60 Minutes: Mar 13

A somewhat surprising story from Ray Martin this Sunday on 60 Minutes.

No exclusive interview behind someone at the centre of a headline, no one-on-one with a kingmaker or celebrity pal -instead Ray’s looking at cosmetic surgery for beauty queens in Venezuela, loosely tied to Jennifer Hawkins too.

I’d be a little more interested if the subject was part of a Louis Theroux special on Seven, he always forces the subjects to look into their dark, black soul. Hmm…. when are we getting some new Louis anyway?

Wiped Clean
Imagine waking up one morning and you’ve forgotten everything about yourself. You don’t recognise your face, you don’t know your family, you can’t even remember your own name. Well that’s what happened to Nicole Caird and Claire Robertson. Every few minutes their minds wipe clean, stealing every scrap of memory, from the birth of their children to the reason they’re sitting in front of a television camera. And what is especially alarming is that the culprit is a virus that most of us have lurking in our bodies.
Reporter: Liz Hayes
Producer: Phil Goyen

A Deadly Secret
Lightning isn’t supposed to strike twice, but that’s apparently what’s happened to a NSW farmer called Robert Geeves. He’s lost two girlfriends in mysterious circumstances – ten years apart. One young woman was shot dead, her body stripped and left in a wheelbarrow. The other disappeared, leaving behind her newborn son. The police believe she’s dead too. They’re also certain that someone in the small and close knit town of Harden is keeping a deadly secret.
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Stephen Rice

The Beauty Factory
When our Jennifer Hawkins was crowned Miss Universe, we all felt rightly proud. What we didn’t know was that Jennifer had the odds stacked against her because in countries like Venezuela, gorgeous looking women train for beauty pageants like Olympic athletes. They’ve become the role models for every little girl and every woman in this part of the world where beauty is an obsession. They’re coached at special pageant academies and even given extreme makeovers by cosmetic surgeons, because having a pretty face is just the beginning.
Reporter: Ray Martin
Producer: Sandra Cleary

It airs 7:30pm Sunday on Nine.