DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇿 New Zealand /Good News

Cook Islander Tiare Henry-Anguna Wins Miss World Oceania Title for Second Time

From RNZ Pacific · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Tiare Henry-Anguna of the Cook Islands won the Miss World Oceania title at the pageant finals in Vietnam.
  • She said the achievement represented the Cook Islands and the wider Pacific Islands region.
  • Former Miss Cook Islands Tajiya Sahay, who won the title in 2019, praised Henry-Anguna’s performance and potential.

Tiare Henry-Anguna has brought the Miss World Oceania title back to the Cook Islands, becoming only the second woman from the country to win the continental crown.

I feel so extremely blessed and grateful, coming from a small nation of 15,000 people. This is not only just for the Cook Islands, but it's for the whole Pacific nation as well. So I wear this sash and I wear this tiara for all of you, for our young girls in the Cook Islands [and] in the Pacific.

· Tiare Henry-AngunaShe dedicated her continental title to the Cook Islands and young women across the Pacific.

Henry-Anguna received the title at the Miss World finals in Vietnam on September 5. She competed against 110 other contestants during the month-long 73rd edition of the international pageant. The Dominican Republic’s Joheirry Mola won the Miss World crown, with six continental queens announced alongside her.

Henry-Anguna said the result belonged to more than the Cook Islands, a nation of 15,000 people. “I feel so extremely blessed and grateful, coming from a small nation of 15,000 people. This is not only just for the Cook Islands, but it's for the whole Pacific nation as well. So I wear this sash and I wear this tiara for all of you, for our young girls in the Cook Islands [and] in the Pacific.”

I just want to say thank you to everyone back home, but I also want to say a big, huge thank you to my director, to my family and friends, and to my daddy up in heaven. This is for you, and I hope you I made you proud.

· Tiare Henry-AngunaShe thanked the people who supported her pageant journey.

She also thanked people who supported her, including her director, family and friends, and her late father. She said she had not expected to win and had focused on enjoying the experience. The competition, she added, created a “sisterhood” among the contestants.

Before the finale, I already told others 'I absolutely believe our Miss Cook Islands Tiare will definitely be our next Miss World Oceania.'

· Tajiya SahayThe 2019 titleholder recalled predicting Henry-Anguna’s win.

The victory held particular significance for Tajiya Sahay, who became the first Cook Islander to win Miss World Oceania in 2019. Sahay said she had believed Henry-Anguna could win and described herself as “over the moon” when the prediction came true. She said the result showed people from a small nation that hard work and self-belief could make seemingly unreachable dreams possible.

I screamed, I had happy tears, but I wasn't too surprised at all because I saw her potential and everything she put into her journey.

· Tajiya SahaySahay described her reaction after Henry-Anguna won.
About this summary

Originally published by RNZ Pacific in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog