Miss England 2012

Phew, thank goodness that’s over! Miss England 2012 was hard work this year; as it’s only my second year of running my own pageant I guess I’m still learning the ropes of what to expect but regardless, my nerves need a break!

The 2011 final was such fun- granted it was stressful organising Miss London in a short space of time and then preparing Miss London 2011 Rissikat Bade for Miss England just three weeks after, but the atmosphere leading up to the final was great, the support was huge, and I guess both of us were so completely chilled out that we just went to the final and had fun. For Amy this year, things were different.  She had an immense amount of pressure on her shoulders- Rissikat received tonnes of press- but Amy’s even exceeded that. Given her profile already, she was being branded the competition’s favourite, compared to other contestants on a daily basis and without choice being forced to meet expectations. As a mentor I relished like a proud Mum in her receiving such accolades from the media worldwide; the Italian press even calling her, ‘The Queen of British sensuality’, but I also felt sorry for Amy because in reality, she is still a teenager who in the past year has had to fight against public opinion and established industry brands to defend her integrity.

However, I knew that Amy just has that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that regardless of whether she won or not, every person in that crowd would witness.

Amy is one of the sweetest women you could hope to meet. She knows what she wants and is never shy to tell you either, but in return, she likes you to be honest with her. That’s why we work so well together because I am always encouraging and supporting her to realise her inner potential and beauty, whilst advising her where she’s making mistakes. What’s the point in lying to someone or giving them false hope, only to see them at a disadvantage in the long run?

Providing you demonstrate your loyalty to her, Amy is an exceptionally loyal character back. She was so proud to have won Miss London and I knew winning Miss England meant everything to her, but never enough to turn her back on me and my heat. Amy was poached a couple of times during the run-up to the Miss England final to sacrifice Miss London in return for other opportunities but she wasn’t interested. And infact, any time Amy sensed anything under-hand was going on, she alerted me rightaway. This in itself generated an enormous amount of respect on my part for Amy, whilst also making me anxious why people could not just leave her, or us, alone?

I knew going to the Miss England final wasn’t going to be as stress-free for Amy as it was when she previously competed in 2010. Of course she was always going to be nervous, but this time she would have added anxiety. She had to contend with meeting her fellow finalists and judges who may already have pre-conceived ideas of her from things they had read in the press, and she needed to change this. Great news for Amy, she did! There was not one person that I spoke to at the final who did not remark how beautiful Amy is inside and out, and their preconceptions were wrong.

I was thrilled to learn Amy could go to the final and despite all the pressure, she was true to herself.

On the evening of the final, Amy dazzled (literally) in her stunning Karen Karmody bright yellow gown, with its sexy ‘Angelina Jolie’ split and her £3.2 million Shawish diamond necklace and earrings creation.

One of our favourite shots is below- Amy demonstrates how at home she is on the catwalk and that captivating beauty

Amy did, as expected, her family, friends and London, immensely proud. The public themselves demonstrated their support for the beauty queen by voting so hard, she won Miss England Popularity 2012, fighting off her stunning opponent, Charlotte Holmes who deservedly won the Miss England 2012 title. When Amy was presented with her second fast-track award of the night, following her first for Miss Beauty and the Beach 2012, an emotional Amy thanked all her loved ones for their tremendous support in the public vote saying, ‘I’m so pleased to know they love me as much as I love them and have really tried to help me achieve my dream tonight!”

As Amy was selected to be part of the Final 17 she said in her interview of how appreciative she was to have achieved her goal to place in Miss England! However, this was to be exceeded as Amy then went on to join Caroline Welch, Tamsin Cummings, Anastasia Smith and Charlotte Holmes in the final five, which is when tensions hit an all time high at the Leicester, Athena. As we all sat on the edges of our seats for the final three to be announced knowing how difficult a decision it would be for the judges to choose, we hoped Amy’s performance in the competition already would be taken in to account, particularly as she won the public vote. However, the top three proved how incredibly difficult it is to win the Miss England pageant, as Tamsin Cummings placed third, and other hot favourite Anastasia Smith placed second to an understandably emotional, Charlotte Holmes. It was, however, great to see everyone so genuinely happy for BNTM finalist Charlotte who had competed in Miss England twice already. For me it was special to have worked with her during the Miss London final and know how much this title really means to Charlotte, leading me on to say a HUGE congratulations to our fabulous new Miss England. She takes over from the incredible Miss England 2011 Alize-Lily Mounter, who proved how far she came when she graced the stage in her stunning red sequined, Karen Karmody ensemble. An emotional Alize re-told her favourite Miss England moments to us all, and it was clear what a totally genuine and caring person Alize is. She has been an amazing ambassador for our country and most important of all, has stayed true to herself. We know Charlotte will go on to achieve the same.

As for Amy and the other ladies, this is just the beginning… We all have our own paths mapped out, and Amy’s is an exceptionally beautfiul one.