This week’s glittering event in Birmingham saw Jessica Gagen, 26, win the top prize from 30 other beauty queens.
Now, she will compete in the Miss World competition on behalf of England.
A Lancashire woman spoke out to tell how she had been brutally bullied at school due to her copper locks.
“All through high school, I was teased for being a redhead,” she said.
“I didn’t bring it up much during last year’s competition as I’m a strong believer in leaving negativity in the past, but as there’s never been a redhead Miss England I think it’s important to educate people about what redheads are.” expect school and strengthen children who are confronted with the same things as me.”
26-year-old beauty reveals she was verbally abu$ed, spit on, hit, and had things thrown at her head.
“[The worst time] was when a girl burned me because I had redhead hair.”
Despite that, she was signed to multiple agencies at 18 and walked the runways of international fashion shows.
Her ulterior motive for entering Miss England was to encourage students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
“For me, by competing in Miss England last year and this year, my campaign is to help people get girls into STEM,” she said.
“But after realizing there’s never been a redhead winner, I looked back and thought there aren’t that many redheads on TV.”
She added: “I think it would be so good if there could be someone in that kind of position who was a redhead. Even last year there wasn’t a single redhead in Miss World.”
She is the first redhead in the 94-year history of Miss England to win the title.
In her speech, Gagen said that she strutted her stuff on stage for all the ginger kids.