Miss England contest: Could the swimwear parade return?

The swimwear parade for the Miss England quality pageant was scrapped successful 2009 aft a run by erstwhile contestant Katrina Hodge.

The serving worker argued it was "degrading" and she was fed up of the absorption being connected her bikini snaps alternatively than her foundation work.

Now organisers of the contention person said they're considering whether oregon not to bring backmost the swimwear round.

And that anticipation is causing a just spot of statement online.

The "beach beauty" circular inactive exists but it's not compulsory - and alternatively than contestants parading connected signifier successful their swimwear, they person the enactment to instrumentality portion successful a swimwear photograph shoot.

Miss England bosses person opened up the statement on their Instagram account, asking followers and existent semi-finalists to assistance them marque the last decision.

Director Angie Beasley told BBC Newsbeat that they are looking astatine each the options - scrapping the circular completely, keeping it arsenic a photoshoot oregon bringing backmost an "optional" parade.

Abigail Hill, 31, is simply a plus-size exemplary and erstwhile Miss England contestant who credits pageants for helping her autumn successful emotion with her body.

"When I archetypal started competing successful pageants, I recovered them rather nerve-racking but erstwhile I did my archetypal swimsuit circular my full mindset conscionable changed," she says.

"I felt truly empowered, truly confident. It was a truly large portion of maine becoming a batch much assemblage assured than I was successful my aboriginal teens.

"I deliberation for maine I support successful caput they're not really judging maine connected my size oregon appearance, it's much to bash with conscionable however assured and blessed you are to beryllium connected stage."

Even though Abigail, who's from Northumberland, enjoys strutting her worldly successful her swimsuit, she thinks it's important that pageants stay accessible to each contestants.

"If Miss England wants to bring backmost swimwear I deliberation it should beryllium a photoshoot oregon an optional manner show," she says.

"So that girls, who possibly for spiritual reasons oregon conscionable don't consciousness comfy successful swimwear, aren't missing retired connected the remainder of the experience."

That's thing 18-year-old Fatima Bobra from Leicester agrees with.

She's antecedently competed successful a Miss Teen Great Britain contention and proudly wore her hijab successful each round.

Fatima feels "the champion idea" would beryllium to scrap the thought of a swimwear round.

"To immoderate extent, it's evidently what is accepted successful a quality pageant, thing that's been astir for years," she says.

"But present I deliberation that it is clip for a change.

"I deliberation [Miss England] should marque the rules truthful that girls that are Muslim, oregon conscionable aren't comfy showing their bodies, are capable to deterioration humble swimwear.

"It would beryllium a crippled changer and would interruption down different obstruction for Muslim women."

But immoderate contestants would similar the statement to beryllium focusing connected women's achievements alternatively than their bodies and clothing.

For 27-year-old aerospace technologist and reigning Miss England, Jessica Gagen, the contention is each astir "female empowerment".

"A relation model's qualities don't boil down to what they look like," she says.

Jessica says competitions that travel nether the quality pageant umbrella are "more of a relation exemplary contest" these days.

She feels the contests "celebrate quality successful its galore antithetic forms, its shapes and sizes".

"And the girls entering are doing truthful to boost consciousness surrounding campaigns that they're passionate about," she says.

"They promote each antithetic women to get progressive arsenic a signifier of pistillate empowerment and pistillate representation."

Jessica, who lives successful Liverpool, did instrumentality portion successful the swimwear photoshoot past year, but says she's present "fed up" astir the deficiency of conversations astir the contestant's campaigns.

And she says a swimwear circular should not "be made compulsory".

"I don't judge anyone should beryllium forced to amusement much than what they're comfy doing.

"My run was each astir getting girls into engineering careers and boosting the profiles of STEM careers.

"I've got a grade successful aerospace engineering which ne'er truly gets talked about, yet present we are again talking astir the taxable of bikinis and women's bodies."

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