No sex please, we’re British
The reigning Miss Great Britain, Zara Holland, has been stripped of her title after having sex on ITV2 reality show Love Island.
Beauty pageant organisers said they had ‘‘no problem with sex’’ but said they could not condone Holland’s relationship with 24-year-old scaffolder Alex Bowen.
Wednesday’s episode of the show, watched by around a million viewers, featured the two in bed together and what one insider described as a ‘‘look of delight’’ on Bowen’s face.
Although no explicit scenes were shown, it was readily apparent what had happened in comments that were featured in the following night’s programme.
Love Island presenter Caroline Flack criticised the decision, saying Holland was a ‘‘very sweet girl. What even is Miss GB? Are we living in the dark ages?’’
In a statement, Miss Great Britain organisers said they had taken the decision with ‘‘deep regret’’.
‘‘We pride ourselves on promoting the positivity of pageants in modern society and this includes the promotion of a strong, positive female role model in our winners,’’ they said.
‘‘The feedback we have received from pageant insiders and members of the general public is such that we cannot promote Zara as a positive role model moving forward. We wholly understand that everyone makes mistakes, but Zara, as an ambassador for Miss Great Britain, simply did not uphold the responsibility expected of the title.’’
Holland said she regretted her decision to sleep with Bowen, the former boyfriend of Loose Women star Vicky Pattison, the winner of I’m a Celebrity in 2015, when she appeared on Thursday night’s show. She told the cameras: ‘‘You know when you’re in the moment and it just happens. That’s really not like me at all. Why couldn’t we have just gone to sleep?’’
Holland will be replaced by runner-up Deone Robertson, who had been crowned Miss North Lanarkshire, and will now compete in the Miss World competition.
The organisation said they would meet Holland on her return to the UK from the house in Majorca ‘‘to fully explain our decision and will wish her the very best going forward’’.