Gemma Garrett

Gemma Garrett was born on 25 September 1981 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[8] Her mother and father worked as a classroom assistant and a security manager respectively. She has an older sister and a younger brother, Stephen, a footballer who has played for local clubs including Newry City and Cliftonville.[9][10] Garrett spent her early years in the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald, around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Belfast, before moving into the East Belfast area of the city at the age of seven. She achieved ten GCSEs, but left school at the age of sixteen after experiencing bullying. In a 2018 interview she told the Belfast Telegraph that she had been bullied, sometimes physically, because she was "obsessed by beauty queens and models".[9]

After leaving school Garrett began modelling, signing with the Style Academy agency in Belfast.[9] She took part in the Miss Ulster contest in 2000, going on to win the event.[11] She returned briefly to education, studying a college course in applied science and sports massage with the intention of eventually studying physiotherapy, but at age 20 she decided to devote her career to modelling. She spent the subsequent years in London, with modelling assignments including lingerie shoots.[9]

After a brief spell back in Belfast working for Budweiser,[9] Garrett in 2007 entered the Miss Great Britain pageant. She came second in the contest itself, behind winner Rachael Tennant,[12] but in February 2008 inherited the title herself after Tennant resigned her title.[13]

• Miss Great Britain