Children’s entertainer and play therapist Pip Milford-Hughes, also known as Pippity-Pop, was one of seven contestants on TV Three reality game show Blow Up.
The Concord resident won $25,000 and a commemorative trophy for out-twisting the competition with her mind-blowing balloon sculptures.
While the result of the competition delighted everyone, Mrs Milford-Hughes was relieved New Zealand finally knew the secret she had been keeping since last December.
"I tried not to let anything slip.
"I’m a good talker but I’m also good at keeping secrets so I was quietly confident I could, but it was still hard."
Contestants were given a theme they had to design a build around.
Twisting balloons into intricate shapes and sizes was a much more physically demanding process than most people thought.
The bigger sculptures were a lot tougher on the body as they needed more latex and had more resistance.
A massive sculpture of a biplane with a piggy pilot required a lot of weaving in a short amount of time.
A little boy and his dog flying a kite needed a lot of technical skill.
But her favourite creation of all was a dress made of balloons.
She said it was exciting to see her work being worn by professional models which made it really come to life.
Mrs Milford-Hughes said the competition was a chance to produce the best work she could.
Her game plan was to showcase a different type of balloon art in every piece and incorporate many technical elements as well.
"I knew I would be pushing myself balloon-wise and really going beyond what I thought I could do.
"When you get stressed, then balloons pop and that makes you more stressed and it can be a bit of a vicious cycle."
She said it was great to be in the company of like-minded people and great to see others having fun along the way.
Mrs Milford-Hughes thought the show had helped the credibility of the balloon-twisting community.
"People see a 20c balloon and I think the perception has definitely changed."
"You don’t realise just how much has gone into that."
