Shropshire Magazine

Jamie-Lee Williams with her family after her Miss British Isles victory.

Brains and beauty combine to great effect in Miss British Isles 2009. Neil Thomas hears her tale of accomplishment and ambition

Jamie-Lee Williams would appear to have it all – beauty, brains and a heart of gold. To begin with, she is undoubtedly one of Britain’s loveliest-looking women, certainly if her record in beauty pageants is any guideline.

She is the reigning Miss British Isles, a title she lifted last October, beating off competition from thousands of entrants and 34 other finalists. The previous year she was voted Miss British International 2008 and Miss Earth Wales 2008.

In fact, she has never been out of the top three since entering her first pageant, Miss Wales, in 2006.

In Miss London 2009 Jamie was runner-up to the controversial Rachel Christie, niece of former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie, who was stripped of her Miss England title over allegations she assaulted another beauty queen.

It is an impressive record which has seen Jamie representing Britain at prestige pageants in Chicago and The Philippines.

Next stop, Miss World!

However, there is far more to this five-foot six-inch blue-eyed blonde from the Shropshire/Powys border than just dazzling looks.

A pupil at Rhyn Park School at Gobowen, near Oswestry, she left Walford’s North Shropshire college with three A-levels, each at A- or B-grade. Jamie went on to gain a BSc degree in psychology and, after taking a couple of years out to teach in London, she will study for an MA in social work at Nottingham University from this September with the aim of becoming a primary school teacher.

And Jamie’s caring side is demonstrated by her work in a special school teaching Makaton sign language to autistic children with speech problems in Fulham, west London. She has also carried out charity work for Save The Children and The Joshua Foundation among others.

The 23-year-old, of Llanymynech, is also an accomplished singer, having taken professional lessons in 2007, and is learning to dance.

She made it to the fourth round of the Grease is the Word talent contest on ITV in 2007, and made the third round of auditions for ITV’s Pop Idol, Simon Cowell’s forerunner of The X Factor, in 2006.

She also sang in a local choir, performing in both Holland and at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. 

Jamie-Lee has appeared in newspapers and magazines, finishing in the top six in a competition in The Sun newspaper, and featuring on the pages of top gossip glossy OK! as a result of her beauty pageant and modelling work.

She has also appeared on television in America and the Philippines as part of her experience in Miss International Pageant and Miss Earth.

She has undertaken a range of clothes modelling assignments including appearing at The Pure Show at London’s Olympia.

So how did this whirlwind and glamorous lifestyle take off for Jamie?

“It was actually my mother Carol who persuaded me to enter my first pageant,” she recalls, as we chat at the Maesbury Marsh home of her grandparents Delsie and Keith Williams, to whom she is very close.

“It was in the Miss Wales pageant. My mother saw an article in the Shropshire Star saying there was a shortage of girls from Powys.” 

The idea appealed to Jamie, who has a Theatre Studies A-level and has acted in county productions including the musicals Oliver! and Fame.

“Beauty pageants are a way of acting, as you need to be able to speak and perform publicly with confidence,” she says.

“Judges are looking for girls who not only have the looks but can demonstrate intelligence and have personality. They are looking for the complete package. You have to be a good all-rounder and undertaking charity work is an essential part of it,” says Jamie, who breaks off to welcome her younger sister Tammy-Jay home from school.

Jamie never looked back from that first pageant in 2006 and her latest success, Miss British Isles, was a stunning achievement.

The final was at The Prince of Wales Hotel in Southport; contestants travelled from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to compete with the English models.

A deserving winner . . .

Jamie-Lee won a host of top prizes including £750 cash, a weekend break on the Costa Del Sol for two people, a £1,500 modelling portfolio, a swimwear photo-shoot in Marbella, Spain, and a professional modelling website.

In terms of pageants, 2010 is an important year for Jamie. She explains: “I started off doing Miss Wales 2006 and I am going to attempt that one for the last time this year because I reach the age limit of 24.

“If you win Miss Wales you go on to Miss World. That is the ultimate pageant and I would absolutely love to take part in that and this is my last opportunity.” 

Miss Wales heats are this month, with the semi-finals in February and the final in June. With Jamie’s record she must be in with a big chance of taking on the best in the world in November.