10.41 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Uproar as Brit wins US beauty contest

Published
By Staff

Sixteen year old Anysha Panesar, a British private schoolgirl, has caused a storm after being named America's Perfect Teen, while on holiday in Florida.

The families of other contestants are furious at the snub to the US girls because Anysha is from a tiny village in Wales.

Parents of the American girls have protested to the organisers of the pageant, which has a $2,000 (£1,300; Dh7,346) first prize - and an $18,000 (£11,500) scholarship to train as a TV broadcaster, reports the 'Daily Mail'.

But Anysha has hit back - arguing the outcry is just sour grapes. "Some people did say I shouldn't have won because I'm British,' she said. "But really I think the people who said that just said it because they didn't win."

Anysha lives with her family in the village of Llangan in Vale of Glamorgan - and is now back in classes at Howells School in Cardiff - entered the teenage beauty pageant while at the family holiday home in Kissimmee, Florida, and beat other 30 contestants from across America.

"My mum was sitting there crying her eyes out and my dad didn't know what to do with himself. My grandparents were on the phone - they were all so proud."

She said: "I've taken part in quite a few pageants now. They started off as just a bit of fun because I went on a school trip to The Clothes Show in Birmingham and won a catwalk competition there, and that got me through to the finals of my very first pageant. It just somehow grew from there and I got addicted to them. The pageants themselves can be really overwhelming because the girls do them every single weekend and they've been doing them since they were four years old. I wasn't as experienced as the other girls and didn't know as much as they did - so I still can't believe I actually won."

The pageant's founder Michael Galanes admitted it has caused fury. He said: "Yes, her win caused a bit of a stir because she is, of course, British. But that is perfectly within the rules of the competition and those people are just nay-sayers. One of the judges told me they liked Anysha because she was a breath of fresh air. She has natural beauty but she isn't afraid to be a bit wild."