Miss Hertfordshire organiser Sue Waite told me about pageant life and the women going for the beauty queen crowns of today.
Last year's Miss England winner backed the student protests against tuition fees and the year before that the reigning Miss England – nicknamed Combat Barbie because she was a soldier - replaced the swimsuit category of the competition with a sportswear round.
What is going on? The old beauty contest model of scantily clad girls wishing for world peace has been replaced with intelligent and confident young women.
As well as modelling jobs, crown holders are getting column inches in newspapers and are taking on tough challenges that could well break their manicured nails.
Take Suzi Cummings, from St Albans, who was Miss Herts 2008. She is now a fully qualified fire-fighter while Miss England 2009, Katrina Hodge, is a Lance Corporal.
The competitions have officially become about more than just beauty.
Driving this new way are scores of organisers across the country who not only coordinate the regional contests from start to finish but also guide and nurture the young beauties.
Miss Hertfordshire organiser Sue Waite said: “Girls of today are very confident and know what they want and how to achieve it.
“Life for them is definitely not about getting married and having children early, as it was in my day.
“The main aim of the pageants these days is to show that beauty is not just on the surface. It goes a lot deeper. The bathing beauty is a thing of the past. Brains and confidence are major factors in the competitions of today.”
Sue has the exclusive licence in Hertfordshire to fast track her winners to the Miss England finals and this year is expanding her affiliation by introducing Mr Hertfordshire and sending 17 to 27 year old men from the area to the Mr England finals.
Her first contact with the wannabes is by phone, letter or email, when they make inquiries or apply to enter. Next Sue will meet them at first round auditions.
After this point the heat is on. Rehearsals get under-way and girls panic about all kinds of problems from dress and sponsors to charity events and nerves.
There is a lot riding on it for them. Winning Miss Hertfordshire puts them through to Miss England and after winning that the next step is a chance to compete for the Miss World title and its $100,000 prize.
While the contestants fret over this Sue single handedly keeps organises the big show when a panel of judges picks a winner from the 40 contestants.
To get to this stage it takes five months of hard graft; finding a venue, sponsor, which this year is The Galleria, entertainment, prizes and judges.
Sue does it all alongside her full time job working in a corporate role for Honda.
Before running Miss Hertfordshire she felt nervous addressing even a small group of her work colleagues but now she is the person impressionable young women look up to and seek advice from.
She said: “I am in constant touch with girls for the three months leading up to the final and by that time I do feel as if I have gained 40 daughters.
“It's mainly nerves that they come to be about so I tell them that if I, a woman in her fifties, can get up on stage and present to the crowd then they, being young and beautiful, also can.”
For many of the hopefuls entering Miss Hertfordshire is the first step in realising their dreams to become models, actresses and television presenters.
At this year's finals at The Gordon Craig Theatre, in Stevenage, on June 12, the judges will look for a woman who has poise, beauty and naturalness.
It's a new kind of x-factor. The winner will be humble, ethical and elegant. They will be a role model to their peers and raise money for chosen charities as well as attend events and model. It's still about beauty, but with a purpose.
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