Beauty Pageant Queen Who Was Bullied In School For Her Hair Makes History As First Redheaded Winner

Dec 30, 2022

In October 2022, Jessica Gagen, 27, was crowned Miss England and is set to represent her country in the Miss World pageant in 2023. The stunning natural redhead is the first to ever be crowned Miss England in the pageant's 94-year history. Never in her wildest dreams did Gagen think this would happen, after she suffered from bullying and torment in her school years due to the color of her hair.

Inspired to take part in the pageant in order to share her message with the world, Gagen wanted to empower redheads who might have suffered the same bullying she had, as well as inspire young girls and women to get into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects, which are traditionally male-dominated fields.

Gagen opened up to The Scottish Sun about the bullying she experienced, which began when she started high school. 

“I was punched, spat at and had things thrown at my head. ... There was name-calling, like ‘carrot top’, but mostly it was people mentioning my hair colour in relation to everything I did," she revealed.

"I used to feel really bad about myself," she said. All she wanted was a group of friends, but Gagen endured loneliness on top of the bullying she experienced. "I used to cry when I came home," she added.

She dealt with everything "by bottling everything up" but tried her "best not to react because (she) was mature enough to know that a lot of the kids weren't being malicious. “It’s a passing comment to them but when you get it day in and day out, it builds up," she said.

Gagen would sometimes even eat her lunch alone in the toilets since there were occasions she "didn't want to be around people." 

But towards the end of high school, things began to change. "I flourished. I got good grades, I had a group of friends, I was assistant head girl," she revealed. Her experience growing up was what inspired her mission to make her story public.

“My whole journey around Miss England was because I wanted to bring this to light. There are kids going through the same things and I want them to know that it doesn’t last for ever. There’s light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

Gagen first competed in the pageant in 2021, narrowly losing the crown to Rehema Muthamia. But in 2022, it was hers. During her campaign, Gagen also raised £6,000 (around $7,200) for local charities. She did so by running for 96 days straight dressed up in costumes.

Of her historic win, Gagen said:

“A lot of people think it’s about winning a crown and it’s not, it’s about getting your message out there."

And her message? To encourage young girls to break into male-dominated fields like hers. In her final year as a master's student of an aerospace engineering degree, Gagen said:

“I want show (young girls) how great STEM subjects can be because, it’s still very male dominated, especially in engineering.”

Since being crowned Miss England, Gagen has been inundated with hundreds of messages from fellow redheads. When she was younger she looked to famous redheads Prince Harry and Nicola Roberts from UK pop group Girls Aloud as inspiration. Now she is that person for many young people out there. She added:

“So for anyone going through a similar thing, I’d like to say that the bad chapter doesn’t last until the end of the book — so keep reading.”

Are you inspired by Jessica Gagen's story? Let us know your thoughts, then pass this on to those you know so they can be inspired too!