A TEENAGER from the Forest says she’s “incredibly excited” to have reached the grand final of a prestigious national pageant.

Scarlett Hopewell-Kelly, aged 14 and from Cinderford, has been named amongst the finalists for this year's Miss Junior Teen GB competition, which is the recognised national beauty pageant for girls aged 13-15.

Scarlett, who is in Year 10 at Dene Magna School, will now compete for the national crown as 'Miss Gloucestershire' at the grand final in Blackpool in October.

The Miss Teen GB organisers say their pageants “are not beauty contests”, but are about celebrating teenagers, their achievements and their goals.

The grand final is a weekend-long event, which includes a ‘beauty queen’ challenge day, a ‘pyjama diva’ party and the final itself.

Famous past competitors in the contest include social media influencer and ‘Love Island’ runner-up Molly-Mae Hague.

Scarlett applied for the contest after she saw an advert on entertainment industry website Backstage, and thought “it looked like it could be fun.”

The initial round required entrants to send in two recent photos, and from there the judges chose the semi finalists.

The semi final stage required three more photos and for Scarlett to complete a questionnaire, that included questions such as ‘who is your role model’ and ‘how could you be a good role model for other young girls’.

After her entry was reviewed online by the judges, Scarlett was told she had made the final yesterday (Wednesday, February 22).

Scarlett said before hearing the news: “I’m really proud to have made it to the semi finals.

“I think it’s a big achievement and I’m incredibly excited about what’s to come in the competition.”