ZARA HOLLAND -MISS GREAT BRITAIN 2015 BORN 1995 AUGUST 24

ZARA HOLLAND -MISS GREAT BRITAIN 2015

 BORN 1995 AUGUST 24

Zara Holland

Zara Holland (born 24 August 1995 in Kingston upon Hull) is an English actress and model, who now lives in London. She is probably best known as being crowned Miss Great Britain in 2015.[1] 

She has also appeared in Emmerdale and Coronation Street, as well as taking part in reality show Love Island on ITV2.[2] Following her antics on Love Island in June 2016, she was controversially de-crowned losing her title. 






She was due to compete in Miss World in Malaysia in November 2016, but will now not be able to, 

with the crown of Miss Great Britain now going over to runner-up Deone Robertson.[3]

Early life[edit]


Zara Holland was born in 1995, in Kingston upon Hull in an area called North Ferriby. 

She attended school in the city and her parents both worked in the fashion industry. Her mum, Cheryl Hakeney, was a model and won the "Miss Hull" pageant, some thirty years later Zara would win it.




Holland's mother Cheryl Hakeney and grandfather David Hakeney both appear as regular dealers on the ITV antiques programme Dickinson's Real Deal presented by David Dickinson.

Life and career[edit]

Following in the footsteps of her mother Zara studied fashion at college and in 2014 aged 18 Holland appeared on ITV soap Emmerdale.[citation needed] Zara was cast to play the role of a drunken Porchia. She was in two episodes and asked to go back and play the same role again.[citation needed]

Holland's breakthrough was in 2014 when she competed in "Miss Hull" and went on to win the pageant. The Hull Daily Mail reported: "The Miss Hull and District final was held on Friday evening at The Country Park Inn in Hessle and saw 30 girls compete for the coveted title in four rounds.[4]









Her mum Cheryl told the Hull Daily Mail: "It was totally incredible when Zara won. I was seeing it from a different angle. When it is your child, you just want them to do well and I was really rooting for her to win. When they announced Zara had won, I wanted to faint." <ref">"Zara Holland becomes Miss Hull 2014 – 32 years after her mother Cheryl Hakeney". 29 April 2014.</ref>

In December 2015, Holland and the winner of Love Island season 1, Max Morley, went on a number of dates. However, Max Morley caused dispute by accusing Holland of being 'boring in bed'.[5]






In June 2016 she took part in ITV2 Love Island, as a single women she went on a date with contestant Alex Bowen, a model and scaffolder, and slept with him, although this was not shown as explicit sex is not allowed to be shown on British television. She was subsequently stripped of her Miss Hull title 2015/2016, which was reported in a number of papers.

In a statement issued, Miss Great Britain organisers said: “We feel we have no choice but to make this decision under the current circumstances. Although Miss Great Britain is the oldest pageant system in the UK, we pride ourselves on promoting the positivity of pageants in modern society and this includes the promotion of a strong, positive, female role model in our winners." The Daily Mail said: "The news came after the blonde beauty was captured romping Vicky Pattison's ex Alex Bowen just days into the latest installment of Love Island."[6]

The stripping of her title led to some controversy among the public and feminist groups as to why she was punished for utilising her body in the way she desired. Presenter Caroline Flack took to Twitter to say that Zara is “a very sweet girl” and ask “What even is Miss GB? Are we still living in the dark ages?” while Radio Times branded the decision “totally hypocritical”. She cried on air on hearing the news saying she "regretted the romp with Alex and asked for forgiveness".





 A petition was launched to reinstate her title.[7] She was due to compete in Miss World in Malaysia in November 2016, but will now be ineligible having lost her title.[citation needed]

 The following week she announced to her housemates she was leaving the programme, not because of her actions, but her mum was ill.[8]