Interview with Overall Best in Show Supreme Exhibit and Supreme Neuter

I now live in a quiet market town in North Yorkshire, although I’m originally from near Sunderland in God’s own county… County Durham – and I’m a massive Sunderland AFC fan. In between being a slave to my three cats – and working for a leading truck rental and leasing company – I have been known to frequent football stadiums across the land supporting my team!
I have always been a cat lover but due to work commitments with jobs where I’ve been away from home most nights of the week, having a cat (or any pets for that matter) hadn’t really been possible…

Things changed for me in 2018 when a new job meant my then wife and I were able to look at having a pet and there was only one kind we wanted, a cat. We were lucky enough to be able to adopt Rio, an Asian cat whose owner was emigrating and from the moment we met Rio we fell in love with him and the Asian breed.

Unfortunately, in 2021, my wife became my ex-wife and Rio stayed with her (which was the best for him). After a tough year or so personally, I found the most amazing breeder; Jane from Debretts Asian Kittens – who had two kittens available after being let down by someone who had expressed an interest in them both. Fate, I think they call it…

Fast forward a few weeks and I was the proud owner of both kittens, Thalia & Agi. I never had any thoughts of showing either of them and certainly not breeding; they were both bought as pets, and they were – and still are – the loves of my life. They’ve since been joined by Percy, their little half-brother, again from Debretts Asian Kittens.

I‘m not a breeder – and probably never will be, I first started out showing Agi (who has since retired from the show benches) in April 2023 and Thalia joined her sister in the show world in May 2023 and I can honestly say it’s been one of the best things I’ve done. I have been lucky enough to meet some of the best people who I’d have never met had it not been because of our shared love of all things cat!

Debretts Thalia of Beauty, my little treasure. She’s the most loving companion I could ever wish for; she’s your typical Asian, intelligent, playful and inquisitive in equal measure, and affectionate beyond words. She’s so gentle as well, although she’s clever enough to put her siblings in their place when needed! She’s my world and it’s safe to say she is a real daddy’s girl too, always wants a snuggle on my lap and she’ll always be the first one to greet me when I get home from work.

Thalia is a once in a lifetime kind of girl, who, in a very short time, (just over 2 years) has risen to heights us exhibitors dream about. She’s been a real trailblazer for Section 5 but more so for the Asian breed she represents.

She’s won awards a minority breed didn’t think we’d ever win, but the proudest thing for me is that she has touched hearts across the nation. She was the 1st Asian to win a COTY award in 2024 – and she then followed in up in 2025 winning Section 5 Neuter and Section 5 Overall COTY again and came 2nd place in the overall COTY standing across all sections. And then, she’s the 1st Asian to win a Supreme title and of course to win Supreme Exhibit. I am proud beyond words.

I’ve got nothing but good things to say about the whole show scene. Thankfully my cats don’t need any pre-show preparation other than a quick brush through maybe on the morning of a show and of course trim their claws! Some breeds, however, do need much more preparation!

Pop along to a local show to see what it’s all about – head to the sections in the show halls where your breed of cats are penned and get some pointers from exhibitors but do go and see the other exhibits. I have always found people very friendly and happy to help anyone who has any questions, there’s some really good Facebook groups that are support networks for new and existing exhibitors – you can post anonymously if you want and there’s also a myriad of information and advice on the GCCF website too. Show managers are always willing to help with anything and welcome new exhibitors with open arms. Many exhibitors will happily offer to buddy up with a newcomer to support them on the day of a show.

Don’t take it too seriously either, it’s a wonderful hobby and a great community to be part of, even if you don’t win anything on a show day, as the saying goes, you will always go home with the best cat(s)! You’ll meet some great people too. And you never know, you just might see your cat be crowned Supreme Exhibit one day.

It is genuinely magical. It’s unique. A special day that’s the pinnacle of the show calendar. I have been lucky enough to have entered twice and the buzz and excitement the weeks leading up to it, getting the pen decorations arranged – it’s different to a normal show and you can dress your pens either to the shows theme that year or just how you want. Whilst it’s obviously a very busy show with hundreds of cats, owners and visitors, the atmosphere is flurry of anticipation, yet I’ve found it to be really relaxed.

I don’t really have the words to describe it; it was a surreal experience, that’s for sure. I never in my wildest dreams thought Thalia would win it, especially given the amazing competition that was there on the day.

I entered her in the hope she would win her 2nd UK Certificate, and she could retire with the title UK OG Imp GR PR, little did I know there was more to come! It was of course a real honour to see my gentle, beautiful girl be recognised in such a way and for her to be crowned Supreme Exhibit 2025 was truly humbling – and emotional as it was always going to be Thalia’s last show.

I love being part of the GCCF family, the support I’ve had from across the community since I first walked into a show hall back in 2023 has been incredible, but from the moment Thalia was announced as the winner, and the days and weeks following, the amount of people who have congratulated us has blown me away.