As Colin Mathura-Jeffree dashed between the landmarks of London with the Woman’s Day team in tow, we were mobbed by onlookers. “Is he a star?” demanded a group of French schoolkids as they snapped selfies by Buckingham Palace.
Before we could answer, a nearby American tour guide butted in to reply, “Oh, yes. He’s a Bollywood actor. They come here to shoot on location.” We didn’t argue, but the truth is that the Kiwi model and TV presenter was actually in Britain for the world premiere of Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
And after he’d interviewed his idols Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley for TV3, then walked the red carpet alongside Kate Moss and Emma Bunton, there was just enough time for a fashion shoot with everyone’s favourite magazine!
“This has been such a blast from the past,” raves Colin, 44, sitting down with us at a café later. “The last time I was in London, it changed my life. It was the best of times and the worst of times, but in the chaos, I found myself.”
Going back to the beginning, the star recalls, “It was 2001. My father had just passed away, I felt like my career as a model was on its last gasp and I was really lost. I needed an adventure, so I went to London.”
Watch Colin on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of Absolutely Fabulous in the video. Story continues below.
Immediately on landing at Heathrow in the height of summer, he headed to Hyde Park, where a journalist approached him to ask about the surrounding topless sunbathers. Colin replied, “I come from New Zealand and the English just need to get over the fact that women have tits!” Within 24 hours of landing, he made the TV news.
The following days were a blur of cocktails and posh parties, before landing an invitation to Paris to meet modelling agents. But on the night before his departure, the fabulousness came to an end. As Colin was writing postcards in a café, his bag was stolen from under his chair, leaving him without a wallet, passport or modelling portfolio.
“Everything was gone – my money, my identity and my ability to work,” recalls Colin. “My heart was beating so fast. I was on the other side of the world and this incredible fear came over me. It seemed like the universe had conspired to end my career completely.”
With Paris out of the question, Colin’s mum rang his great-aunt to ask if he could stay with her in Scotland while a new passport was sorted out. Despite a long-running family feud, his aunt said yes and Colin jumped on a train.
“When I arrived at the station, this elderly woman asked me, ‘Are you seriously Colin? You’re a lot darker than I thought you’d be. How long will you be staying?’”
Colin’s great-aunt Valeria didn’t even know his Kiwi dad Clifford had died, let alone that he’d married an Indian woman because the family had had this nasty argument over an inheritance and no-one was speaking to each other.
Colin explains, “They came from old money, and had a historic estate with a castle and a giant manor house, where I slept in this huge bed – I felt like a Disney princess!
And for two weeks, Aunt Valeria would take me to lunch and show me all these old ruins and lochs. I was in awe of my surroundings. After the craziness of London, with the help of this amazing woman, I was able reconnect with myself, reunite my family and come to terms with what was going on in my life.”
After two weeks, Colin’s passport was reissued and he headed home to Aotearoa. He recalls, “I cried the whole way because I didn’t want to leave.”
But shortly after his return to Auckland, Colin was booked to model for Versace, a gig that revived his modelling career and led to his roles in Hottest Home Baker and New Zealand’s Next Top Model, which made him a household name.
Smiling, Colin recalls, “My life was ripped apart, but from the chaos, you realise what’s important and often that’s when the best things happen. It’s magic and I owe it all to being robbed in London. That said, I never imagined I’d go back as I thought London had fulfilled its purpose.”
Fast-forward to 2016 and Colin was back in the British capital, hobnobbing with the stars. “I really felt that energy again,” he says. “London has a real go-go-go vibe. I love it. Despite Brexit, this city seems to be thriving.
“Last time I was here, I felt I was losing the only career I’d ever known, but now I feel so safe and so stable. I really feel like I’ve come full circle.”
