A Kiwi contestant on the new sixth season of Love Island Australia, Mimi Paranihi has been looking for love in all the wrong places – namely home! The Wellingtonian admits to Woman’s Day that she’s sick and tired of dating men who have no interest in romance.
“Kiwi and Aussie men just ain’t it for me,” the 25-year-old TikTok influencer reveals. “I’m a soft lover girl. I love romance and Kiwi men are the most unromantic men in the world. It’s like their ego gets in the way of relationships.”
But it may also have something to do with her “type”. She explains, “I definitely have a type and it’s never really worked for me – I’m always drawn to professional athletes, like NRL and soccer players because, well, they’re physically delicious.
“I love a strong-looking man that can carry me, but also, being an ambitious person myself, I really like that they’re focused on something they’re passionate about. And they don’t tend to be into drinking and drugs, which is something that’s not a part of my life.”
The end result, however, is that they’re typically not so passionate about Mimi, who is of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Porou descent.
She sighs, “Athletes are exactly how they’re perceived – a big red flag. I went on Love Island to try to steer away from them. I don’t do one-time flings and I don’t want to be a side girl. I’m not just coming over when it suits you. I need to find someone who wants to make me their life.”
The former dancer might say she’s not into partying herself, but when Mimi speaks to us, she’s hoarse from yelling at a hen’s party the night before. She’s certainly no introvert but says she keeps a small group of mates, all in New Zealand, and hopes to meet a man who is going to sweep her off her feet. Whether it’s on the show or not, she’s not so sure.
“I’ve taken a risk,” she laughs. “Love Island tends to attract F-boys, so I knew what I was getting myself into, but my friends have spent years trying to get me on the show, so I just thought, ‘Why not just do it?’
“Another massive thing for me was that I wanted to put myself out there as a Māori woman from New Zealand. You don’t see many Māori women on reality TV.
“There’s this tall-poppy syndrome where people from home will put you down if you try to do something outside your comfort zone. I wanted to prove not only to myself, but to other women as well, that you can be that girl. We don’t have to be so humble. We need to share our beauty and culture with the world.”
Mimi moved from Aotearoa to Sydney to train as a dancer when she was younger. From there, she moved to London for two years. She’s now back in Australia but has been focusing on meeting a foreigner.
“On Love Island, there’s a real lolly mixture of different people and different flavours, all with different careers.
“When I was in London, I got to experience men on the other side of the world. I was suddenly being treated like a woman – I’d never have to open a door, they’d send me flowers, they’d write notes, they’d find it rude if I tried to pay for things… Kiwi men are just not romantic like that.”
And Australian men are even worse, she says. “Aussie men are more into men over here. They always try to impress other men and they expect women to go up to them. They pull up in groups with other men. It’s strange.”
Despite her aversion to dudes from Down Under, the one long-term relationship she has been in was with a Kiwi. She still has a strong connection to him and works for his streetwear label EFFN.
“It’s his business, but we basically run it together,” explains Mimi. “We’re a small team of three and I’m the woman of the business. I do the design, but we work on everything together – and he’s not an athlete!”
Mimi says although she’s been afraid of having her heart broken on the show, her biggest fear is the backlash she might experience.
“I’m really hoping New Zealand supports me,” she says. “I’m fully aware that as a Kiwi, if you put yourself out there, the main people who put you down are your own people, which I find really sad, but I thought, ‘I’ll just do it anyway.’ I can handle it!”
Love Island Australia is now streaming on TVNZ+.
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