'Glamour gran' to make history at Miss Great Britain beauty pageant

A grandmother who is set to make history at the Miss Great Britain beauty pageant has said she wants other women to see that getting older does not mean "disappearing". Ann Marie Harper, 71, will be the oldest contender to ever compete in the national final in the competition's 81-year-history when she takes to the stage in the Classic category on Friday. The beauty queen from Prestwick, Ayrshire, who is best known to thousands of followers on social media as Glamour Gran Ann, won Ms Ayrshire GB Classic in June to qualify for the final. "For so many years I did not see myself as someone who could things like this," Ann Marie said. "I had very little confidence and I carried a lot of that with me through life." The pageant is a version of the Miss Great Britain competition for women over the age of 45 - meaning Ann is against women up to 26 years younger than her. The sixteen finalists, who include 2025 first runner-up Ally Sussex, will compete across multiple rounds at The Athena in Leicester on 16 October. These include fashion, swimwear and evening wear presentations, as well as on-stage and private one-to-one interviews.