Lorraine Elizabeth Downes (born 12 June 1964) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

dancer and beauty queen who won the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

title in 1983 and the New Zealand version of the reality TV show ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' in 2006.

Early life

Downes was born in Auckland to Lloyd and Glad Downes. She is one of four daughters, Her sisters are Sue, Jenny and Carolyn.

Miss Universe

Downes won the Miss New Zealand title and went on to represent her country at the 1983 Miss Universe pageant broadcast live from

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in July 1983. After the preliminary competition, Downes made the top twelve cut in sixth place, but placed second in the final evening gown competition, third in the interview competition, and fourth in swimsuit. She made the final five in third place behind

Julie Hayek Julie Lynne Hayek (born October 4, 1960) is an American actress, model, charity worker and beauty queen who won Miss USA 1983. Early life Hayek is of Czech and German descent on her father's side and Norwegian, Scottish, Irish, and English on h ...

of the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Lolita Morena Lolita Laura Morena (born 15 October 1960) is a Swiss model and television hostess. Miss Switzerland She was a student of Egyptology when she won the Miss Switzerland pageant in 1982. She went on to represent her country at Miss World 1982 and Mi ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and was eventually crowned

. She wore a midnight blue gown and

long gloves Ladies' evening gloves or opera gloves are a type of formal glove that reaches beyond the elbow. Ladies' gloves for formal and semi-formal wear come in three lengths for women: wrist, elbow, and opera or full-length (over the elbow, usually r ...

during the competition. Downes' win was New Zealand's first in the pageant's history, although Diana Delyse Nottle had placed second runner-up to

Shawn Weatherly Shawn Nichols Weatherly is an American actress and beauty queen who won the titles of Miss USA and Miss Universe in 1980. She went on to star as Cadet Karen Adams in the film '' Police Academy 3: Back in Training'' (1986), and as Jill Riley in th ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and Donella Thomsen was a semi-finalist in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. No other delegate from New Zealand made the cut until

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Life after Miss Universe

In 1986, Lorraine Downes married

Murray Mexted Murray Graham Mexted (born 5 September 1953) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played 34 consecutive tests for the All Blacks from 1979 to 1985. He also played 38 non-test games including 7 as captain. During his time with the All B ...

, a New Zealand

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

, with whom she had two children, before divorcing in 2001. She also has a successful business in New Zealand. In 2009, Downes married former New Zealand international cricket captain

Martin Crowe Martin David Crowe (22 September 1962 – 3 March 2016) was a New Zealand cricketer, Test and ODI captain as well as a commentator. He played for the New Zealand national cricket team between 1982 and 1995, and is regarded as one of the count ...

. She and Crowe remained together until his death from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

in 2016. After years of relative anonymity, Downes competed in and won the New Zealand version of ''

'' in 2006 with dance partner Aaron Gilmore.

References

External links

Personal websiteMiss New Zealand official websiteMiss Universe official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downes, Lorraine 1964 births Dancing with the Stars (New Zealand TV series) winners Living people Miss New Zealand winners Miss Universe 1983 contestants Miss Universe winners New Zealand beauty pageant winners People from Auckland