Miss Wolverhampton overwhelmed by title win

A dance teacher said she was "overwhelmed" at being crowned Miss Wolverhampton.

Sophie Dickson will now represent the city at the Miss England finals next month which also are being held in Wolverhampton.

The event was held in the city for the first time in several years to ensure there was a local finalist for the bigger competition, organisers said.

Ms Dickson said she made "friends for life" at the competition last month and still could not believe she had won.

Ms Dickson, from Cheslyn Hay, a few miles north of the city in Staffordshire, competed for the title at Grand Station, Wolverhampton, where the finals will be held on 16 and 17 May.

She said she believed the event had not taken place for so long because it had been forgotten about as other bigger cities took part in Miss England.

But she said it was an honour to be the first selected for such a long time and "never in a million years" had she thought she would win.

"It's still not sunk in," the 22-year-old said.

"It's been about three weeks now and it's still a complete whirlwind but I'm really grateful that I am able to do it.

"There were so many amazing girls there, it could have gone any way but when the director Angie was cheering on the crowd and asking them who it was, the whole crowd was saying my number and it was just so surreal.

"It was really lovely."

The Miss Birmingham title was also decided during the same event and she said she had become friends with the 24-year-old winner, Sanjna Southi.

As part of the competition, the girls had to source a second hand outfit from a charity shop or using hand-me-downs for an "eco round", they took part in a 1920s photo shoot and were interviewed by the reigning Miss Black Country, among others.

The evening event involved a fashion show and then a final contest to select Miss Birmingham and Miss Wolverhampton.

The competition director banned bikini competitions last year and Ms Dickson said "it was so much better for it" since.

"It's very much more now 'what you can do for the planet, how you want to help people' rather than the looks [aspect] which is what it used to be," she said.

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