Lerwick lass crowned Miss Shetland
NINETEEN year old Jade Manson won the Miss Shetland beauty contest at an event at Aberdeen’s Copthorne Hotel, on Sunday.
The social care worker beat off competition from three other women to top the contest; she also picked up an award for the best walk of the night.
The Shetland competition was held on the same day as its equivalent Miss Aberdeen contest.
Lorna McKay was runner-up in the Shetland section, while Karen Jarmson and Jessica Carlyle also competed.
Manson said that she applied for the pageant – her second to date – to help boost her self-confidence and meet new people.
The “nerve-wracking” day consisted of numerous catwalks, as well as questioning from Miss British Empire CEO Madiha Iqbal.
“I didn’t think I would win – my heart burst out my chest when they called my name,” she told Shetland News.
“I couldn’t believe it. My confidence wasn’t great so it was such a huge boost and made me realise I need to start believing in myself.
“I will definitely be entering more pageants in the future – right now though I am going to uphold my title of Miss Shetland and hopefully do that title proud.”
Manson, who supported cancer charity Macmillan through the process, added that she does modelling on the side of her current job.
Despite having “plenty of negative comments”, the 19-year-old is hoping to build on her success and do more work in the field.
She stressed that participants in pageants aren’t always the kind of personalities that you’d expect.
“A lot of people think pageants are just a place where you go to get judged on how pretty you are and that everyone who does it loves themselves, but it’s the complete opposite,” she said.
“The girls who enter are usually self-conscious, insecure and don’t love themselves as much as they should, but have been encouraged to do the pageant to build on self confidence.
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“Lorna, Karen and Jessica all entered the pageant, and we’re all so nervous and self conscious.
“But I did my best to encourage them and show them that after they have done the pageant they will feel a great confidence boost and realise they can do so much more than they thought.”
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