“Tia Carter” first entered Miss England at the age of 16.
Tia wanted to follow in her sister Sapphires footsteps who had won Miss Leicestershire in 2017, a qualifying heat for Miss England which has been running annually before the pandemic .
Tia was crowned in lockdown in her back garden by her sister after the contest went virtual
“Tia” now 22 became the world’s first ever VIRTUAL BEAUTY QUEEN in 2020 after the Miss Leicestershire contest went virtual on the Miss England App during the pandemic & appeared in media across the world when her sister “Sapphire” crowned her in her own back garden!
“Tia” had entered a live event but due to lockdown the contest couldn’t go ahead as a live event. Leicester was one of the cities who remained in lockdown longer than anywhere else.
Despite the lockdown, the contest continued to be run by “Angie Beasley”, who has been running the Leicester contest since 1990 on behalf of Miss World. Angie collaborated with app developers “Choicely” and her son Joshua and Angie created content and competitions on the app which is FREE to download.
Throughout 2020, the Miss Leicestershire competition and its contestants still managed to raise funds for Y Sponsor a House campaign & donated funds for a house for 5 homeless youngsters for a year in Aylestone Leicester through the Beauty with a Purpose charity.
“Tia” competed in the Beauty with a Purpose fundraising round & submitted her talent video & was crowned the first Miss England virtual regional winner , “Miss Leicestershire “with the sash and tiara delivered to her home gate by Angie!
“Looking back at what everyone went through was completely surreal! ” said Angie Beasley who is also the director of the Miss England contest.
In 2021 Tia finally got to perform on stage at the Miss England final and won the Talent round with her energetic Caribbean dance & even made her own costume with the help of her mum Thelma. Winning the talent round gave Tia automatic entry to the 2022 Miss England contest, so organisers didn’t hold a new heat.
Since October 2022, there hasn’t been a Miss England final so organisers haven’t held the qualifying heat!
Now 4 years after winning, Tia will finally be crowning her successor on February 3rd at Kibworth Grammar school in Leicester.
Tia doing her sponsored walk in heels
Tia said ” I’ve come along way since first entering Miss England , I’ve had alot of fun, met lots of people & gained confidence. Being crowned in Lockdown and trying to make a difference was difficult. But my life has changed alot, I was studying engineering when I first entered but Im now working in a dental practice. During my reign I’ve worked with many different charities as well as representing Leicestershire twice at Miss England. I was followed by the BBC when I did a sponsored walk in heels for Beauty with a Purpose at Bradgate park, worked with the Sue Young Cancer Care charity who we are promoting with the contest now & more recently hosted Leicester Fashion week .
I’m ready to give the title up now though & I’m looking forward to seeing who wins! “
Auditions have been held at Stu Williamson Photography in Kibworth and a shortlist have been selected for the final interview and catwalk round on the 3rd.
This year the chosen charity is the Sue Young Cancer Support Charity in Leicester. Beautiful Brows & Lashes will be gifting the contestants and giving stage make up tips to the contestants before the final catwalk in recycled eveningwear !
National director of Miss England Angie Beasley said ” Tia has been a great ambassador for Leicestershire, I’ll be sorry to see her handover “
The new winner of Miss Leicestershire 2024 will go forward to the next Miss England National Final on 16th & 17th May 2024 at the Grand Station Wolverhampton which qualifies for Miss World.
Jessica Gagen, an aerospace engineer from Lancashire is representing England at the 71st Miss World In Mumbai in March 9th 2024.
To see the top 5 finalists vying for Tia’s crown please go to this link ;
https://www.missengland.info/qualifiers/leicestershire/
Angie is looking for local businesses to support the event by donating prizes & sponsorship to the contest. Anyone interested should email [email protected]
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SUE YOUNG CANCER SUPPORT VISIT HERE
https://sueyoungcancersupport.org.uk
FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT STU WILLIAMSON PHOTOGRAPHY VISIT HIS WEBSITE HERE
SEE TIA PERFORM HER WINNING TALENT ENTRY AT MISS ENGLAND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6abbY6zz6Y
ENDS
