A beauty pageant mum, who spends £2,500 a year on competitions and clothes, says she doesn’t care about being slammed by other parents.
Catherine Oliver’s five-year-old daughter, Ava, has been taking part in pageants since she was just 15 months old.
The 32-year-old mum from Ruthin, Wales, is currently getting her little girl ready for the finals of Miss Beauty United Kingdom.
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But it’s not all glitz and glam for the family, who have had to deal with anger and accusations from other parents.
“I entered Ava in the Prestatyn Carnival Baby of the Year competition when she was just 11 months old – and she won,” Catherine told What’s The Jam.
“Now, we travel all over Britain and are currently getting ready for her finals in September.
“Ava has had some negativity from some parents.
“When she was about three, she was accused of fighting with a child, pulling her hair and swearing at her.
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“Then, they were going on about how Ava’s being traumatised [because we put her in pageants] and all this.
“Some people can be very aggressive and are just not very nice.
“You’ve got to take the good with the bad, really.
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“I am proud of her.”
Preparations for the pageants are pretty intense, with daily practice sessions.
The mum said: “We practice on a day-to-day basis.
“It is quite stressful when you have to be up at 6am, when you’ve got a long-haul drive.
“Ava has an evening wear routine.
“You’ve got a stage, all the lights, the cameras – all the professional photographers taking the pictures.
“She’s just currently chosen a new set of outfits.
“I have a lady that makes all Ava’s dresses – from measuring her to making it herself.
“At the minute, it’s costing me and her dad about £200 for outfits but if you wanted something more heavily rhinestone, it can cost anywhere from £200-£2,000.
“As long as you’ve got that sash on and make an appearance it counts.
“Pageants are definitely a hobby.”
It can be expensive to put everything together.
Aside from the dress cost, the family also pay a pageant entry fee, as well as hotel and petrol costs.
She said: “Ava [also] does a lot for charity, a lot of hospital stuff.
“At one point, she was doing two pageants every weekend.
“But it’s a lot of sticking and glueing and writing for her.
“For finals, it’s £60 for her entry.
“You’ve got the hotel and that’s an extra cost.
“Then, the petrol and charity pageants – they can range up to £40 per entry.
“I want to say with all the dresses and everything [we spend] up to £2,500 a year.
“This includes hotels and everything else. It all adds up.”
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