Talk of five-year-old girls with botox and waxed bodies are grossly exaggerated, says the organiser of the controversial kids’ beauty pageant that lands in Melbourne from America today.
Annette Hill from Universal Royalty Pageants in Texas told Hughesy and Kate on Nova 100 this morning that parents would be encouraged not to do anything over the top with their daughters who will be competing for a tiara.
“We don’t want waxing and over the top hair and make-up,” Hill said, “we just want to see the Australian kids be beautiful.
“No way in history would I ever let a mum come in saying she’s botoxed a child.
“We have the workshops to show the parents exactly what we want as far as blush up the cheeks a little bit and rosy the lips.
“But the bling bling comes with the dresses, you should see the glittery gowns!”
She said that backlash for the pageants “goes with the territory” but they had been shocked by the negative response since arriving in Melbourne.
Hey Dad! child star Sarah Monahan has said it sexualises kids and can tempt pedophiles. Police are prepared for protest action against the event.
“I was really surprised (by negativity) because we were invited to come by all our Australian fans and family and when we got here and got the shock with all the controversy I’m like ‘wait a minute we were invited to come here’,” Hill said.
“But the parents who are competing in the pageant say ‘stay strong’, they want the pageant, the American dream for a day. And I would not let the children of Australia down who wanted me to come.”
Controversy has forced the pageant to close its doors to the general public for the first time ever.
“We wanted this event to be open to everyone but unfortunately we had some disruptive people purchase tickets that wanted to come disrupt the event so my main concern as an organiser is to keep the children safe no matter what,” she said.
Universal Royalty Pageants are responsible for the pageants seen in Foxtel's reality show 'Toddlers and Tiaras'. One of America's biggest child pageants star, five-year-old Eden Wood (pictured) is in Melbourne for the event.
Channel 9’s A Current Affair will broadcast live from the pageant tonight, and Hill said that was the best chance for the public to see it.
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