Harriotte Lane from Newcastle, won the Miss Junior Teen Great Britain crown in 2015 on her second attempt! Harriotte completely fell in love with fundraising and making appearances and the Miss Junior Teen GB title gave Harriotte the platform she needed to promote her charity work which she has won several national awards for! Harriotte has raised over £70,000 for several fantastic causes! Harriotte continues to support, and be an ambassador for charities close to her heart. Since winning the crown, Harriotte’s modelling career has also taken off and she is also a successful Instagram influencer! Harriotte later went on to win the Miss Teen Galaxy England crown in 2018, and then, in 2019, Harriotte added another incredible crown to her collection, the Miss International UK crown! Harriotte was whisked off to Japan for a month where she explored the country and worked with international brands such as Panasonic and Opalex before placing in the Top 5 of the Miss International final (one of the most prestigious pageants in the world!) This was such an incredible achievement for Harriotte, especially as she was one of the youngest delegates in the competition at just 18 years of age!
My Miss Teen Great Britain experience was a huge turning point in my life.
Mum had applied as an attempt to build my confidence, I’d burned myself earlier that year and had a skin graft and I was really struggling with my own self esteem. It was only when I got through to the semi-finals, mum told me what she had done.
I got my sash and threw myself into the charity work and loved every moment of it. Soon I started making friends with other contestants and to this day I still speak with them.
The finals in a Blackpool were a teens dream come true with the beauty queen games and the PJ party, so much pizza and cupcakes!
The day of the finals I remember being nervous for the interview and kicking myself after for being so worried as it wasn’t scary at all. I loved the on-stage finals, it wasn’t like I thought it was going to be, all the girls were helping each other and cheering each other on and not worried about competing against each other. I was so proud to finish in the top 8 and picked up the Miss Charity and Miss Popularity awards.
On the way home I applied for the following year and started planning, I was official addicted!
I really wanted to be a better version of myself, the competition had given me my confidence back and gave me drive to follow my dreams. My friendships were the best thing about competing, it genuinely is like a sisterhood.
Yet again, the finals weekend lived up to my expectations, from start to finish I don’t think I’d laughed and smiled as much.
When the top 8 was called I was so happy to hear my name knowing I had at least matched my performance last year. I was certain I hadn’t won though, the girls I shared the stage with were incredible. When they called my name I remember starting to clap as I thought it was going to be anyone except me and then it hit me, I’d won, and tears of joy streamed.
Being Miss Junior Teen Great Britain gave me so many opportunities and I made sure I made the most of them.
From my charity work, I’ve won 5 awards including The Dianna Award in recognition of changing the world to be a better place and my commitment to the community. I’ve been recognised as Role Model of the Year and Young Fundraiser of the Year 2 years running. The BBC have done a short documentary following me and I’ve attended many celebrity studded events that have helped me grow my reputation as a model and a charity ambassador.
Just being part of Miss Teen Great Britain has taken me from being so shy and not wanting to leave the house to being confident and able to public speak to a full room or on live TV. It’s given me the platform to build my modelling career and become a successful instagrammer. I also started the North East Pageant Network which now has over 200 members that I support with training, appearance opportunities and we have created a wonderful community that strives to volunteer and fundraise. I’ve since gone on and won Miss Teen Galaxy England and to date I’ve now fundraised over £63,000 for charity.
