A trainee solicitor has been shortlisted for the final of the Miss Universe Great Britain – with the chance to represent the nation on the world stage.

Chloe Lake will compete with around 30 other women at the national contest in Cardiff in July.

Lake, 25, took part regularly in pageants during her teens but had stepped back to concentrate on her legal studies and graduated with a first-class honours degree in law. She was encouraged by her colleagues to go back and came through an interview process to make the final shortlist.

She has been sponsored by her own firm, Northamptonshire firm Wilson Browne, and wants to use her success to highlight women’s mental health, having suffered from her own issues 18 months ago.

Chloe Lake

Lake hopes to use her success to change the conversation about women's mental health

Source: Dani Latimer

‘I am incredibly keen to use the platform for as much good as I can,’ said Lake, who recently ran the London Marathon, has founded an interview coaching business and hosts an Instagram Live programme for professional women to talk about their life experiences.

‘Competing in Miss Universe Great Britain empowers me to know I can be who I want to be and can succeed being my authentic self. I have committed myself to changing the conversation around mental health. I encourage discourse, raise funds, and share my lived experiences, aiming to effect change and destigmatise the subject.’

As part of the experience, Lake is fundraising for A-Sisterhood, an organisation which supports the advancement of women worldwide.

The national takes place over three days and the winner will go on to represent Great Britain in Miss Universe in El Salvador at the end of this year.

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