A TEENAGE pageant champion says the best give she got from entering competitions was her father.

Nelia Martins, of Wood Green, was crowned the winner of Junior Teen Miss Glamorous Beauty UK.

The 15-year-old Woodside High School student had never met her father, Domingos Silva, until he contacted her through her pageant Facebook page.

She said: "All of a sudden I got a message and I thought it was a photographer - but when I looked it was from my dad saying he wanted to meet me.

"It's a really big emotional moment when you don't know your dad and all of a sudden this person just comes into your life.

“We talked, we have a lot of stuff in common. It’s the best gift pageantry has given me.”

Nelia moved to England from Portugal with her mother, Edite, eight years ago.

She is now preparing for the national finals of Junior Teen Miss Glamorous Beauty UK on November 12.

But she admits it is difficult to balance pageants with her GCSEs and had to turn down a place in Miss Teen UK because of it.

She chose Junior Teen Miss because it allowed her to promote and raise money for anti-bullying group, Bullys Out.

She said: “At first I used to just see them on TV, I used to have a really bad take on them. But I thought, I’m not going to judge it until I try it for myself.

“I don’t do glitz pageants, I only do natural pageants where you have to raise money and do charity work. But it is also nice to get the attention, put on a ball gown and walk the stage.

“The title gives you a platform to work with. People tend to listen more to those with a crown on their head, but it has also given me a chance to meet some amazing people.”

She added: “I was eight years old, when I arrived I didn’t know a word of English, I went to school and at first it was very hard, I was at the bottom of the class.

“I didn’t have any friends, and I was bullied a bit, people used the fact that I didn’t know any English to their advantage, trying to humiliate me.

“But I caught up, and I think that experience toughened me up, I used to be easily manipulated. Now, I know not to completely trust people and take care of myself.”