Beauty queen battles to become Miss UK

Samantha Mansfield from Langley Mill beat off stiff competition from 1,000 girls to win Miss Nottingham International 2015 after submitting a photo to contest judges.

She said: “I didn’t expect to win. They (organisers) said a lot of people applied for it so I was really quite surprised! It’s exciting.”

The 18-year-old, will now compete for the titles of both Miss International UK and Miss Intercontinental England 2015.

She will model swimwear and formal outfits at the contest in Lancashire this July, as well as being interviewed by contest judges.

“It’s quite daunting,” said Samantha. I’m nervous but I‘m really excited to meet the other girls. It will be a new experience for me. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Samantha said she had always dreamt of being in a beauty pageant.

“I have always wanted to be in a pageant. I like how they dress up and look really nice,” she said.

The teenager studied at Aldercar College and is starting a degree in Law and Criminology at Nottingham Trent University this September.

Miss International UK and Miss Intercontinental England 2015 is the first double crown pageant in the UK. Four lucky winners will be crowned from the finals in total.

One will take home the title of Miss International-UK, winning a trip to Japan to compete in the Miss International final.

Three winners will be crowned for Miss Intercontinental – one from England, one from Scotland and one from Wales. They will all go on to represent their country in the international Miss Intercontinental final.

During the weekend-long finals in Lancashire, the girls will take part in a sports comnpetition called beauty queen bootcamp, a very British afternoon tea and a pyjama party.