Katrina Hodge | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Combat Barbie" |
| Born | 29 March 1987 Royal Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 2004–2015 [1] |
| Rank | Corporal |
| Unit | Adjutant General's Corps |
| Other work | Miss England 2009 |
Katrina Hodge (born 29 March 1987) is a former member of the British Army from Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent in south-east England who was handed the Miss England 2009 title after Rachel Christie stepped down.
Born and raised in Tunbridge Wells, she was educated from age 15 at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon.[ citation needed ] Previously, she had attended Hillview School for Girls in Tonbridge.
Challenged by her older brother to join the army, she signed up aged 17. After basic training she was assigned to the Royal Anglian Regiment but as a member of the Adjutant Generals Corps.
She was deployed to Iraq in 2005. She rose to fame after it was reported in the British papers in 2005 that she had earned a commendation for her bravery [2] [3] whilst serving with the Royal Anglian Regiment in Iraq for wrestling two rifles from a prisoner following a road traffic accident. She was promoted to lance corporal.
Hodge was signed up by lingerie firm La Senza in 2009. Originally she was the runner up in the 2009 Miss England competition, [4] but became Miss England on 7 November 2009 when the pageant winner Rachel Christie stepped down after she was involved in a fight. She only had 48 hours to prepare before taking part in the 59th Miss World pageant held in South Africa. [5]
As Miss England, Hodge managed to persuade the organisers to remove the bikini round from the Miss England competition. This, she said, would change people's views of beauty pageants, from being just about looks and more about the girl. Hodge said "To be Miss England you don't have to be the girl who looks best in a swimsuit, thankfully it's much more than that, it's about being a good role model". The bikini round of the 2010 competition was removed and replaced with a sportswear round. Given six months leave by the Army, she was the front person for dating site Uniform Dating, which specifically aims to help uniformed personnel find love.[ citation needed ]
Hodge handed over the Miss England crown to Jessica Linley in September 2010, and returned to active duty in the Army. [6] After various training exercises, Hodge deployed to Afghanistan in early 2011[ citation needed ]
In 2015, Hodge decided to leave the army after reaching the rank of corporal in order to become a banker. In 2018, she revealed that she suffered from sexist abuse from her male colleagues during her deployment in Iraq, and kept receiving insulting messages from them even after her retirement. [1]
Hodge has a book called Combats to Catwalk which tells the story of how she went from army soldier to beauty queen. [7]
A beauty pageant is a competition traditionally focused on judging and ranking the contestants' physical attributes. Pageants have now moved towards including inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, talent, character, and charitable involvement, through private interviews with judges and answers to public on-stage questions. Pageant titles are subdivided into Miss, Mrs. or Ms., and Teen – to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions.
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss International, and Miss Earth, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one of the Big Four beauty pageants.
Kerstin Margareta "Kiki" Håkansson is a Swedish model and beauty queen who was the first winner of the Miss World beauty pageant after being crowned Miss Sweden World in 1951.
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A swimsuit competition, more commonly now called a bikini contest, is a beauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear a swimsuit, typically a bikini. One of the judging criteria is the physical attractiveness of the contestants. The Big Four international beauty pageants have included examples of such a competition.
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Miss England is a national beauty pageant in England.
The modern bikini first appeared in 1946, and since then it has become a part of popular culture. It is one of the most widely worn women's swimsuits, used for swimming and in a variety of other contexts. Today, bikinis appear in competitions, films, magazines, music, literature, and video games. Despite the availability of more revealing glamour wear, bikini modeling remains popular and can still create controversy. Portrayals of the bikini in popular culture led, to a large extent, to its acceptance by Western society at large. In 1960, Brian Hyland's pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree. The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder in the 1962 James Bond film Dr. No has been cited as one of the most famous bikinis of all time. By 1963, the movie Beach Party, starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, led a wave of films that made the bikini a pop-culture symbol. Playboy first featured a bikini on its cover in 1962. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue debuted two years later. This increasing popularity was reinforced by its appearance in such contemporary films as How to Stuff a Wild Bikini featuring Annette Funicello and One Million Years B.C. (1966) featuring Raquel Welch. Raquel Welch's fur bikini in One Million Years B.C. became a famous moment in cinema history. Hollywood stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Gina Lollobrigida and Jane Russell further helped the growing popularity of bikinis. Pin up posters of Monroe and Mansfield, as well as Hayworth, Bardot and Raquel Welch distributed around the world contributed significantly to the popularity of the bikini.
Miss Pakistan World is a beauty pageant for women of Pakistani descent from around the world. The event used to be held in Toronto, Canada but has moved to Pakistan and is held annually in Lahore, Pakistan.
Mariyah Moten is a Pakistani American beauty pageant runner up 4 of Miss Pakistan World 2006.
Evidence of bikini-style women's clothing has been found as early as 5600 BC, and the history of the bikini can be traced back to that era. Illustrations of women wearing bikini-like garments during competitive athletic events in the Roman era have been found in several locations, the most famous of which is at Villa Romana del Casale.
Rachel Sophia Adina Christie is a British beauty pageant contestant, model and athlete who was briefly Miss England 2009, and the first black woman to hold the title.
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Gayesha Perera is a Sri Lankan actress, tv host, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Sri Lanka for Miss International 2006 beauty pageant.
There are a number of Iraqi beauty pageants. Miss Iraq is one of the national beauty pageants in Iraq. Others include Miss World Iraq and Miss Earth Iraq.
Josephine Tan Yee Mei is a Malaysian model and a beauty pageant titleholder. In 2016, she became the first ever Malaysian to win Supermodel International.
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