Cornwall lifeguard is Miss England winner

A lifeguard from Cornwall has been crowned Miss England. Milla Magee, who has made history after being crowned the first ever size 16 Miss England winner, said she is on a mission to promote body positivity and the importance of CPR training in schools.

The 23-year-old was fast-tracked through to the semi finals of the competition in January and crowned at the glamorous final at Grand Central in Wolverhampton on Friday (May 17). Newquay's Milla, the god-daughter of Noel Gallagher's ex-wife Meg Matthews, who also lives in Newquay, beat 39 other girls from around the country and will now take her place in the Miss World Final.

She was previously crowned Miss Newquay and said she was completely shocked to win the contest, having only started her journey with it earlier this year. “I still feel a bit surreal about it and it’s like I’m floating up in the clouds,” she told CornwallLive.

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“I was as shocked as anyone to win. I only came into this journey in January and it’s been nothing short of amazing. I really wanted to embrace everything and I’ve learnt so much and gained lifelong friends. I want to thank Angie [Beasley], Miss England’s director, Lisa, the choreographer, Nathan and the whole team who are the true core [of the contest].”

Milla is now hoping to be a positive role model for young girls and promote Miss England as far more than just a beauty pageant, with entrants having to promote their local areas, support causes and show that they are good human beings.

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She said she is particularly passionate about using her voice to promote body positivity and proudly boasts of wearing plus-size dresses as well as XL clothes. Milla said she’s not your "standard" beauty queen and wants to inspire young girls to be happy and healthy instead of focussing solely on the way they look.

This is because, while growing up, Milla said she was bullied for her weight and struggled with body dysmorphia. “I had a happy childhood and a wonderful family and I am so grateful for the life they created for me,” she said. “But I was bullied a lot because I didn’t look like how society envisioned a woman to look even though I was a child and that shouldn’t matter to children as long as they are happy.

“I have never drunk or smoked and I’ve never been a party girl and I’m proud to say I never conformed to peer pressure but in other ways, I felt like I had to conform in the way I looked.

"I'm 6ft, athletic and was always the tallest at school. I remember seeing a school photo where I was the only girl standing in a sea of boys, towering above my friends. At the time I was trying to conform to an unrealistic match of my body image. I didn't have a representation of what I could look up to or what was me. I always wanted to be petite and small.”

As a result, Milla grew up plagued by self-image issues but has since managed to overcome them. She now wants other young girls who might be going through the same struggle to know that they don’t need to look a certain way to be successful or to achieve their dreams.

“I dropped down to a size 10 but that wasn’t a healthy weight for my height,” she said. “But when I was overweight as a child, that wasn’t necessarily healthy either. We put a number with a certain look but I don’t necessarily look like a size 16 that people might envision but what does a size even look like?

“I want young girls who might be going through the same struggles to look at me and see how far I have come. I know how you’re feeling, you are not alone. I was that little girl who didn’t have a positive representation of [body image], which is why I want to use my voice for all those girls that might be thinking [Miss England] is not their style or they don’t look a certain way because it doesn’t matter. Your dreams are not out of reach, if you believe and you are passionate and enthusiastic, they can come true.”

In her role as Miss England, Milla also hopes to promote her project called “GOFARWITHCPR”, which is aimed at making CPR and first aid training compulsory in the school system. She has teamed up with her MP, Steve Double, to bring her campaign to the attention of ministers within Government.

The project is one which is particularly close to her heart, having lost two family members to heart attacks. “My grandfather, who I sadly never got to meet, had a heart attack and my aunty was present at the time but she didn’t know how to perform CPR,” Milla explained.

“It took an hour for an ambulance to respond to the scene and if she had known these potentially lifesaving skills, my grandfather might have been here to tell the tale. So, I think it’s so important to teach CPR and first aid training to the younger generation because it really can be the difference between life and death.

“Being a lifeguard, it also dawned on me how many times I have saved people off duty. It doesn’t matter whether you live by the coast or inland, I know I can save a life with these skills wherever I am and anyone, anywhere can learn them.”

Milla’s project was also given royal approval by the Duke of Cornwall, Prince William, during his visit to Newquay on May 9. She met with him as the ambassador for the town through Newquay Business Improvement District (BID) - also known as ‘Love Newquay’ - and said he agreed that the project would be best served within educational settings as a life skill needed by the younger generation.

During their time together, they discussed Milla’s journey with Miss England and the finals which were due to take place the following week. In response, Prince William said to her: “We are all rooting for you.”

Milla said she was very grateful for the good luck message from the Prince. She said: “It felt like I had already won. I was so honoured to have had that from His Royal Highness and I can’t thank him enough for it.”