Furious Model Told She Can’t Compete In Miss England Pageant Because She’s A Mother

A young model has had to pull out of a beauty pageant because she is a mother.

Outraged Danielle Tyler, 23, claims she was kicked out of the Miss England competition because it is against the competition's policy for entrants to have children, despite getting through the initial application.

"I was really upset when I found out and very annoyed about it,” said Danielle from Belper, Derbyshire, who has a three-year-old daughter, Annelise.

"I am a proud young mum and I even said in my application that my biggest achievement was having my daughter.

"It was only when a friend mentioned their "no children" policy I decided to question it, and that is when I was notified by email that I could no longer take part- despite having been accepted two weeks before.

"I was furious to be honest. It is an outdated rule."

Her initial application had been accepted for Miss England and she had spent two weeks rallying around friends and family for support to help her qualify for the next stage.

But after sending an email to double check, Danielle – who is a full time mother but has taken on some small modelling projects – claims she was told she could no longer take part in the competition.

"I want to put across the message that mums, no matter how old or young, can still have the same hopes, dreams and achievements as women without children,” she said.

"I had started to get really excited about the competition.

"There is a round where contestants have to make a recycled outfit and had spent two weeks making a dress. I was three quarters of the way through when I was told I couldn't be part of the competition any more.

"It's a disgrace and I am very angry about it to be honest. All I received was an email - which I thought was very cold."

Angie Beasley, director of Miss England, has defended the rule, saying it is in place to ensure that the winner can carry out her role in full without neglecting any children she may have.

"Miss World and Miss England are both run by mothers who value highly normal family values. It is both unfair on the child and her family to take the mother away from home for the year whilst she travels the globe,” said Angie, a former beauty queen who has been running the Miss England competitions for more than ten years.

"It raises issues about who would take care of the child or children whose mother was fortunate to win. Surely it seems obvious to anyone that for a mother to devote herself fully to a role such as Miss England or Miss World that it would be unfair on any child.

"There are other competitions who have much less demanding roles for their winners, even as much to say that the winner doesn't actually do anything throughout her year.

"There are titles which are name only with no formal duties to be done. I feel these type of competitions would be much better suited for women with children."

Danielle hasn't let her experience discourage her ambition and she has now qualified for the Miss Midlands final of Miss Great Britain, which does allow mothers to enter.

"I am delighted that Miss Great Britain has a positive attitude towards mothers. I was apprehensive about applying  due to my bad experience but I scoured their website and double checked, and Miss Great Britain happily accepts mothers which I am overjoyed about,” she said.

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