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Westbury Park’s Amy Willerton was crowned Miss Bristol 2010 at The Grand hotel in May of this year, the first Miss Bristol to be chosen in a full pageant since 1968. Since then, she’s been out and about in and around Bristol promoting the city, a host of charities and the Miss England competition.

Palminder Kaur managed to get her to slow down for five minutes to ask her a few questions about what it’s like to be Bristol’s official beauty queen. After that, up and coming Bristol photographer Brett Symes took some photos of Amy especially for Guide2Bristol. Many thanks to the lovely Alison and The King’s Arms Public House on Whiteladies Road for hosting the shoot.

Hi Amy! Tell us about the pageant, was it super competitive?

I was very nervous – shaking it! Before doing it I was convinced it was gonna be a catty thing. I was really pleasantly surprised. All the girls were so lovely. The dress I wore for the evening wear round was done up with a corset at the back and I actually brought a spare one in case none of the girls helped me do it up. They couldn't do enough for you and everyone was so lovely to each other. Probably some of the nicest girls I've ever met.

What made you want to do it?

I went and met one of the judges for Miss England who is a photographer and so looked at the website and really liked the look of it.

I've always taken an interest and have known all the Miss Bristols of the last few years.

Mostly I wanted to get involved in Bristol community work and there are so many charities, it's a nice driving force and gives you a title of responsibility. It encourages you to make the most of it.

So what are your long term ambitions?

I deferred my place at Uni which was a bit scary. I'll take a gap year next year to give Miss Bristol a really good shot. I want to get involved in a media related career. After doing some modelling I fell in love with the idea of a media career. I wanted to get more involved, a photo doesn't really say who you are whereas with Miss England there's more room for that.

I love the business side of things; marketing, advertising, journalism - I want to find my forte at university to see what suits me. The world is my oyster at the moment. I want to be able to look back and say that I've done everything I wanted to do.

What do you think about pageants in general and people who think they're misogynistic?

I'm very accepting of other people's opinions. I'm used to people saying 'what the hell is Miss England anyway?!' But I really respect everything Miss England has done in the last year. The amount of money pageants have made for charity and the differences to people's lives. No-one can slate that.

It's very difficult to understand the process until you've entered one yourself. When I entered I knew nothing about it. I can't describe how it felt when I won. I felt so proud of myself. If you love where you come from and want to show other people that it gives you a sense of pride representing your city and your country. There are a lot of things I haven't done and I wouldn't slate them and I think with beauty pageants you shouldn't slate it until you've done it.

Would you describe yourself as a feminist?

In many ways, yes. I believe in any kind of political correctness. I am a very firm believer that everyone is equal. I want people to treat me like I'm the same as everyone else and I don't want anyone to treat me like I'm any more or any less.

I don't want to be seen as a piece of meat, which is why it's a great thing they got rid of the swimsuit round because that's what would get picked up in all the magazines. They've taken a lot of steps in the last few years to make this a respectable title. I think now people can look at it and think 'wow, that girl has done a lot to get where she is', rather than just winning a beauty pageant.

How are your family with your career path?

They're really supportive; they were all there for me at the final. My little sister took a lot of inspiration from it and can't wait to enter herself. They've never pushed me into doing anything. Everything has always been my own decision. One of the things my mum said was that at my age she would never have done something like that because people would have judged her. While I will do something I believe in and won't worry if in my personal opinion I think it is right. If you don't think that way about things you just end up stuck in the crowd.

And your friends and peers, what do they think?

I'm in the middle of my A level finals. My friends have been great – they sing the Miss Congeniality theme tune and ask me if I like world peace!

So what next?

I'm doing a skydive straight after my exams, I'm in the process of starting up a fashion show. It'll be a big challenge. I can recognise the 2 types of show, the funky urban shows in the Stokes Croft area and then there are the Clifton shows. I wanted to put them both together to show the city as a whole. It's in the very early stages at the moment but I'm very excited about bringing together two such different parts of this city that I love!

Amy's flower garland is designed by Bristol florist Bella and Fifi. For more information visit www.bellafififlowers.co.uk

For enquiries about Brett Symes Photography, call 077601 30044