My name is Chloe Ashford-Smith and I am currently competing in Miss Great Britain 2021. I think it’s really important to share my personal experience of hair loss, and I’d love to become the first winner with alopecia! How amazing would that be?!

So, let’s start from the beginning. At infant school I was almost mute; I was petrified to do anything or speak to anyone. I think this was mainly down to my alopecia which I have suffered from my whole life.

I was bullied a lot when I was younger, by both boys and girls. When I was in infant and junior school, I was called 'egghead', 'baldie', and told I 'looked like a boy'. However, when I went through secondary school, and as I was finding ways to hide my alopecia (hair extensions, wigs, and eyelashes) I was then bullied by girls who called me 'fake' and 'Barbie' - even though I was only using these products to hide my own insecurities with my hair loss. I lost my eyebrows and eyelashes during my teenage years too. I had a boyfriend at school who would call me 'Humpty Dumpty'. Throughout my life, into my teenage years I never felt good enough, so to now become Miss Lincolnshire, and come this far, feels amazing.

As far as I know, no one with alopecia has ever won Miss Britain. I think it would be really special and mean so much to everyone out there living with some type of visible difference. I want to be a role model and ambassador for people like me, and I am so grateful for all the support from friends and strangers.

I have been fundraising as a part of my reign and have decided to raise money for Alopecia UK alongside the two chosen charities for the pageant. I have been doing bake sales, raffles, name cards, and car boots. 

I do pageants for fun but also to show other girls and boys like me that it doesn't matter what your physical appearance is, whether it be hair loss, scars or anything else. You can do anything you set your mind to. Once you start believing in yourself magical things really do start to happen in your life. No matter how you look on the outside it really doesn't matter. What matters is the person you are in your heart and how you treat the people around you.