First Openly Gay Woman Wins Miss England Crown

Grace Richardson, aged 20, secured the Miss England 2025 crown on Friday, November 21, becoming the competition’s first openly gay victor.

She will go on to represent England at next year’s Miss World 2026 competition.

The Leicester College of Performing Arts musical theater student and part-time model publicly came out five years ago via TikTok, according to the Leicester Times.

During her school years, she endured persistent harassment from peers, particularly male classmates, who bullied her because of her sexual orientation and body size.

“I feel so powerful and proud of myself,” Richardson said.

“My coming out story wasn’t the easiest.

“My very close friends and family were all very supportive. But for some reason those at school, my peers, just weren’t in the same way that my family were.

“It was a struggle to accept myself while a lot of people weren’t accepting me.”

“It is important for young people in the LGBTQ community to see people representing them in all types of walks of life,” she added.

“I haven’t seen anyone in pageantry talk about sexuality in the way that I have so it is important to me for them to feel seen,” Richardson went on.

According to organizers’ Instagram post from the weekend, the Miss England finals concluded with a close tie-breaker, with the talent segment playing a decisive role.

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Richardson’s “show-stopping singing and dancing performance” ultimately secured her victory.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be me,” Richardson said following the competition.

“There was so many incredible girls in that top 12 and I think all of them deserved to win.”

The pageant industry has gradually become more inclusive of openly LGBTQ+ participants and officials in recent years.

Activist and model Lehlogonolo Machaba made history in 2021 as the first transgender woman to participate in Miss South Africa.

More recently, in September, Nguyen Huong Giang was named Vietnam’s Miss Universe 2025 representative, marking the first time a trans woman will represent the country in the competition.