Queen Saturday: a PURE queen at heart

Queen Saturday once again, and you may have noticed we have started video interviews as well! just another amazing thing we are doing here at Sparkles and Rhinestones to try and reach all the corners of the UK and different systems! Speaking of different systems, today we bring you a PURE queen in the form of Abby who is currently a finalist for PURE UK, representing both England and Scotland. We talked to her to find out more about her pageant journey.

Hi Abby,welcome to Sparkles and Rhinestones, so you competed this year at the first Pure finals, can you tell us about the journey to the 2020 finals?

So I will be a finalist for both England and Scotland next year, to represent both my heritage.I've been preparing for next year, by continuing all the work i've been doing, just adding a sash to it! I've been travelling up and down the country attending various events and pageant finals, as well as hosting my own plus juggling a toddler! All the mums out there will agree that just a toddler in itself is hard work, then throwing in work life and pageant life, we really are superheroes!

 I’ve held a charity headshot day, a makeup masterclass, a buy/sell dress event and I’m currently in the process of holding my own charity pageant. My charity pageant which is going to be held on Sunday 6th October in my hometown Wolverhampton. I have some incredible judges and I’m looking forward to hopefully raising an incredible amount for charity.I’ve also prepared by making sure I choose outfits that are best suited to me, my skin colour, my hair colour etc so that it really enhances me on stage and helps me be the best version of me.

Yes, Toddler's are a handful, especially if you bring them to the event as well! What are you most looking forward to at the finals? 

To the lead up to the finals I most look forward to supporting all the finalists in their events, and not forgetting girls from other systems as pageantry should be about supporting everyone not just exclusive to your system.

All about pageant positivity! So you talked about raising funds for charity with your various charity events, can you tell us a bit more about this and your platform?

My platform is The Salvation Army which is the chosen charity for Pure UK and does really touch me personally, I’ve battled with almost being homeless twice (once in the family home and once after finding out I was pregnant) and not having much family support in life. I want to turn this around from a negative into a positive and be that support system for girls / boys to rely on and look up to so that if they are going through similar issues then they can talk to me. Talking is a huge help, and it’s something that wasn’t available to me at the time. I plan to work alongside the Salvation Army to offer my services in any way that I can.

The Salvation Army transforms lives in every community they believe that every person is entitled to being respected, dignified and  have neighbourly love. They empower people to have a voice and have access to information and the right support system for them. They offer pastoral care for those that need the help, abuse is the most common cause. They believe that a child’s safeguarding and welfare must be made paramount in everything, whether this be in a school environment, at home, with someone of power.

What would you do if you were to win the title of Miss Pure UK?

 If I was lucky enough to win I would use my platform to really make a difference in my community, alongside working with the Salvation Army I would also love to support a cancer charity as unfortunately a member of my family has recently been diagnosed and she is my biggest support system. This is the reason I am also representing my Scottish roots, as a tribute. I’d love to help and do anything I can to help other families go through this difficult time & also raise awareness and funds to help find a cure / to pay for treatments.

Finally, could you give us any advice about competing in pageants for those who would like to start competing?

I would advise anyone looking to enter pageants to just go for it! It’s honestly been the best thing I’ve ever done and I have 0 regrets! It’s brought me some of the bestest friends and it really is like a sisterhood! I would also say not to worry and overthink it, just have fun, be yourself and you will shine through.

Thank you Abbie, you will see Abbie out and about at charity events conducting interviews for Sparkles and Rhinestones so go say hi!! If you would like to be interviewed for Queen Saturday or have a Skype video interview then drop us a message on the Facebook Page!