Curvy Corby woman wins place in plus size beauty contest

Sheridan Hall, who is originally from Kettering but now lives in Corby, is a finalist in the Miss British Beauty Curve contest which takes place in Maidstone on August 4.

Among the categories is a swimsuit contest, where she’ll have to brave a bathing suit in front of a panel of judges.

The self-employed 27-year-old decided to enter the competition after watching a television programme featuring one of the contestants.

Sheridan, a size 14-16, said: “I saw the person who held the 2015/16 title on the BBC and she was talking about how it really improved her confidence.

“I’ve never done anything like this before and it’s really outside of my comfort zone.

“So I sent an application and I got an email back six weeks later telling me I’d been accepted.

“Then I realised I was actually going to have to do this in front of an audience.”

There are three rounds in the contest where the women have to wear different outfits - swimwear, evening-wear and glitz and glamour.

Sheridan has already taken part in a beauty pageant school event where she met previous winners who taught the entrants how to present themselves on stage.

She said: “It’s either going to make or break my confidence.

“I like to challenge myself.

“Meeting the other contestants was great.

“Just to see their body confidence, they were all about ‘I love myself, and you’re going to love me too.’

“It’s not about how you look, it’s about how you wear something and if you feel confident in it.

“It doesn’t matter what size you are, it’s how you come across to the people around you.”

Sheridan is critical of the way in which bigger women are made to feel fat by the sizing in shops.

And said: “I know that a size 14-16 isn’t that big but it’s where the plus-size shops start at.

“I wish there was no such thing as plus size.

“Women are all different shapes and sizes and what might be a 12 in one shop might not be in another.

“It’s just numbers on a label.”

Sheridan will be supported in the contest by her partner who will be in the audience.

She said: “He’s been incredibly supportive and he’s going to be there.

“I’m embarrassed because I think it would be easier to do it in front of people I don’t know but of course I’m so grateful for his support.”