A new Miss Great Britain was crowned this week, but what do former beauty queens do once they’ve healed humanity of all its ills
Taxi drivers and children. They still ask for Brooke Johnston’s autograph when they find out who she was. But during her reign as Miss UK Universe 2005 she was mobbed by hundreds of fans in the Phillipines and met the likes of Bill Clinton. While being a beauty queen has lost much of its cache in the UK – how many knew about this week’s Miss GB – it’s a huge deal elsewhere. A reported audience of one billion viewers, from approximately 170 countries, watched Brooke battle it out for Queen and country four years ago in the Miss Universe beauty pageant. She didn’t win but held the Miss UK Universe title for a year, during which time she travelled the globe, met royalty, world leaders and partied with the famous. On the flip side she did have to open a couple of local supermarkets, but that “wasn’t so bad”. But what does a beauty queen do after she’s placed that diamond tiara on the coiffured head of the next winner and hung up her sash “The first few months after I finished my year in the role was a difficult time for me, it was my lowest point,” says Ms Johnston. “I was at a loss about what to do next. But the role gets you an immediate profile for not doing very much at all and I knew I should make the most of that.”
It isn’t necessarily positive either, with one of the highest profile recent winners being Danielle Lloyd – best known for the Celebrity Big Brother race row and dating footballers.