Mum and daughter crowned winners of national beauty pageant a year apart
A mum and daughter are celebrating having both been crowned winners of a national beauty pageant just 12 months apart.
Chloe-Rose Adkin, 22, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has followed in her mother's footsteps and is now the new Miss Galaxy 2023, a year after her mum Helen, 58, won the UK’s National Classic Ms title at the same venue last summer.
Chloe-Rose has been taking part in pageants since she was 15 after getting scouted for the competitions.
She decided to enter her mum into her first pageant, without her knowing, and a year later Helen was shocked to scoop the winner's crown.
Helen, who is a council worker, said she was apprehensive taking part in the pageant at first and worried she was too old for the stage but soon gained confidence hearing the crowd cheer her on.
The mother and daughter duo now enjoy getting ready for competitions together and say it’s great being able to spend time doing something they both love.
“I was trying to get my mum to compete for ages, but in the end I just decided to enter her into a pageant without her knowing," Chloe-Rose, an estate agent, explains.
“She had been helping me compete for years, she loves watching them and is always with me anyway, so I thought why not just get her into it as well.
“I wanted her to do something for herself and I thought this would be great.
“People think we look similar, and everyone knows us as the duo.”
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Helen, a mum of one, says she taking part made her feel empowered and believes pageants are for everyone.
"When I found out Chloe had entered me, I felt really nervous at first, but I really loved it," she says. "It gave me such a confidence boost.
"There were a lot of other ladies who supported me through it, pageants are not just a young person thing anymore."
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Having taken her daughter to pageants since her teenage years, Helen says it was great having Chloe-Rose's support for her own event.
"I have been running around at competitions for Chloe for years, so it was really nice for her to be there for me when I needed her," she says.
"At my age we tend to do everything for other people, so it was amazing to just have this for myself and work towards something just for me."
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Chloe-Rose says it was difficult to watch her mum up on stage as she knew exactly how she would be feeling.
"I was so nervous for her," she explains.
“I knew everything she was going through and how nervous she would be so that was hard.
“It was a role reversal.
“Mum was very apprehensive before the competition, I think she thought she was too old to do it, but she loved it when she was on the stage.
“It gave her so much confidence.”
Chloe-Rose will now head to Orlando in August to represent the UK at the Miss Galaxy International Pageant finals, with her mum Helen by her side.
“I’m so honoured to represent the UK," she says of the forthcoming pageant. "It has been a four-year process and I’m excited my dream has finally come true."
Additional reporting SWNS.
