finch represented Australia at the Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas and placed third runner-up.
The following year she was selected to compete on Dancing With The Stars, partnered with dancer Michael Miziner. The pair married in 2013 and now share two children at their Sydney home.
For almost a decade Finch has been a longstanding Myer ambassador, where she joined Jennifer Hawkins, and a go-to model for top Australian brands while also presenting for Channel 7 during events such as the Australian Open, Melbourne Cup and Olympics.
She also founded a number of businesses including activewear and fitness program Body by Finch and recently Kissed Earth Supplements.
The family plan to move to Florida in August.
“Misha and I have always stayed in our own lane. At the end of the day, when the events close and the photo shoots finish and Instagram gets turned off, what’s left is you, your husband and your family,” she said recently. “That’s what really matters, and we’re just really excited to build a future that’s exciting for all of us.”
Jesinta Franklin, nee Campbell
Miss Universe Australia 2010
An upcoming Gold Coast model, Jesinta Campbell’s career catapulted after she won the Miss Universe Australia title in 2010, taking over from Finch.
She finished as second runner up in the Miss Universe pageant and was crowned Miss Congeniality – sharing a photo at the time celebrating in her hotel room because she was too young to go to the after-party in Las Vegas.
In the years that followed she became a guest reporter for Seven’s The Morning Show and co-host of the Hot30 Countdown.
By 2016 she landed a coveted David Jones ambassadorship -seeing her walk a number of high profile season launches for two years – and she published her first book that October.
The following month she married Sydney AFL star Lance “Buddy” Franklin and the pair now share two children as one of Australia’s best known celebrity power couples.
“Beauty pageants get a bad wrap but I’ll forever be grateful for this experience. It gave me a platform to build a career I could only dream of, meet incredible people and bring me to where I am today,” she once wrote.
Nicole Gazal O’Neill
Miss World Australia 2002
Nicole Gazal was the winner of the Miss World Australia pageant, winning the competition in 2002 while representing Queensland.
She was studying a commerce degree on the Gold Coast at the time and represented Australia at the Miss World pageant in Nigeria, where she placed in the top 10, despite local riots threatening to derail the competition.
Following the competition she founded her planning and production start-up, Pret-a-Party and married her childhood sweetheart, Adam O’Neill, splitting their time between Sydney and London.
In 2017 she was cast on the Real Housewives of Sydney, which showcased their exquisite multimillion dollar Sydney home.
Erin Holland
Miss World Australia 2013
Holland has become a top ambassador and presenter in Australia in recent years, but her pageant beginnings came by chance.
After growing up in Cairns, she had moved to Sydney to train as a classical singer at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
When she graduated, she struggled to make the transition into being a performer and took promotional and event work to get her through the countless auditions she did despite never landing a gig.
Having seen the successful careers forged by Hawkins as well as Finch and Campbell, fellow Queenslanders, she considered beauty pageants.
“I just decided to sign myself up and I chose Miss World because it has a talent section and I was a singer,” she said in Kendall Gilding’s podcast My 30 Minutes.
Holland won Miss World Australia in 2013 at 24 and she placed top six internationally.
“It was such a strategic career move to do this for a purpose and to use it to have that leg up into the entertainment industry – all of a sudden that whirlwind year is gone and you go ‘wow, have I actually made any inroads into what I want to do after?’ All of a sudden in a month when the next one is crowned I’m old news. What do you do?” she said.
Holland met Brisbane cricketer Ben Cutting via Instagram at the end of 2014 and the pair have since split their lives between Sydney and Brisbane.
She has become an ambassador and model for top agencies including The Star and Qatar Airways and has become a Channel 7 cricket presenter, also presenting for the Pakistan Super League.
After the pair married in early 2021 she appeared on SAS Australia and recently became an ambassador for the Seppelt Wines All-Star Mile.
Eva Milic
Miss World Australia 2001
Milic has been a fixture on Nine News in Queensland for more than a decade, but her career in journalism came after a stint as Miss World Australia.
After graduating school on the Gold Coast, Milic competed in the Miss World competition and was crowned in 2001.
She then completed a masters degree in journalism at Griffith University, during which she was offered a freelance position with Nine Gold Coast News in 2004.
She replaced Natalie Gruzlewski as the program’s full-time weather presenter in January 2006 while reporting and has been with Nine ever since.
She has worked as a fill-in presenter for Melissa Downes on Nine News Queensland and then Nine’s Gold Coast News.
Kimberley Busteed
Miss Universe Australia 2007
A former teen swimming champion and surf lifesaving competitor growing in Gladstone, Busteed was thrown into the spotlight when she was crowned Miss Universe Australia in 2007 – when she was just 18.
Her national costume sparked controversy but she was endorsed by designers Wayne Cooper and Peter Morrissey in the same year.
She left Gladstone in the wake of the competition and relocated to the Gold Coast, where she signed as a TV presenter on Channel 7’s Creek to Coast and Queensland’s Weekender by 2008.
In her first official event after returning from the international pageant, she was emceeing Surf Life Saving Queensland’s Up The Tower fundraiser in Queen Street Mall, where newly-minted Queensland Bulls cricket captain Chris Simpson was there in his role to help raise money.
The pair began dating after that and in 2012. They married in 2014 and now share three children.
Busteed has worked as an ambassador for a number of top level agencies and also enjoyed a stint as a Nova radio presenter.
Tess Alexander
Miss World Australia 2015
Alexander landed her first international modelling contract at the age of 17, leaving for Japan after finishing school in Brisbane.
After modelling overseas, she returned to Australia at 24 and went on to be crowned Miss World Australia in 2015, placing in the top 10 at the international pageant.
Since then Alexander has been a fixture in the Brisbane social scene as the face of Queens Plaza and ambassador for brands including Moët & Chandon and Cancer Council Queensland.
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