The competition was fierce but there could be only one Mr. Gay Auckland, and last night at K' Road's Family bar the judging panel found their winner in 27-year-old Jade Doel. Winning smile: Jade Doel with Miss Ribena Nine guys took to the stage in their best casual wear, swimwear, Lex Collection underwear and formal wear, answered curly questions from the judges, and shook donation buckets for OUTLine NZ during a break in the show - raising just over $400. Doel, who moved to Auckland five years ago from the East Coast, told GayNZ.com he was overwhelmed to have won the high-profile competition. "It was such a blast," he added. "I was truly surprised and just as much honored to be given the opportunity to be chosen as a representative for the LGBT community in Auckland and New Zealand, it's going to be a fantastic year ahead!" Jade shows off his tattoo The judges agreed that Doel looked very handsome in each round, and loved the tattoo going down his leg, which the winner says was drawn my his talented brother and honours his Maori heritage. Doel received $1,000 cash, hundreds of dollars' worth of Lex Collection clothes, dinner for two at Caluzzi, a seat on Air NZ's Pink Flight to Sydney Mardi Gras, $300 worth of goodies from the Chocolate Cake Company, gifts from DJ Station fashion, 42Below Vodka, a 'Get It On' gift pack and two tickets to next weekend's Fetish Ball - a prize package worth well over $2,000. Other winners on the night included runner up Steven, who was awarded the 'Mr. Personality' award for his fun outfits during the pageant, and Geoffrey got a professionalism award for being an organised and enthusiastic contestant.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Monday, 2nd November 2009 - 10:53am