Teen beauty queen bullied so badly she had to leave school sends powerful message

A teenager who was bullied so severely she was forced out of school says competing in a beauty pageant has helped rebuild her confidence.

Lola Higgins describes suffering physical and emotional torment for years at the hands of bullies until her family made the recent decision to have her home-schooled.

The 16-year-old, from Wigan, says problems first started in Year 8 when other pupils started spreading rumours about her and calling her names in the street.

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The teenager, who is now in Year 11, says she would regularly cry in her lessons and felt “sick” whenever she walked through the school gates.

Things worsened to the point where a toilet cubicle door was kicked in while she was inside, and she was even violently jumped after school – the bullies proudly claiming they would frame a clump of hair they had ripped from her head, Lola says.

But Lola has finally started to regain her sparkle thanks to the Miss Teen Great Britain pageant, where she is currently representing Manchester as Miss Teen Manchester 2024.

The teenager first heard about the beauty pageant on TikTok where she saw videos about the competition. Seeing how easy it was to apply, Lola decided to venture out of her comfort zone and put herself forward.

She submitted a photo and some details of herself along with her goals and inspirations. She made it through the first two rounds and is now set to compete for the Miss Teen Great Britain title in the grand finals this October.

Lola says her confidence has come on leaps and bounds since meeting other girls taking part in the competition. “Because I’ve been in my shell because of the struggles I’ve had through school, I thought, ‘You