Shy student, 13, to represent Warrington as pageant semi-finalist

Savannah Henshaw, who is a student at Bridgewater High School, was first inspired to take part in pageants after she saw the girlfriend of her friend’s brother do the same.

“I was really inspired by her because she’s really pretty and nice, and I mentioned it to my nana and she surprised me with entering me,” she said.

The 13-year-old’s grandmother, Gill Evans, entered Savannah two weeks ago by sending in two pictures of her into the judging panel at Miss Teen Great Britain.

After submitting the pictures, they were told that Savannah had been selected as a semi-finalist for Miss Junior Teen Great Britain.

“That’s when the real work starts, as it is judged 50 per cent on your looks and 50 per cent on the quality of the questionnaire that you send back,” said Gill.

“We were sat here for hours filling it out answering questions like ‘what’s your greatest achievement’."

Savannah's confidence has grown since entering the pageant (Image: Supplied)

Miss Teen Great Britain selected Together for Short Lives as its Charity of the Year in 2015, and has been raising money for the children’s charity since then.

As part of her submission, Savannah will be undertaking a 5km run to raise money for the charity.

If she is selected as a finalist, Savannah, who lives in Appleton, will go on to represent Warrington at the grand final in Blackpool in October.

“I’m really excited,” said Savannah.

“I’m not sure if I’ll get in, but I hope I will. It would be amazing to get through.

“I haven’t told that many of my friends because I don’t want to show off but they’re quite happy for me which is nice.”

The 13-year-old has never entered a pageant before, but has had a passion for fashion and beauty since she was three.

“I want to become a beauty person and have my own salon and help people with how they look,” she said.

Despite not knowing if she has reached the final of Miss Teen Great Britain yet, Savannah is already looking for more pageants to enter, inspired by her mum, Carina, who used to model in her youth.

“I absolutely love it,” said Gill, who helped Carina with modelling and is now helping Savannah.

“Savannah’s quite a nice shy girl and this for her confidence will be massive and that’s the main reason we’re doing it.

“As shy and nice as she is, the minute you get a camera out she’ll pose.”

Due to her shy nature, Savannah admitted that she has at times struggled with confidence, but that this pageant is already helping her come into her own.

“Her confidence was just so low, so it’s convincing her of how pretty she is and to be confident,” said Gill.

“To do this is a massive thing for her, she’s just got to believe in herself.”