A Dunblane woman has spoken of her shock at being crowned Miss Universe Great Britain at the fourth attempt.
Christina Dela Cruz Chalk has been competing in the contest since graduating from the University of Glasgow with a pharmacology degree.
The 30-year-old, who resides at both Dunblane and Switzerland, told The Courier she hopes the win brings joy to her hometown.
The former Dunblane High School pupil said: “We’ve got Andy Murray, we’ve got Katharine Brown who was Miss Scotland and now we’ve got me.
“It was a bit of a shock because I’ve been working towards it for so many years.
“I competed after I graduated from university and this was my fourth time competing at Miss Universe Great Britain.
“Before I had aged out and I came first runner-up, which obviously is a great achievement but it’s not quite the gold medal – you’re always a bit disappointed.
Dunblane woman crowned Miss Universe Great Britain
“I was happy that I aged out because I couldn’t go through it again. I was so exhausted getting ready and getting my hopes up.
“When they lifted the age limit, I was like ‘here we go again’.
“It really felt surreal.”
Christina got her first taste of pageantry in the Philippines where she competed in its national Miss Universe contest before taking part in the Great Britain event.
The Scottish-Filipina said a lot of training goes into preparing for the competition.
“You really have to be up to date with current events and be confident in how you present yourself,” Christina continued.
“It’s just building that innate confidence that you deserve to be there and have a seat at the table.
“My cousin, when I was younger, used to compete and I used to always look up to her and think she’s so confident and doing a lot for her community and I thought ‘I want to be that kind of role model’.
“It’s always been an audit of my life so every time I compete in a pageant, I reflect on personal life and work life and figure out if I’m meant to be a role model and be the best version of myself, how do I show that and reflect that in my everyday life?
“By the time you get to the pageant, you’ve worked a lot on yourself.
“Regardless of whether you win or not, you’ve tackled all those arenas and moved forward.”
Christina Dela Cruz Chalk has ‘Scottish pride’
Christina will now go on to represent Great Britain in Mexico at the Miss Universe competition on September 28.
She said: “I am so excited. I’ve always watched Miss Universe on TV so to think that I’ll be on the stage with all the contestants is insane.
“My family were so nervous for me because they knew how hard I had worked but when it got announced they were just shocked and couldn’t quite believe it.
“Being a Scottish person, you definitely have that sense of pride.
“The fact that I’m not only from Scotland and I’ve lived elsewhere, you can represent a wider nation.
“I do want to encourage other young women to push themselves. Whether that’s in pageantry or not, I just found my community in the pageant world.
“Having started that journey when I was 21/22, I still have friends for life.
“I would always encourage someone to take part in pageants if they want to just meet some people that are like-minded and push themselves a bit further.
“Just taking that step forward is the start of something beautiful.”
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