Miss Great Britain is a national beauty pageant in the Great Britain with origins dating back to the post–World War II era. First held in 1945, the competition has evolved over the decades and remains one of the country's longest-running beauty contests. The pageant is currently owned by John Singh and continues to feature sub-brands such as Ms Great Britain and Ms Great Britain Classic.
History In the years following World War II, a number of British seaside resorts began hosting bathing beauty contests. The first event that evolved into Miss Great Britain took place in Morecambe in 1945, organised by the local council in partnership with the Sunday Dispatch newspaper.
Miss Great Britain was based in Morecambe from 1956 to 1989. The first final attracted over 4,000 spectators despite heavy rain. The prize fund increased steadily during the 1950s, reflecting the contest’s growing popularity, and at the time it offered one of the largest prize totals run by a local authority. Heats were later held across Mecca dance halls, and between 1951 and 1957, winners also qualified to compete in Miss World.
During the 1970s, the contest gained national exposure through televised broadcasts. A production by Yorkshire Television for ITV in 1971 drew an audience of several million viewers. The BBC later acquired rights to the event, but in 1984 announced its final broadcast, citing changing public attitudes toward beauty pageants. Following the 1989 final, Miss Great Britain went on hiatus.
Present Day Today Miss Great Britain continues to operate as a national competition with regional heats across Great Britain. The pageant focuses on personal development, public engagement, and charity work alongside traditional beauty contest elements.
Notable Miss Great Britain Contestants Notable contestants in the Miss Great Britain contest have included: Anne Heywood, a film actor during the 1950s–80s, won the title in 1950 under her real name of Violet Pretty. Leila Williams, a presenter of the children's television programme Blue Peter between 1958 and 1962, won the title in 1957. Marti Caine, a comedian, competed in 1961 under her real name of Lynne Shepherd. Nina Carter, a future Page 3 girl, appeared in the 1971 final under her real name of Penny Mallett. Debbie Greenwood, who later became a breakfast television presenter, won the title in 1984. Danielle Lloyd, a model and TV personality, won the title in 2006. Controversy led to Preeti Desai replacing Lloyd in 2006. However, Lloyd was reinstated in 2010 by the owner of the Miss Great Britain pageant between 2009 to 2011. Sophie Gradon, a model and TV personality, won the title in 2009. Zara Holland won the title in 2015 and was stripped of it in 2016 after having sex on the TV dating show Love Island. Leilani Dowding, an activist, TV personality, and former Page 3 girl and glamour model, became the first woman of Asian descent to win when she took the title in 1998.
2006 event In November 2006, the original winner, Danielle Lloyd, was stripped of her title due to allegations of her involvement with one of the judges and her agreement to pose for Playboy magazine. A poll of readers of The Sun newspaper selected Preeti Desai as Lloyd’s replacement. This made Desai the first woman of Indian heritage to hold the Miss Great Britain title, albeit for only six months. However, in 2010, the pageant organizer Liz Fuller reversed this decision, reinstating Danielle Lloyd as the rightful winner and thereby annulling Desai's title.
2007 event Rachael Tennent, a project co-ordinator, was awarded the crown of Miss Great Britain. Along with the crown, the new titleholder was gifted a car, jewellery and a modelling contract. Tennent had previously competed for the Miss Scotland 2006 title which she placed 2nd runner-up. The event was held in Grosvenor House in Park Lane, London. Tennent did not complete her reign which resulted in Gemma Garrett (Miss Great Britain 1st Runner Up 2007) taking over the title of Miss Great Britain for the rest of the year.
2009 event The event took place on 12 May 2009 at the Café de Paris in Central London. A strong PR campaign was orchestrated to re-brand the event to the nation, with some 70,000 online entrants being whittled down through national heats to the final 12 girls. Heavily covered by the media, the eventual winner was Miss Newcastle - Sophie Gradon who won Miss Great Britain at the age of 23 years old.
Title holders Year Miss Great Britain Ms Great Britain Ms Great Britain Classic 1945 Lydia Reid 1946 June Rivers 1947 June Mitchell 1948 Pamela Bayliss 1949 Elaine Pryce 1950 Violet Pretty 1951 Marlene Dee 1952Dorothy Dawn 1953Brenda Mee 1954Patricia Butler 1955Jennifer Chimes 1956Iris Waller 1957Leila Williams 1958Christine Mayo 1959Valerie Martin 1960Eileen Sheridan† 1961Libby Walker 1962Joy Black 1963Gillian Taylor 1964Carole Redhead 1965Diane Hickinbotham 1966Carole Fletcher 1967Sheila Forrest 1968Yvonne Ormes 1969Wendy Anne George 1970Kathleen Winstanley 1971Carolyn Moore 1972Elizabeth Robinson 1973Gay Spink 1974Marilyn Ward 1975Susan Cuff 1976Dinah May 1977Susan Hempel 1978Patricia Morgan 1979No contest 1980Sue Berger 1981Michelle Hobson 1982Tracy Dodds (resigned) Viviennne Farnen (replacement) 1983Rose McGrory 1984Debbie Greenwood 1985Jill Saxby 1986Lesley Ann Musgrave 1987Linzi Butler 1988Gillian Bell 1989Amanda Dyson 1990No contest 1991Zoe Charlesworth 1992No contest 1993Kathryn Middleton 1994Michaela Pyke 1995Sarah Jane Southwick 1996Anita St. Rose 1997Liz Fuller 1998Leilani Dowding 1999Cherie Pisani 2000Michelle Walker 2001Michelle Evans 2002Yana Booth 2003Nicki Lane 2004Emma Spellar 2005No contest 2006Danielle Lloyd (stripped) Preeti Desai (replacement) 2007Rachael Tennent (resigned) Gemma Garrett (replacement) 2008No contest 2009Sophie Gradon 2010Amy Carrier 2011No contest 2012Charlotte Perkins 2013Ashley Powell 2014Shelby Tribble 2015Zara Holland (stripped) Deone Robertson (replacement) 2016Ursula Carlton 2017Saffron Hart 2018Kobi-Jean Cole 2019No contest 2020 Jen Atkin April Banbury 2021 Eden McAllister Kat Henry Kirsty Fletcher 2022 Amy Meisak Charlotte Casie Clemie Nicoll Moss 2023 Madeleine Wahdan Larissa Palmer-Hirst Gina Broadhurst 2024 Ava Morgan Emma Powell Debbie Hughes 2025 Alice Cutler Kirstie Haysman Laura White2026
Archives Archives of Miss Great Britain are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the London School of Economics. Most surviving material is held at Lancashire Archives as part of the Morecambe and Heysham Borough Council collection.
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