IN YEARS gone by she was the girl next door who longed to become a beauty queen to represent the pride of her town or city.

She was smiling but demure, nervously walking the catwalk and hoping to catch the judge's eye.

Success might lead to admiration from her neighbours and the chance to have her picture in the local paper.

Fast forward 30 years or more and the girls who are now taking part in beauty pageants have more than a gaudy sash and cheap, paste crown in their sights.

They see winning a beauty title as the first step to fame, fortune and, who knows, even a starring role in Big Brother.

As our photos from the Miss Winchester competition show contestants today are no shrinking violets they've got attitude and they're not afraid to strut their stuff, if it means they can have a career in modelling or more.

On Saturday the Daily Echo revealed the newly crowned Miss Winchester, Sophie Childs has been working as a topless pole dancer. But now she plans to give it all up to concentrate on modelling.

Sophie, 21, is typical of the new breed of girls on the beauty contest circuit. When the beauty pageants fell from grace in the 1980s and they were dropped by the TV companies, it looked like the writing was on the wall and the feminists had won the day.

Now it seems girls are treating the contests as a way of raising their profile and getting the lifestyle they crave.

Lee Collier, who along with his partner Karen, organised both the Miss Southampton competition and the recent Miss Winchester event, says beauty contests are here to stay and they are better than ever.

"They used to be little local competitions, a town carnival or the like and the chance to represent their town was enough of a prize for the girls.

"Nowadays the majority see winning a title as a foot on the ladder to the top of the industry, be that modelling or reality TV shows such as Big Brother.

"It used to be that beauty contests were looked down on but the pendulum is swinging back. A lot of girls see this as a great opportunity," he said.

It's not just the girls who are taking advantage of this quick step to celebrity. There are men's competitions too. Mr Southampton, 24-year-old Warren Harvey, recently went on to become Mr England and was offered a part on the new series of Love Island.

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