23-year-old from Chelsea enters Miss England 2022

A security engineer has thrown her most glamorous hat into the ring of a national beauty pageant.

Emily Cossey, from Chelsea, has entered the first heat of the Miss England 2022 competition.

Miss Cossey, who has a first class masters degree in Chemical Engineering and works as a security solutions consultant, decided to compete in the pageant in order to show that working in tech and being glamorous were not mutually exclusive.

The 23-year-old said: “I always thought I could either be academic and successful or glamorous and creative. 

“I chose to be academic and successful throughout my whole childhood, and felt very suppressed and unconfident in myself. 

“I feared that if I showed my girly, glamorous side I would not be taken seriously.”

But Miss Cossey, who also runs a travel instagram page, said she has learned to embrace herself as she is and not care as much about what other people think.

She added: “This competition is a way of showing that girls can work in a male-dominated industry and be successful without hiding or suppressing their femininity and creativity. 

“It is also a marker for me to show how far I’ve come in accepting myself and to inspire other women to do the same.”

Because of Covid-19, the Miss England contest has developed an app where the public can vote for contestants.

The final will be held in the summer.

Miss Cossey added: “I am hoping to make it through all the way to the finals of the Miss England competition.

“I am hoping this would give me the opportunity to give back to my community and inspire women – especially in “male dominated” industries- to embrace their femininity, to be confident in themselves and to go for what they want.”

To vote, download the Miss England app here: https://www.missengland.info