After being crowned champion on new reality series Blow Up, vivacious Dunedin balloon artist Pip Milford Hughes is bursting with pride – and it’s not just the judges who reckon she’s a winner.
“My son Oliver, daughter Grace and husband Gareth have all been so supportive, and I couldn’t be more grateful,” says Pip, 54.
“Gareth’s definitely not a crier, but when I told him about the win, I saw tears in his eyes. He said, ‘You mightn’t have thought you could do it, but we always knew you could.'”
Bursting into tears, Pip explains, “We’ve had some tough times, but my family has always been there for me – not just for this show, but in every way.”
Pip’s emotions rise to the surface as she recalls some of her whānau’s trials, including her girl being born with Coffin- Siris syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that made her early years very challenging as she wasn’t able to keep food down.
“Once Grace was about five, she finally started eating and thriving. About the same time, I started working weekends doing balloons and Gareth would always look after Grace. She’s 18 now and still can’t be left on her own, but never once has Gareth said I shouldn’t do a gig or go overseas for work. He still pulls out all the stops to help me every way he can.”
Pip’s proud family – husband Gareth and kids Oliver and Grace.
The contestants on Blow Up also fell for Pip’s charms, with Kāpiti Coast competitor Natalie Atkinson saying she couldn’t imagine a more supportive adversary.
She recalls, “I shared a house with Pip and Paul [Bates] while we were up in Auckland filming. After we’d worked hard all day, Pip would share balloon-twisting tips with us at night, while Paul cooked the most amazing meals.”
Clearly Pip makes friends wherever she goes, but one of her favourites has to be a little boy she met while performing at a birthday party. She laughs, “I was twisting away when I felt a little nip on the back of my leg. I looked down to see his little face and I asked if he’d just bitten me. To which he replied, ‘I love you so much, Pippity-Pop, I just wanted to see what you tasted like!'”
Pip’s incredible balloon builds have included everything from ride-in cars, planes and motorbikes, to dinosaurs and wearable dresses. She even makes how-to DVDs that teach balloon art. But it’s harder than most people realise.
“I use a pump to blow up balloons as twisters can easily get detached retinas or hernias because mouth inflation is so hard. Twisting is also tough on our hands. We were so grateful to the producers of Blow Up for bringing in a hand therapist on the days we did the big builds.”
The Three reality show’s sound technicians also expressed amazement at the balloon artists’ vigour. Pip tells, “They’d attach our radio mics to neoprene belts and they said they’d only known athletes to sweat as much as balloon artists.
“Those soundies had no idea that the physical effort of twisting would be so immense, and as the builds got bigger and more challenging, the sweatier we’d get. Sometimes our belts were dripping wet when we took them off!”
Pip credits her mother with helping her forge the inner strength required to work at that level. “Mum was pretty tough on us kids and that certainly shaped me, but I’m actually only confident on the outside – on the inside, I can still be pretty insecure.”
A self-confessed perfectionist, Pip had to learn to let that go to achieve what was required for each challenge on Blow Up.
“I struggled with that, but having my bestie Paul on the show, his enthusiasm always rubbed off,” she enthuses. “When I was really stressing, he was like, ‘Hello, love!’ and I’d feel more confident. All the people on the show were so lovely and talented, which meant I honestly didn’t know that I’d won until the very last moment. Art is so subjective.”
But Pip’s winning sculpture – a working carousel with all her favourite animals on it – topped everything she’d ever done. “It was huge and took over 14 hours to build because I wanted it to be best piece I’d ever made,” she grins.
“Winning Blow Up has definitely given me more self-confidence. It’s also opened doors for me to share my love of balloons by collaborating with other artists.
“I love how balloon twisters take a simple piece of latex and create magic before people’s eyes, then we give people a bit of that magic to take home. That’s why we all love what we do and why everyone on Blow Up is a winner.”
