Amy Willerton (born 18 August 1992) is an English television host, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for her work with ITV and winning the title of Miss Universe Great Britain 2013 and representing Great Britain at the Miss Universe 2013 pageant. She got her big modelling break when she was discovered by Katie Price as a teenager. She appeared on the reality TV competition series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2013 and finished in fifth place. In 2015, she was placed fourteenth in FHM's 100 Sexiest Women. In 2017, she placed fourth in Channel 4's The Jump.
Amy Willerton | |
|---|---|
 Willerton at The Sun Military Awards 2013 | |
| Born | 18 August 1992 Bristol, England, UK |
| Occupation | Model |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Children | 1[1] |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss London 2012 Miss Universe Great Britain 2013 |
| Hair colour | Blonde |
| Eye colour | Hazel |
| Major competition(s) | Miss Universe Great Britain 2013 (Winner) Miss Universe 2013 (Top 10) |
Early life and education
editWillerton was born in Bristol, England to parents Bruce and Sarah. She has two siblings, Erin Willerton[2] and Ross Willerton who is severely disabled.[3] The family communicates with Ross using Makaton sign language.[4] She is a direct descendant of the Catholic Church cardinal Thomas Wolsey.
She attended Cotham School before completing her A levels at North Bristol Post 16 Centre. She was due to study Media at University in Cardiff before deferring to pursue her modelling career.[5]
Modelling career
editWillerton began her modelling career at the age of 15 after being scouted whilst out shopping with her sister.[6] She has since appeared on catwalks around the world for brands such as Karen Millen and Guess (clothing) in advertising campaigns such as being the face of Sure.
Pageants
editMiss Bristol 2010, Miss Bath 2011, Miss London 2012
editAt age 17, Willerton won Miss Bristol.[7] She went on to win Miss Bath in 2011 and Miss London in 2012.[8] At the Miss England contest in 2012, Willerton reached the top five.
Miss Asia Pacific World 2011
editThe events were filmed by Willerton and other contestants (which were later uploaded to YouTube under the title Confessions of a Beauty Queen and spread throughout the pageant industry). Subsequently, she and the representatives from Guyana and Costa Rica fled their hotel to the airport, where the pageant organisers had tried to keep them there against their will and had followed them to the airport to stop them escaping. Organisers denied the accusations.[9]
Miss Universe 2013
editOn 8 June 2013, Willerton was crowned Miss Universe Great Britain in Birmingham and was quickly tipped as a potential winner of Miss Universe by international media and pageant forums. On 9 November 2013, Willerton participated at the Miss Universe contest in Moscow, Russia, where she became the first woman competing as Miss Great Britain to place in the semifinals, eventually finishing in the Top 10. Previous British contestants have placed as 1st Runner-up at Miss Universe, competing as Miss England, Miss Scotland and Miss Wales respectively. Willerton is the first British contestant in thirty years to reach the top ten at Miss Universe, the previous woman to achieve this being Karen Moore, who as Miss England, reached the top five in 1983.
Television career
editLess than 24 hours after landing into London from filming the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, Willerton flew to Australia to compete on ITV's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and placed fifth.[10]
She appeared on This Morning, Good Morning Britain, Big Brother's Bit on the Side, The Chase, Mastermind and Lorraine. In 2015, she appeared on Get Your Act Together, which involved her joining and performing with the Moscow State Circus.[11]
Willerton based herself in the USA in 2016, and began hosting for Fuse TV Network alongside DJ Skee.[12] She then was selected to host the Dance on Network show Every Single Step working with industry legends Nigel Lythgoe and Brian Friedman. The show's close similarity to So You Think You Can Dance caused many comparisons between Amy and fellow British presenter Cat Deeley.[13] She was a contestant on The Jump in February 2017 and finished in third place.
Philanthropy and other ventures
editWillerton's charitable work has focused on helping the disabled. She organised her first event, Bristol Rockstyle for the Variety Club children's charity as a teenager.[14] In 2014 she ran the London Marathon to raise money for The Chickenshed Theatre School.[15]
In 2015, Willerton began writing for the Huffington Post.[16] She was a speaker at the Oxford Union debating society at the University of Oxford.[17]
In the summer of 2016, Willerton sailed across the Atlantic from New York to London as part of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.[18]
References
edit- ^ "Amy Willerton opens up about her baby daughter's dramatic birth". HELLO!. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "Erin Willerton: Meet I'm a Celebrity star Amy Willerton's little sister". bristolpost.co.uk. 13 December 2013.
- ^ ""It was all for my brother Ross": Bristol model Amy Willerton reveals reason for going into jungle". Bristol Post. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ Amy Willerton (22 June 2012). "Miss London 2012 Talent Video" – via YouTube.
- ^ Corner, Natalie (11 June 2015). "Amy Willerton turned down university to pursue a modelling career". mirror.co.uk.
- ^ "Amy Willerton: 10 things you probably didn't know about the Bristol I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star". Bristol Post. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ "Former Miss Bristol Amy Willerton tipped to be in I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!". Bristol Post. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ "I'm A Celebrity star and ex-Miss Bath Amy Willerton . . . more than just a pretty face". Bath Chronicle. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ "한국경찰에 무릎 꿇은 BBC'..." JoongAng Medie Network. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ "'I'm A Celebrity': Amy Willerton Wastes No Time in Stripping Off in the Jungle (PICTURES)". The Huffington Post. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
- ^ "Get Your Act Together". ITV. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ "Amy Willerton in Fuse Network Show 'Skee TV' – Afrossip". afrossip.com. 20 April 2016. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
- ^ "Nigel Lythgoe's "Every Single Step" returns to go90".
- ^ "Moda Hair helps Miss Bristol wow city fashionistas". Moda Hairdressing. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
- ^ "Bristol model Amy Willerton to run the London Marathon with dad Bruce". No. Bristol Post. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ "The Women's Weights Myth – Huffington Post". huffingtonpost.co.uk. 4 August 2015.
- ^ "Amy Willerton tells Oxford students: "I'd rather be pretty than witty"". Bristol Post. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
- ^ "TV Model Amy Willerton to take on Clipper Race challenge". clipperroundtheworld.com.