We’re excited it’s that time of the year again when we get to introduce you to the contestants of Miss Universe Australia. We’re kicking off our eighth year of finalist interviews with Rosy Reilly from New South Wales, one of the twenty-eight talented, and inspiring contestants from all walks of life who are vying for the title of Miss Universe Australia 2019.
So Rosy, why don’t you tell us about yourself?
My name is Rosy Reilly, I am 23 years old and I have grown up on the beautiful Northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. I am a very bubbly, outgoing, approachable and down to earth person and I always speak my mind and stay true to myself. I am currently a full-time student, studying a bachelor of education for ages birth to twelve at university and hold over nine years’ working experience as an educator in early childhood education. In my spare time, when I don’t have my head in my university books and assessments, you will find me spending time with my friends and family, at the beach, gym or coffee shops, dancing, picking up rubbish at my local beach, walking my dog or driving around aimlessly with my friends just to listen to our new favorite music.
What would you say was your motivation for entering Miss Universe Australia?
I was in the competition last year and was surprised with how much I learnt about myself and what I was capable of doing in such a short amount of time. This year I wanted to enter with the knowledge from my experience last year, the confidence I have gained and to ultimately prove to myself I can really do anything I put my mind to.
The program is certainly full of amazing experiences in the lead-up to finals, You’ve just returned from the National Finalist Trip to Bali staying at the sensational Alila Hotels. How was this experience?
Absolutely amazing! The Alila hotels were so beautiful and we were all extremely lucky to get the opportunity to visit three of these resorts over in Bali, one in Uluwatu, Seminyak and Manggis. Each resort had a completely different feel and were all breath taking. The experience travelling with the Miss Universe Australia family was so much fun. One of my favourite parts about the trip was when we did our individual photoshoots with the amazing Jarrad Seng. All of the national finalists were divided into four groups and each group was given a different theme to work with for their photoshoot. I was in group two and my theme was Australiana. My shoot was set on the beach and my reference image was a girl kneeling in the sand on the shore line looking very fierce. This image was a huge challenge for me as I am such a smiley, happy person so when I was shown the image of a women looking like an absolute boss, it was something I was super excited to do to try something totally different. I had so much fun on this shoot and was joking to the crew that my alter ego ‘Roxy’ was coming out because it was a side of me, I never knew existed. I think ‘Roxy’ might come out to play a little more often because it was so much fun!
The Bali Trip is a combination of finals boot camp, personal development and team bonding exercise with a tropical escape thrown in for good measure, what would you say are some of the best things you’ll take away from the trip?
Hahah yes the tropical escape was very nice, especially straight after four weeks of uni prac . It’s so funny because when you leave for Bali, you only know the girls from your state and then come back with friends from all around Australia. Troy and Sophia do such an amazing job with the program they run during Bali as they somehow make us forget we are in a competition and it just feels like we are on holiday with all these new friends. So, I would have to say one of the best things I will take away from this trip are the friendships I have made that will last a lifetime.
So now you’re home and, winter has set in and the finals are only just around the corner, how are you feeling in the leadup to Melbourne and what sort of preparation are you doing before finals week?
I am SO excited for finals week; I cannot believe how fast it has all come around. In terms of preparation. I am trying to stay up to date with world issues and current affairs, eating as healthy as possible, drinking lots of water, keeping on top of my regular exercise and trying to maintain a clear and calm state of mind. I am also having a lot of fun getting organised with packing and coordinating all of the outfits that I am going to wear.
With so many of you all bringing an individual flair to the competition, what do you think sets you apart from the other contestants?
With me, what you see is what you get. As I stated earlier, I really pride myself on how I stay true to who I am as a person and how I am prepared to speak up and have an opinion on important issues. I feel this is something that will set me apart as I will always embrace my authenticity no matter the circumstances and I stand up for what I believe is right.
Your next question comes from Simon Ross of Minespec Parts
How much of a deciding factor for entering this year, was the Minespec Parts Grant of $20,000 to put towards your education or business startup?
Although the grant was not the only reason that I entered the competition, it was definitely an added motivation for me. I am a young university student who is almost at the end of their degree and if I was to win this grant it would make a huge difference for me as I start my teaching career.
And if you were lucky enough to receive the grant, what would you spend it on and why?
If I was lucky enough to be crowned Miss Universe Australia, I would put this grant from Minespec towards my education. As we all know, when we leave university, we have a large HECS debt to repay so this would help me so much with paying back all my uni fees, therefore helping me enormously financially and setting me up for life.
What is something people might find interesting about yourself?
Bit of a fun fact……by the time I was thirteen I had lived in thirteen different houses. My parents had a love for buying, selling and renovating houses, therefore we moved all the time. This might sound daunting to some people, however, for me it was always exciting to deck out my bedrooms and meet new kids in the neighbourhood. This has made me a very adaptable and flexible person.
What is the funniest thing that has happened to you or someone you know recently?
I feel like this is a bit of a ‘had to be there moment’ but I’ll try to explain it as best as I can because it was absolutely hilarious haha. When all the NSW girls were at Denpasar airport waiting to board our plane back to Sydney, Francesca and I were walking around the Duty-Free section looking at the cosmetics. We saw some cosmetic testers and thought It would be nice to put some creams on our face before we went on the flight. So, I went ahead and put some of this cream on my face without actually properly reading what it was and walked towards Francesca and we both started hysterically laughing at each other. It turned out I actually had a full-on cream mask on that you couldn’t get off unless it was actually washed off with a cleanser. We were then hysterically laughing, walking to the bathrooms at the airport that were a solid five-minute walk away whilst I had this thick cream mask on my face. To make matters worse, my face started getting really hot and kind of burning but it was so funny I was just laughing the whole time. So, we get to the bathroom and to make matters worse, when I started rinsing my face with the water to get it off, I realised the mask was an oil based mask and the mask was just repelling all the water! So, it turned out I was stuck with the mask until I got home haha.
As a child, what did you think would be awesome about being an adult, but isn’t as awesome as you thought it would be?
I really wanted to have underarm and leg hair when I was younger because I thought it would be fun to shave it, turns out it is just annoying and I have no idea why I would have thought that would be ‘fun’ haha.
If you were to win Miss Universe Australia, what charities would you like to work with and why?
If I was to be crowned Miss universe Australia, I would love to use the platform to work closely with charities that support sick and disadvantaged children including charities like Toy Box International, the Starlight Foundation and Ronald McDonald house. When I was ten years old, my cousin, Jeremy, who was the same age as me passed away from leukemia and through his journey I really learnt the importance of family and the support of the community. I have seen the benefits of these charities first hand and would love to work alongside them to help other families that are going through these difficult times just like my family did. Recently, I had the pleasure to go with the NSW national finalists to volunteer at Ronald McDonald house to cook dinner for the families. For me, these visits are quite nostalgic and take me back to when I would visit my cousin in hospital. When I was there, I met a woman called Grace who is the same age as me and she was staying at the house while her three-year-old son Chayse was receiving treatment for his leukemia. She told me Chayses story and what they had gone through over the past few months since his diagnosis and it just broke my heart. I spent a lot of time with the two of them after we had cooked dinner and when I was leaving, Chayse yelled out to me “Bye Rosy, I love you, there is just something about you! Your so beautiful!”. Later that night, I got a direct message on Instagram from Grace thanking me for the afternoon and saying that “Chayse has never really been like that with anyone else other than my mum and he won’t stop talking about you”. Its moments like these when you take a step back and see how much you can actually do to help those in your community going through a tough time. Since then I have been in regular contact with Grace and have gone to visit Chayse again in hospital and can honestly say I have made a new lifelong friend.
Rosy is also helping raise money for Toybox International as part of her Miss Universe Journey; Please consider donating by clicking here.
Presenting Sponsor
Minespec Parts are proud to be the presenting sponsor for Miss Universe Australia, Working to empower and support women not just through the Miss Universe Australia pageant and their $20k education and business grant, but through many platforms with various activities across Australia all furthering and supporting women in the workplace.