A Reading woman has  been named as one of the finalists for Miss England 2024.

Social media star Elvira Styles, 22, has been selected to compete in this year's pageant. 

Having moved to Reading in 2017, Ms Styles said that people who knew her at school would never think she would have gone on to achieve what she has due to her shy nature.

With almost 600 thousand followers on TikTok and almost 30 thousand on Instagram, Ms Styles has now made a name for herself as a comedian and presenter.

“When I moved to Reading I realised I needed to meet new people and put myself out there,” she said.

“I had to just step out of my comfort zone and stop being so shy, so I started creating content online.”

Ms Styles trained at the University of Portsmouth in 2019 to become a dental nurse and loved working with various dentists and hygienists.

“Helping patients transform their smiles made me so happy whilst working as a dental nurse.

“In lockdown, when I couldn’t work, I began exploring my comedic creativity online by posting skit videos on social media.”

Ms Styles now works full-time as a content creator after consistently going viral on TikTok.

In October 2023 she decided to take her career that step further and apply for the Miss England Beauty competition.

“I’d never actually done a pageant before, I’d only watched some TV shows on them whilst growing up,” Ms Styles said.

“I thought I'd just try it. I applied and they got back to me and said I could compete at the Miss Leicestershire competition and if I won, I would go through to the finals.”

“I competed and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but fortunately enough I got fast-tracked to the finals.”

As part of Miss England, the pageant competitors are given the challenge to fundraise for the organisation’s charity Beauty with a Purpose as part of the competition.

 “The pageant is not just about being a pretty face, it’s having the integrity to make a change in the world,” Ms Styles said.

At the Leicestershire competition Ms Styles said that the judges asked each contestant what they would bring to the title of Miss England.

“For me, I think my purpose is to empower and inspire and I’m currently independently working with a charity called the Talent Foundry.

“They help people in minority and low-income households and as I come myself from this type of background and being one of five, I know the struggles of not having all the resources or having the space to explore all your talents.

“I want to be able to give kids the chance to see the potential that they have.”