Adele Irvine (15), from Tomintoul, has qualified for the finals of Miss Teen GB
A MORAY girl has beaten off competition from thousands of entrants across Great Britain to reach the grand-final of this year's Miss Teen GB competition.
Adele Irvine (15), who lives in Tomintoul and attends Speyside High School, will travel to The Globe in Blackpool for the finals on the week of October 26
Grand-finalists will take part in photo shoots, enjoy challenges and attend a "pyjama diva party" before competing for the awards.
Adele, who is competing for Miss Teen, for those aged between 16 and 19 at the time of the competition, says the pageant is not all about looks and has helped her confidence in a big way.
She said: "The pageant can mean something different for everyone. For me, it’s about building my confidence, meeting new people and just having a fun experience.
"A lot of girls who have competed in Miss Teen Great Britain have made life long friends so that is what I’m in it to do. I would love to win the title, it would be an amazing achievement, however I’m not in it to do that.
"Pageants are definitely not all about looks. Especially in Miss Teen Great Britain, a lot of the girls do incredible things months before the finals.
"The girls raise money for charity, campaign about things they feel strongly about, do appearances and help out in their local community.
"Pageants have a lot of stereotypes and it’s really not like what people think. Forget the stereotypes, pageants are all about celebrating teenagers, their achievements and their goals."
To get to the final, Adele filled out a form and, after a few months waiting, got a letter to tell her she had qualified for the online semi-finals. After filling out a long questionnaire, a panel of judges decided Adele should compete in the final – where she will be sponsored by LCTG hair salon.
Adele has been already contacted by designers wanting her to walk for them at fashion weeks in both New York and London, but she remains unsure what she wants to do in the future.
She added: "I decided to be involved in pageantry because no one in my area talks or knows about it, and since I really like fashion – hence why I might be doing New York fashion week.
"A lot of pageant winners go on to do amazing things, for example Molly-Mae (of Love Island) who is now a successful influencer, fashion model, and vlogger.
"Other successful winners such as Misha Grimes, Daisy Whetlor, Robyn Ferguson and Ella Ravenscroft have won and gone on to be really successful people. They have all inspired me.
"In the future, I don’t really know what I want to do because I’m young, have lots of different interests and change my mind often. I would really like to do something with beauty or fashion.
"I feel like I’m already making a name for myself in the fashion industry as I am a finalist in my first pageant and have been asked to walk in New York fashion week as well as London fashion week, which is an amazing opportunity."
Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Beyoncé are just some of the famous names who have competed at the fashion weeks.
This year, Miss Teen GB finalists are being encouraged to raise money for Together For Short Lives. You can find Adele's fundraiser here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adele-irvine.
