Leena reveals pride in bidding for Miss England crown...and then, next stop, Miss World

Leena Dewis, aged 24. currently Miss London 2017, was a former student at Quinton House School and her father lives in Long Buckby, near Daventry.

Leena first has to win the national title and will be battling it out for the Miss England crown on July 14 at Resort World Birmingham.

"I want to be Miss World," she said. "I believe I have a better purpose. I know for a fact that a lot of people see beauty differently.

"The perception of beauty nowadays is perfection. But that is not what beauty is. I want to be a role model to young girls out there and for them to know that beauty is not about being perfect, having freckles doesn't mean you are ugly, beauty is from within, a good heart can take you to places, not a perfect face.

"I believe I can represent the true meaning of beauty with a purpose."

Leena has educated herself in the business world and currently runs a hotel in Phuket.

"I was born in Phuket and started my first years of school at Quinton House School in Northamptonshire," she said.

"Later on I moved back to Thailand to study at Phuket Thaihua School.

"For my high school years I moved to a boarding school in China (Beijing New Talent Academy) and graduated with my bachelor's degree in Business and Management at the University of Buckingham, England."

Her father is from Long Buckby and her mother is from Roi Et, Thailand.

Leena was second runner up in Miss Grand Phuket 2016 was in the top 10 for Miss Thailand World 2016.

She also won two awards from Miss Thailand World - The People's Choice Award and the Fast Track Talent Award for her piano playing.

She said getting involved in beauty pageants was an "off-hand thought".

"Growing up being mixed, I always had compliments on my looks, so I thought, why not?

"But actually being in a pageant is a lot more work than you think.

"In fact, it is extremely stressful, you realise a lot of people don't appreciate your looks, so you have to be prepared for haters.

"You also have to be prepared for late nights and early mornings.

"But at the end of the day it is all worth it, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that can be cherished for the rest of my life.

"The bonus of it all for me is the smile on my mother's face, to see how proud my family and friends are makes me so happy."

She also has about 200 trophies for her running efforts from events all over Thailand.

"I started running at seven years old and began to win trophies a few years later.

"By 15 I was at the top of my game, but I moved to China and I've never trained properly since.

"I would say I am very proud of each and every trophy I have because it takes a lot of training and a lot of hard work before I can take even one trophy home with me."

Tickets to watch the show on July 14 are available at Miss England’s website www.missengland.info