Jun 10 – Catching Up With The New Miss Gibraltar – An Interview With Kayley Mifsud
Waking up on Sunday morning, the first thing Kayley Mifsud did was to put on her crown to remind herself she had won the Miss Gibraltar competition the night before.
It’s been almost a week since Kayley was crowned Miss Gibraltar, and she caught up with YGTV to talk about her experiences of being part of the competition and what she has in store during her year as Miss Gibraltar.
Kayley, who works in health and safety at GibOil (who were also her sponsors for the pageant) said the whole experience has been great, adding: “If any girl thinks or has a slight thought of entering Miss Gibraltar, take the plunge and do it. You’ll learn so much, and even if you don’t take the title. Just before they called the name, I was just really happy and I had so much fun during the entire experience.”
Check out the interview where we speak about beauty pageants in Gibraltar, her involvement with Miss Gibraltar and what inspired Kayley’s dress.
It’s your first week as Miss Gibraltar, how has it been so far?
It’s been great. The reception has been great and everyone has been so supportive, and it’s really comforting to see so many lovely messages from so many people, it’s been really nice.
What was going through your mind when they called your name as the new Miss Gibraltar?
At first I was reminding myself I was contestant number three. I was telling myself “number three, number three” just in case, but I wasn’t expecting it at all.
The other eight girls were all lovely girls, they’re all intelligent, pretty and they all had charisma and personalities and it could have been any of them, so I really didn’t expect it. Watching it back, I realised I was doing something very silly with my hand because I just couldn’t believe it.
How did you friends and family react to you being crowned Miss Gibraltar 2016?
I just remember seeing my friends and family shoot up and cheer me on. They were in shock, and I think they were all really, really happy. It was really nice to see my granny, Marta, in the crowd. She was one of the first people on the stage after I was crowned, and she just wanted to give me a big hug, which was lovely.
What are your highlights from the whole Miss Gibraltar experience?
The whole process has been absolutely amazing and I think one of the big highlights and something that brought me real joy was when they announced that we’d raised £15,000 for Calpe House.
We were expecting quite a large amount because I know we all did individual events, and we had a rough idea of how much it could be, but we didn’t think it would be £15K. It was really nice to announce that and think that we had put in the effort for it.
Will you be continuing with Calpe House or choosing another charity?
I would like to select more charities, but I do want to continue to raise more for Calpe House because I think it’s such a worthy cause and they are in need and it’s something that benefits all of us - you never know when you’ll need it and it could benefit all of us in the future.
Do you have any ideas of what charity work you would like to do?
I have planned to sit down and decide what I want to do and who I would like to help. I’ve made a list of all the charities in Gibraltar and I will just like to make some of them aware that I am willing to help, more than anything, because there isn’t a single charity I have in mind at the moment other than Calpe House.
Have you made friends with the other contestants? How was the experience of getting to know eight new girls?
At the beginning, as a girl sometimes, you go in and think: are we going to get along? There’s quite a few of us, will we all get along with each other? But truly, from the very beginning, we all just clicked. We’re all very similar in personalities, I find that all of them are very humble, quite intelligent, and because we’re similar we gelled nicely. I have grown to really enjoy spending time with them and now I actually miss them because I did see them almost every day to now not seeing them at all.
How did you manage your time between your job and Miss Gibraltar?
Work has been very supportive, and they’ve been quite accommodating if I’ve had to leave earlier for an event. It’s been quite tiring and with the training as well, I also had to cut down on seeing my friends and my boyfriend Chris, but it works out and you try to squeeze people in where you can.
As we’re talking about the run up to Miss Gibraltar, let me just ask, how did you prepare for it?
I come from a dance background, so in terms of time management it was just a question of prioritising Miss Gibraltar, but with regards to being confident being on stage, that just comes with rehearsals and learning through James and Shyanne.
I prepared myself by visualizing myself on stage and in front of a crowd, and it was just a question of seeing it through.
Tell me about the dress.
My best friend Kayla Debono (who featured in the Runway fashion show last year) designed and made it for me, and it was one of her first evening gowns for a pageant. She is newly trained, and is now working in London, so we’ve been communicating online and I had to fly to London twice.
The first fitting wasn’t the right fit, shall we say, and we were completely panicking but I had complete confidence in her and she was looking forward to this and I thought it would be extra special to have my best friend design it for me.
We bought the materials in Soho, and she started working on it and a few weeks later we had this beautiful dress.
What was the inspiration for your dress?
I wanted something that would suit me, and I thought this would be perfect for this. I drew my inspiration from Pinterest, and this is a combination of three different dressed with a special twist from Kayla who loves embroidery and she gave it her own personal touch.
Miss World is the next big step for you - how is that coming along?
I’ve only thought about Miss World from Sunday because I didn’t want to get my hopes up, even though I peeked at the Miss World page when I first signed up for Miss Gibraltar.
I wanted to focus on the Miss Gibraltar process and experience, but I’m also looking forward to going to Bali for the Miss World competition, where they’re hoping to host the event. I would love Kayla to make my dress for it, but I appreciate she’s very busy working full-time in London.
In Gibraltar, beauty pageants are a very big thing and we have people of all ages taking part, so what is it about beauty pageants that make it such a prominent feature in our community?
I think that because we are in such a small community, and Miss Gibraltar is such a big show, it is the biggest show of the year. I think it brings everyone together and it is just something that everyone can have some input in and it’s exciting. I think about why I used to watch it, and as a girl I think it’s quite inspiring.
A lot of people have been talking about beauty pageants and why they’re so important. Is it just based on looks, and what is it that keeps people signing up year on year knowing they’re being analysed by ever single person watching them?
I think there are many divided perceptions on pageants and I think that definitely these pageants have evolved over the years. When I think back to when I was younger, I didn’t understand the essence of the pageant and I would just see it as a show, but I didn’t think about what being Miss Gibraltar was.
I wanted to sign up when I was 18 years old because I was attracted to the show side of things, but after having gone to university and to work in the UK, it meant something completely different to me. I saw it as a means to putting myself out there and getting involved with a number of charities, and one of the main reasons why I got involved was because they said they were going to support Calpe House. The show and the glamorous side was just a plus.
I don’t think you could quite understand unless you’re involved in this yourself, and it is so much more than just the show you see on the night and I have learnt so much about the whole process.
So what have you learnt about yourself from this year’s show?
I’ve learnt how to be confident and to put myself out there, and how to speak. You also meet the other girls, you meet more people and you understand more about charities and productions. It’s a huge learning process, and I think I will be learning so much more from this year.
What do you think you will bring to your role as Miss Gibraltar?
The last few Miss Gibraltars have done an incredible amount of charity work, and it’s going to be hard to follow up but I’m willing to try as hard as I can. I’ve cleared any holidays because I want to be here and do as much as I can, and I would like charities to come forward if they need me for anything. Shyanne, Hannah and even Kaiane have offered me help and advice for Miss World, and that’s been comforting.
Finally, tell us a bit about yourself...
I’m definitely a free spirit and I’d like to think I’m down to earth. I enjoy being outdoors and going on holidays and meeting new people, and I want to travel the world.
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