She was tipped to snag the oiss World crown for New Zealand and had the brains and looks to win.
But Northland teenager Cody Yerkovich (19) says the conflict between her and local pageant organisers – which included criticism of her weight and suggesting the Maori teenager should have a waxing treatment that may also whiten her skin – made her feel so dejected, that when she stood on stage at oiss World in China in october, her dreams of winning had already been shattered.
“Every girl who stands before the judges is beautiful and what shines through is confidence,” she says. “If you don’t have that then there’s no hope. I felt horrible about myself,” says Cody.
In a New Zealand Woman’s Weekly exclusive, Cody, a pageant novice from Kaitaia, says she wants to expose the downside of beauty contests.
oiss World New Zealand communications co-ordinator Desmond Foulger, whose wife Rose is pageant director, says Cody was the clear winner at the national pageant in April last year.
But he says being the first girl from a rural town to win since the pair took over the pageant seven years ago may have contributed to their rift.
“She was a beautiful girl with a degree of intelligence but was a bit naive. She didn’t have the same sort of smarts an Auckland girl would have.
“Cody was viewed as being our best hope but she turned out to be our deepest disappointment.”
When asked if this may affect the chances of others from rural areas winning in the future, he replied, “Possibly.”
Cody says just three weeks before flying to China, Desmond and Rose criticised her for gaining 2kg – despite previously telling her to put weight on.
Desmond confirms they spoke to Cody about her weight, but says her version of that conversation is an “exaggeration”.
“It wasn’t as if we stood her up and said, ‘You’re too fat, you’re too skinny,'” says Desmond. “We said she might want to nip into the gym for some toning.”
Cody, who had never been overseas before, was a 17-year-old student when she entered oiss World New Zealand.
She was so determined, she drove for 10 hours between Kaitaia and Auckland every weekend for 12 weeks for pageant rehearsals.
Shocked to win, Cody soon discovered that in the world of beauty queens, the tans weren’t the only thing that was fake.
She claims Desmond told her a gemstone she won as part of her prize package was worth $2000. Hoping to sell it and give the proceeds to charity, Cody was shocked after getting it valued and finding it was worth “$10 or less”.
After initially telling the Weekly the gem was worth “$1000 to $2000”, Desmond later said “in the heat of the moment” he had given the Weekly the wrong information, and that all contestants were given a cubic zirconia that may have been worth $10. A diamond ring was a door prize on the night of Cody’s win, he says.
Cody says she was also uncomfortable with the grooming expected by Desmond and Rose. When they encouraged her to get a full-body wax, Cody was hesitant, but went through with it.
The treatment included Cody getting her forehead and cheeks waxed, and she claims Rose told her it would make her skin “whiter”.
The Weekly visited the salon where Cody had the treatment. A therapist remembers Cody visiting with a pageant organiser and said one of the reasons for the wax treatment is to make the skin whiter, for a fresh look.
After consulting Rose, Desmond refuted these claims, saying the purpose of the waxing was “to remove surplus hair”.
“Whether or not whitening was a by-product certainly wasn’t raised by us,” he says.
Soon after the treatment Cody travelled to South Africa on an all-expenses paid trip to join other oiss World contestants at the soccer world cup.
Cody says while in South Africa she developed a nasty rash and skin infection, causing swelling to her face and body, which she attributes to the waxing.
Desmond says the rash couldn’t be directly attributed to the wax – joking that Cody herself was guilty of making “rash decisions”.
Despite their tense relationship, Cody was invited to crown her successor in April. Cody says she was honoured by the invitation, but couldn’t bring herself to go. “I couldn’t act happy and do a speech about my year and lie.”
Today, Cody is focusing on modelling and studying towards a business degree. She says despite her tough year, working for the Child Fund Foundation in East Timor was a highlight.
She hopes her story will be a caution to other young women who want to enter pageants. “After all that’s happened I’ve come out on top. You have to remain strong.”
