The country's first-ever size 16 Miss England has broken her silence with a message for the school bullies who once teased her about her weight.
Lifeguard Milla Magee suffered bullying at school over her size - but the 23-year-old from Newquay, Cornwall, has now been crowned the winner of the prestigious contest. As a former teenager weighing 14 stone, Milla has had the last laugh at the cruel classmates who tried to put her down, beating off competition from 39 other beauty queens. Her inspiring message to her school bullies is to let them know that "numbers do not define you".
She grew up plagued by self-image issues as a result of bullying, with her height also a source of teasing. "I'm 6ft and was always the tallest at school," she said.
"I was the only girl standing in a sea of boys, towering above my friends. It gave me a complex. At 14 I weighed 14 stone. I always felt big. From that, it created body image dysmorphia.
Milla was the only size 16 contestant (Joseph Walshe / SWNS)"At the time I was trying to conform to an unrealistic match of my body image. I didn't have a representation of what I could look up to or what was me. I always wanted to be petite and small.
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"I lost that weight and I was a healthy weight for my height. It was a conflict of as I got older I was trying to match unrealistic expectations. Whatever number or size you buy, it doesn't define you."
Milla's wholesome message comes off the back of a litany of confidence issues she's managed to overcome. She was the only size 16 contestant in the competition, but the former Miss Newquay was the first plus-sized entrant to win.
"The most important message is that if you are healthy for your size, that is all that's important," she added. "I really want to say that numbers do not define you, neither do small, medium or large.
"We forget at times that brands are sized differently. I've been able to squeeze into a size 8. I feel happy buying a size 16 or an extra large. I'm happy in my skin and comfortable. Just because you're 14 to 16 doesn't mean you're bigger.
Lifeguard Milla says she doesn't keep track of her weight and has a much healthier relationship with her body image (Courtesy Milla Magee / SWNS)
The 23-year-old made history after winning the prestigious beauty contest (Courtesy Milla Magee / SWNS)"What we've done is put a mental image onto that size which has made our generations feel conscious. I think it's amazing that Miss England is promoting this narrative that you don't have to be stick thin to be a beauty queen."
Milla now wants her presence to help inspire young women and girls. She hopes it give her the platform needed to tackle society's challenging perceptions of female weight gain and help normalise bigger women.
The beauty queen also models swimwear for brands while working as a lifeguard around the Cornish coast. She also admits she doesn't keep track of her weight, and doesn't even own a pair of scales.
Milla was teased in school for her weight (Courtesy Milla Magee / SWNS)
Milla pictured as a child (Courtesy Milla Magee / SWNS)"I hope to inspire generations and young girls that they don't need to fit into this narrative. I really want to be a voice for these women. Whenever you look at these historic women these are women who were looked up to.
"They were healthy, they were normal. We've created an idolised image of what a woman and a man need to look like. We don't have to weigh ourselves. What numbers we see on the scales don't define you. We need to stop putting pressure on ourselves."
Milla is currently leading a campaign called Go Far with CPR for CPR to become widely taught in schools while also carrying out beach cleans around the coastlines.
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She added: "Every girl deserves that crown. It's an honour to stand there." The Miss England final, sponsored by Watermans Hair, took place at the Grand Station in Wolverhampton.
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