Being crowned Miss England feels like a win for not just me, but also every community that I'm representing

Our new Miss England, Grace Richardson from Birstall, opens up about what she hopes to achieve as the first openly gay winner of the title, along with her passions for theatre and sustainability. Eva Millett reports

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THE newly-crowned Miss England says she is still taking in the scale of her win after a whirlwind of media attention and celebrations.

Grace Richardson, 20, was crowned last Friday, as reported by the Mercury, having previously won the Miss Leicestershire and Miss East Midlands titles.

Now openly gay, Grace said the achievement “feels like a win for not just me, but also every community that I’m representing,” including the LGBTQ+ community and those backing her environmental project work.

Originally from Birstall, Grace hid her sexuality for years and then faced negativity from some school peers when she came out during the Covid-19 lockdown.

She said: “If, when I was a child, I'd had someone brave enough to stand up and talk about sexuality as openly as I have now, I would have looked up to that person, it would have been an inspiration and I'd have come out earlier.

“During Covid I was online a lot. I was between 14 or 15, and I was seeing lots of LGBTQ creators a similar age to me.

“It definitely gave me the courage to come out, knowing the support that others online had felt.”