Recalling her beloved daughter’s early years, Dunedin balloon twister and play therapist Pip Milford-Hughes says, “From the moment she was born, Grace couldn’t keep food down. It was so bad, we often feared we would lose her.”
Doctors simply called Grace’s condition “failure to thrive”, and for years, Pip, 54, and her husband Gareth were beset with worries and sleepless nights. Things only improved when the family visited a specialist feeding clinic in Austria when Grace was five, a trip made possible thanks to the generosity of friends, family and strangers.
“You feel like such a failure when your child is unwell, but once Grace started eating, her speech and walking improved, and everything changed for the better,” Pip remembers.
Then there was another breakthrough when Grace turned nine – a diagnosis! Grace had a very rare condition called Coffin-Siris syndrome, although by that stage, the myriad challenges had taken their toll and the family had sold their home to make ends meet.
As Pip and Gareth, along with son Oliver, now 21, all tightened their belts, Pip found escapism in balloon twisting. She explains, “I’m in the moment when I do balloons and everything else disappears while I focus on the person I’m twisting for. If it wasn’t for the challenges we faced, I probably wouldn’t be a balloon artist.”
Family fur ever: Oliver (with Eddie), Pip, Grace and Gareth (holding Charlie).
However, Pip’s inflatable adventures really started in the 1970s, when she saw her first balloon twister at an A&P show in Balclutha at the tender age of eight. She recalls, “I was mesmerised and, much to Mum’s dismay, I spent all my show money on the three animals the twister was making. I also begged him to sell me some uninflated balloons, so I could learn to twist for myself.”
Soon afterwards, balloons took a backseat, but Pip’s passion was reinflated when she started dabbling at the hospital after Grace was born. This led to an invitation to perform at a child’s birthday party, and in spite of being nervous and only knowing a few designs, Pip said yes.
She very quickly made a name for herself as “Pippity Pop”, with balloon twisting not only offering some respite from caregiving, but also boosting the family budget.
As for how bubbly Pip came to be on Three’s new reality show Blow Up, she lays the blame squarely at the feet of her bestie, fellow twister Paul Bates, aka “Zappo the Magician”.
She says, “I love Paul and he insisted we enter together. I did worry about being voted off first and my credibility going down the drain, but Paul wrapped me up in his enthusiasm. Besides, life’s too short not to put yourself out there, even if the camera does add a good 20 pounds!”
Pip, Paul (in orange) and the Blow Up gang get the party started.
Modesty aside, the happily married mum-of-two is sure to rise above the competition because, since those days of hardship and hospitals, she’s become one of Aotearoa’s top balloon twisters, with a lot more to her repertoire than just swords and sausage dogs.
Pip has even taught balloon art in Australia, Japan, the States and across Europe, and has built everything from an anatomically correct brain, to ride-in cars and a magic garden.
Yet in spite of her extensive experience, she still finds balloon twisting stressful at times. Pip tells, “I once did a gig in Cromwell in Central Otago and from the very beginning, every balloon popped. I wondered if my flash new watch was emitting static, so I took it off, but the balloons still popped. Was it my jewellery? Off it came too, but still… Pop! Pop! My nylon shirt? My shoes? Off they all came.
“Aside from the stress of all the pops, I was terrified that if I kept taking things off, I’d soon be naked. But I refused to give up, even though I burst into tears when I got to my car. Then back at the motel, when I turned on the lights, I realised my pump and balloon bag were sparkling. Holy schist! I realised Central Otago is built on schist, a combination of granite and silica, which is essentially glass dust. That took such a toll on my nerves. For a while, I shook and sweated every time I heard a balloon pop!”
Don’t worry, Pip – this won’t hurt much.
In spite of the tough times, or perhaps because of them, Pip’s developed an incredible spirit and her enthusiasm for life shines through in everything she does, which she says is all down to her kids.
“Our children are everything to us. Our son Oliver is amazing – so thoughtful and kind, partly because of what we went through with Grace. And Grace, she’s 18 now and she’s taught us such a lot, like how to love unconditionally and not to sweat the small stuff, especially when your balloons go pop. Although she’s also rather stubborn, much like her mother!”
Blow Up screens 7.30pm Mondays and Tuesdays on Three.
