Six-year-old from Wortley in Leeds preparing for Las Vegas beauty pageant after being crowned Petite Miss Diamond UK

Grace Mthati, six, was victorious in the competition in October and now has her sights set on making an impression across the pond in the United States. The competition, held in Morley Town Hall, was also Grace’s professional pageant debut.

She has the support of her mum Konstantina Michailova, who was taken aback by how much more to pageants there is than presenting appearance. She said: “The twist not many people know about is that it's not only about the look, dresses and appearance.

"Actually, there is a lot of work put in behind closed doors. The girls need to do a lot of charity work, support the communities, it was something she will do until July. She is planning to go to a retirement home, we're planning to support kids in hospitals for Christmas with presents, we're planning a charity run. It's not just about the title, it's the charities you support.

"As someone who had never done this before with my child, I thought we were going to go there and order beautiful dresses and accessories and have fun. I realised how much deeper it goes, it's about who you want to help and what you want to achieve during that year. She only has the title for one year until she gives the title to somebody else. During this year, she can work on these things we believe can help people through.”

As well as being crowned Petite Miss Diamond UK, Grace was also given a ‘spokesmodel’ award for speaking out on world peace and equal opportunities. Her mum said: “I'm particularly proud of this because she spoke about world peace, equal opportunities and rights for children around the world, and how the wars can affect childhood.”

Konstantina, of Wortley, will be travelling to the United States alongside Grace and insists her experiences contradict negative ‘pageant mum’ stereotypes. She explained: "I can't speak for everybody but me personally, I'm competitive by nature because I used to do classic ballet but I'm not competitive when it comes to my kid. I want her to do what she wants to do.

"All the mums were really nice and helpful with each other, it wasn't like what you watch on some of the TV programmes in America where they are mean to each other. All the mums were friendly and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. I asked her how she would feel about it because I don't like forcing her to do thing she is not comfortable doing. She said she wanted to do it and it just went from there. Like every mum, I'm just looking for the best for my kids.”

Several family members will be making the trip over to the United States to support Grace, including her dad and sister. They anticipate they will be flying to Las Vegas next summer but details are yet to be finalised. In the meantime, Grace will be focusing on supporting the local community while she holds the title of Petite Miss Diamond UK.

Konstantina said: “Of course, I am very proud of her, she works hard. She's had lessons, she did everything her coach told her. I'm even more proud because I spoke with other mums there and they told me her kids had been going for two or three years before they win a title, if they win a title.

"There were girls in her group that were going again and again and she straight away went there and won it. I didn't expect it, I was telling her we can try next year and that kids come again and again. I said she didn't have to try at all, it was her choice. I didn't want her feelings to get hurt if she didn't win but she did well.”