Plus-size model: 'Beauty pageant helped me to love myself'

A plus-size model who contemplated suicide said a beauty pageant helped her to “love myself”.

Elinore Pheasant, 23, has suffered with anxiety and depression since she was a child.

Her symptoms were made worse when her dreams of dancing in the West End were dashed after she suffered an injury.

She began binge eating and was later diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition which can cause weight gain.

Her friends encouraged to her to enter a beauty pageant, which made her feel “that joy and rush” she enjoyed when she used to dance.

“I can now say that I do love myself,” Elinore, from Rainworth near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, said. “It’s brought me back.”

She will now compete against women from across the country at the Miss Galaxy UK finals in March.

Video journalist: Alex Thorp