Nottinghamshire teen defies odds to reach Miss England finals

Growing up on a farm all her life, Leah Green, of Warsop, said it felt surreal to reach the final shortlist of a wildcard category of the prestigious beauty contest.

"This is actually the first beauty pageant that I joined. I've always been a farm girl and being in a beauty pageant is definitely out of my comfort zone," said Leah, who has been modelling since she was eight.

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Leah was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three days before she was due to sit her GCSE exams and nearly fell into a diabetic coma in May last year.

Although her GP had warned her that her condition was life-threatening, Leah took it in her stride and decided to go ahead with her exams.

"It was very emotional because I've put so much into the exams. I revised them all year round and I got my notes ready,” she said.

''I have come a long way and it'd be a waste if I didn't (do it). So I did manage to pass them all luckily but I didn't do as well as I wanted to do.”

She was then accepted into A-levels but chose to opt out to focus on her part-time job as a carer and modelling.

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Leah, however, admitted that it was difficult to deal with everything at first especially being in that condition, having to work as a carer and modelling.

"It was very hard to deal with. But now I am living to adapt to it and more or less teach myself everything like how to inject myself with insulin,” she said.

"I have to be very wary of my health by having a balanced diet at all times.”

On her beauty pageant journey, Leah said it has taught her to build self-confidence, something that she lacked since she was in school.

"I was bullied for about three years and it got to the point I wouldn't go to school because I was upset all the time,” she said.

"It made me very quiet and very reserved but modelling helped me bring myself back.

"It hasn’t sunk in yet properly that I am actually in this. It almost felt like a dream. I’ve always been interested in doing it but don’t think I’d do it right until not.

"It has given me the confidence to speak out and go for things. If you get one chance in life, why not do it while you can.”

She also said that the beauty pageant has given her a platform to spread awareness about diabetes, especially to people her age.

"Even if I didn't win this, I still want to spread awareness about diabetes to the community,” she said.

Leah and the other 16 contestants in the wildcard heat can be voted for on the new Miss England App which can be downloaded here: https://www.missengland.info/wildcard