Tegan gets late Miss SA call-up
THE news that Port Elizabeth beauty Tegan Goldman has been recalled for the Miss South Africa beauty pageant has made her family proud.
Goldman, 22, who recently completed her BTech studies and an internship in public relations at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, was invited to re-enter the 2015 pageant on Friday, following the disqualification last week of three other pageant hopefuls, including Port Elizabeth’s Aseza Matanzima.
Matanzima and two Western Cape entrants were disqualified after Miss SA organisers discovered they had visible tattoos, which are forbidden for entrants, because, if they won, they would not be able to participate in the Miss World or Miss Universe competitions.
Peter Feldman, who represents the pageant’s public relations company Nine Squared, said Sun International, which hosts and holds the licence to the pageant, had said yesterday that three new hopefuls would join the Top 24 semifinalists for the Miss South
Africa title in March.
“The new contestants are Kirsten Hornby, 24, of Ruimsig, Roodepoort in Gauteng; Ntsiki Mkhize, 23, of Kliprivier, Midvaal in Gauteng; and Tegan Goldman, 22, of Port Elizabeth,” he said.
“They will replace Kelly Davids and Altina Vries, of the Western Cape, and Aseza Matanzima, of the Eastern Cape, who were disqualified from the pageant because they had visible tattoos.”
He said the Top 10 contestants would be announced in early February and the televised crowning would take place at Sun City on March 29.
Goldman could not be reached for comment last night as she was attending a pageant-related event.
But her father, Mervin, of Bethelsdorp, said the family were proud of Tegan.
Saying that his daughter’s dream had come sooner than she expected, Mervin said she had not been too troubled after not making the original selection of 24 contestants.
“She was not that upset. She said, ‘Don’t worry, I will get another chance’. And she was right. Very soon she got another chance.
“I am very proud of her. One always hopes that one’s children do well in life and do better than you. She is doing very well,” he said.
It had always been Goldman’s dream to participate in the pageant.
“She was always confident that she would participate one day. But yes, we were surprised when she got the call on Friday. We were delighted,” he said.
Goldman’s aunt, Roji, said: “We are very, very proud of her. She is a beautiful person, both inside and out.
“She has a golden heart and is a very community-oriented person.”
Goldman, who has notched up substantial beauty pageant and modelling experience in Nelson Mandela Bay, said when she initially auditioned for the pageant that she had entered to be an ambassador and do charitable work with women and children.
The winner of the Miss SA title will receive more than R1.2-million in prizes.