A UTTOXETER nursery worker is hoping to show that ‘real women’ can be models after auditioning for a beauty competition at the weekend.
Gemma Edwards (pictured) is battling for the title of Miss Staffordshire 2011 after getting through to the finals at Uttoxeter Racecourse last year.
The event, which also acts as a heat of the Miss England competition, will again be held at the Wood Lane venue on May 14, and auditions to find 20 finalists took place on Saturday.
Miss Edwards, of Highwood Road, faces stiff competition from across the county for a place in the final in her hometown but felt the auditions had gone well.
The 20-year-old told the Advertiser that she enjoyed herself so much in last year’s event that she wanted to give it another go.
She said: “I think the audition went alright. I won’t know until the end of March if I have made it to the final.
“I really enjoyed myself last year so I thought I would try again. The girls were really friendly last year and there was no competition between us and everyone was really happy for the winner.”
The 2010 event, held at the racecourse for the first time, was won by Yasmin Moghaddam from Lichfield who went on to represent the county at the Miss England event.
The judges included racecourse general manager David MacDonald and the then reigning Miss England Katrina Hodge, an army corporal nicknamed ‘Combat Barbie’ after serving in Iraq.
Miss Edwards, who now works as a nursery worker after formerly attending Thomas Alleyne’s High School, is also a talented musician on flute and saxophone.
She hopes by entering the competition she may be able to go into modelling and represent real women everywhere.
She said: “I would like to do some modelling. I would like to show girls that anyone can do it. It is not just about really skinny girls it’s not about that anymore.”
