TEN years after Jennifer Hawkins was crowned Miss Universe, Newcastle will have another contestant in the world’s biggest beauty pageant.
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Tegan Martin, 21, was named Miss Universe Australia in Melbourne on Friday night, beating out 30 other glamours including fellow Novocastrian and good friend Natalie Roser.
Both Newcastle girls finished in the final five, but it was Martin who finally claimed the crown after placing first runner-up at the national finals in 2011 and 2013.
Sydney’s Monika Radulovic and Briden Star and Brisbane’s Danielle Johnson rounded out the top five.
Martin will head to Donald Trump’s Miss Universe pageant later this year, with the chance of emulating Newcastle product Jennifer Hawkins, who was rocketed to stardom in 2004 when she claimed the Miss Universe crown in front of a global audience of 800 million.
Martin, from Jewells, is now based in Sydney where she works as a model, appearing in the 2011 series of Australia’s Next Top Model. She is also studying nutritional medicine with the goal to use her studies to shed light on youth mental illness.
The title provides the opportunity to propel Martin onto the national stage, with previous winners of the Miss Universe Australia crown including Erin McNaught, Rachael Finch and Jesinta Campbell.
Model and full-time freelance photographer Roser had been described as a Jennifer Hawkins look-a-like in the lead-up after revelations she appeared as a body-double for the supermodel in commercials. Roser, 24, was named runner-up in the Miss World Australia competition last year in what was her first major pageant.
