A TEENAGE girl who loves drama and ballet said she shocked herself by winning a beauty pageant at the first attempt.
Geri Gjata, 15, of Courtenay Avenue, Harrow Weald, and a pupil at Hatch End High School, was crowned Miss Fresh Youth Beauty UK 2012 and scooped the Miss Smile award at the event in Wales on Sunday January 15.
She said: "This was the first time I have ever been in a pageant. When I entered I really didn't think I was going to win.
"There were seven contestants and three rounds - a white dress round, a swimwear round and an evening wear round.
"Some of the girls had been in pageants before so I had been really nervous about the competition."
Geri, who studies ballet at The Van Niekerk Academy of Dance at Bernays Memorial Hall in The Broadway, Stanmore, and practises drama, impressed the six judges with her look and poise, and with her answers during the interview stage.
"I was shocked. I was so happy that I have progressed so far," she said.
"My mum and dad were really happy. My mum had been nagging me to practise more at home, and it was stressful, and it obviously paid off!
"I didn't tell my friends about the competition because I was quite nervous at what they'd say.
"But they were really happy for me when I told them at school the next week."
Pagaeant founder and judge Victoria George-Veale said: "This pageant highlights the importance of natural and fresh beauty inside and out in young girls without beauty aids such as botox, fake tan, fake eyelashes and make-up.
"Geri won the UK title as she has a very fresh face, good bone structure, and lovely teeth. She's elegant with a good overall body carriage and is also a genuine, intelligent girl who always looks happy."
The beauty queen, who arrived with mother Liliana, 56, father Mehmet, 58, and older brother Erik, 20, from Albania in 1998, won beauty products, a £100 cash prize and a professional photoshoot in Manchester.
