First openly gay Miss England has 'achieved dream'

Since being named Miss England, a woman who was mocked at school for being gay has said she has "achieved her dream. When Grace Richardson was in Leicestershire at school, she suffered with constant teasing due to her sexuality. After winning the award for the second time in the first round, the musical theatre student from Leicester said she was proud to have ignored the negativity. After being crowned at an event in Wolverhampton on Friday, she now is the first openly gay Miss England.

Miss Richardson, who will now represent England at Miss World 2026, claims she was bullied horrendously while attending school. I was 15 when I first came out, she said. It was just after Covid and my classmates at school decided that they weren't particularly helpful to me, which eventually took a little toll on my mental stability.

I used to get picked on for a slew of things, including being too short, being extremely short, and then becoming very tall.

It's almost like everything I did wrong.

So it's nice to stand up and say, 'Look at what I've done,'

says the author. "I've ignored everything negative that they told me, and actually, I've gone on to fulfill my aspirations.

The 20-year-old was one of 12 people to qualify for the final round of the competition, having won the talent category. She had intended to perform a ballet dance but had to cancel the week before, and so did another of her musical theater skills impress the judges. Loren Allred's version of Never Enough, a song from The Greatest Showman, saw her take first prize. The Leicester College of Performing Arts student will fly the England flag at Miss World, which is expected to take place early next year in a location yet to be announced. She could be the first British winner of the competition since 1964.