HONG KONG WAS ONLY THERE TO VISIT GRAN
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everything from the swimwear round to a talent competition. She said: “There was a panel of judges but members of the public had to cast thei r votes too.
“We had to do dancing – and I’m not a good dancer. “For the talent show, I s a ng a Cantonese song. I do speak Cantonese but just day-to-day stuff with my family so I did struggle a little bit. “For the final, I got the chance to wear a dress by the designer Viola Chan, which I loved. “I went from a nurse gown to evening gown – and felt like a princess.” Lisa-Marie, who left Scotland in June, believed a local girl from Hong Kong would be the likely winner of the competition, which was run across several weeks. She is delighted her mixed-race heritage was embraced. She said: “My mum is from Glasgow and my dad is from Hong Kong. He came to Scotland in 1992, fell in love with my mum and has lived here ever since. They
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met at a nightclub but my dad couldn’t speak a word of English so one of his friends had to translate. They started dating and mum taught him English.
“I’ve always been proud of my mixed race heritage – and growing up in Biggar I’ve never experienced racism.
“I did wonder if a local girl in Hong Kong might win the pageant because I look British, with dark hair and dark eyes. But I think people must have been intrigued by the difference.”
Lisa-Marie has now paused her nursing career as she spends the next year making the most of her pageant win in Hong Kong.
She is in discussion with TV bosses about her future but hasn’t ruled out a return to medicine.
She said: “I love being a nurse, I enjoy caring for people and I plan to keep up my nursing registration.
“If I hadn’t won the competition, I was considering using my nursing degree to go on and study medicine.
“Now I’ve got an opportunity to work in the entertainment industry and that’s exciting too.”