Meet the Leeds teenager who has been crowned Miss Yorkshire and secured a place in the Miss England final

Millie Hinchcliffe, 19, beat off competition to be crowned Miss Yorkshire in Doncaster last weekend and now has her sights set on national success.

"It feels amazing,” she said. “It's such an honour to be able to represent Yorkshire.”

Many would assume those entering beauty contests have confidence in abundance but Millie has used the competitions as a way to regain confidence she had lost.

Millie, who is from South Milford, struggled with the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had on her day-to-day life but has said her involvement in beauty pageants has helped her rebuild.

"I decided to take part due to the pandemic, and the effect it had on my mental health and confidence,” Millie explained. “It's taken me ages to build myself back up to where I was before.

"I feel like for my age group especially, we went from socialising all the time day in and day out, to then being stuck inside our houses all day for months on end.

"It made me feel really low and I did lose quite a few friends. The social aspect of it really impacted me. I thought I'd apply for this and it would give me something to look forward to and something to work my way up to.”

Away from the world of beauty pageants, Millie studies pharmacy at The University of Lincoln and is also gaining industry experience as a healthcare assistant at a pharmacy.

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However, she admits her involvement in pageants has led to people judging her.

"In the pharmacy world and the academic world, I do get judged a lot on the way I look and the way I present myself,” she said. “People look at me and think I'm not that clever.”

The Miss England final will be held in Birmingham in October and the competition stretches across two days.

Despite being a competition, there is an absence of hostility between the competitors.

“All the girls are really relaxed and they make each other feel comfortable,” Millie said. “All the girls I've met have been so lovely and it's nice to be around such inspiring people.

“I'm really excited to meet all the other girls.”