Miss Samoa Melbourne, Haylanni Pearl Mataupu Kuruppu is the new Miss Samoa 2022/2023, after she won in front of a boisterous crowd crowd on Saturday night at Gym 1, Tuanaimato. 

The Australian Catholic University student, who is about to complete a physiotherapy degree, was contestant number 8 in the 2022 Vodafone Miss Samoa Pageant and is of mixed parentage from Colombo, Sri Lanka and Samoa.

Her major prizes on the night of the crowning were for Best Talent and Miss Photogenic which swung the votes in her favour to lead to her coming out as the victor among her eight peers.

She is also passionate about fashion and is working at F45Gym as a group trainer as well as a youth worker supporting young children. 

“I love keeping my body healthy and participating in sports such as rugby sevens, basketball and touch rugby,” she said. 

“My purpose as a young tama’ita’i Samoa is to inspire the youth to be confident with their culture, to grow in knowledge about our roots and love who we are and what we can become.”

Asked what she would focus on if she won the Miss Samoa crown on Saturday night, Ms. Kuruppu pointed to health and the importance of creating awareness on healthy eating and food choices.

"I would basically focus on the health aspect of our people. As a Health Advocate in Melbourne, I would work on some health initiatives with the Government, targeting each district as a starting point to create awareness on how we can stay healthy by focusing on our food consumption firstly and then different programs going forward," she said. 

• This is a developing story......