What a little lady Sadie is!
At just two years of age, the Lurgan lass has won Diamond Ireland’s Tiny Miss title and clearly a great future in the world of pageantry lies ahead.
Little Sadie Dixon-Wilson’s success has left the entire family “incredibly proud”.
And, as mum Chloe Wilson told Armagh I, it’s very much a family affair when it comes to pageants and all they represent.
Keen to dispel myths of old of what competing is all about, Chloe says pageants really are confidence builders and she would urge anyone to “give it a go”.
Sunday’s success means Sadie now reigns nationally and represents County Armagh.
Two-year-old Sadie, with mum Chloe and her sister Eliza (7).
But unfortunately, due to her being “too young”, she is unable to compete at the next stage at Las Vegas.
Hopefully, though, that will change and Sadie will one day be en route to the US of A!
The little girl’s win at the Diamond Ireland Pageants event only came about by a chance decision.
Said Chloe: “We had just seen on Facebook girls that had done Miss Great Britain and things like that and so I was actually looking into it for my older daughter, Eliza. She’s seven and we were looking into it for her but then we had seen they have a division for babies too.
“We had thought to just try Sadie and so we tried her last September. There was a wee small charity pageant and she had won it and so we just stuck at it.
“Then her sister started with her and then her auntie started with her too, so it’s just been busy.
“I think before we had started we had the same thoughts a lot of people have, where it’s just the girls are going to be stuck up and it’s very looks-based and I didn’t know if that was something I wanted to get them into.
“But I’d spoken to a few of the girls over here that had done the bigger pageants and they said, no, it really builds their confidence and things like that.
“My daughter Eliza has ADHD and then their auntie, my 10-year-old sister, Elsie, has autism, so I sort of thought we’ll stick them in and see if there’s anything that would help with their confidence.
“They’ve only been in it maybe six months and their confidence has completely changed. They’re so confident in themselves.
“The first time Elsie didn’t even want to go out and now she’s happy enough parading about.
Sadie and her auntie, 10-year-old Elsie.
“It’s just very much based on giving all the girls confidence. Even the community and the friendship of it all is great, because they’ve made friends now that they’re best friends with.”
The first charity pageant the family attended was at a community centre in Newtownabbey and that was the springboard to get involved and keep with it.
It has now led to Sadie making a little bit of history.
“From the charity pageants, the aim is to fund charities and then a little bit of it is a fundraiser for the girls hosting it. They have won the main pageants and they’ll go over and represent Northern Ireland and Ireland in England and America,” explained Chloe.
“The pageant that Sadie was at at the weekend, last Sunday, was the Diamond Ireland pageant and she had won it.
“She had won Tiny Miss Diamond Ireland and she’s the first ever one over here to win it because they’d never done her age before.
“All of the older ones, from four years old and up, the ones that won it go over to America to represent their counties over here and Ireland as a whole, but because Sadie’s so tiny, she just is only really over here because they don’t really do her age over there at the minute.”
Not one to let the restriction of age dampen their enthusiasm and thwart their ambition, Chloe told how they have their sights set on going further in the future.
All of those crowned at Diamond Ireland who will go on to represent Ireland in America.
“The hope is next year that she’ll go and do the same Diamond Ireland pageant and she’ll crown someone else her age,” she said. “But after next year, she’ll move up to the older age group, to the Mini Division, so if she then does win it she can go on to America.”
To say that Sadie’s family are immensely proud is putting it mildly. But what is great is that participants who do not take crowns or top places are still delighted for those that do.
That’s all to do with what the competition helps instil in those who compete.
“It’s nice to see even the photos of the girls from the weekend, even the older ones there that haven’t won it, where it’s one of the other girls in their category that’s won it but everybody’s just so pleased for them,” added Chloe. “Everybody’s just so pleased for whoever wins. Obviously you want to win it yourself but everybody’s just so pleased for everybody else.
“With Sadie, we’re just really pleased too because she’s only two and it’s a lot for her to take on. Even her brother and her sister watching her were just so proud of her and her sister can’t wait to be doing it next year. It is a great thing for kids or grown-ups to get into – there is the odd man that does it too so it’s nice that everybody’s involved!”
Most of the competitions are promoted on the Diamond Ireland Pageants Facebook page, where notice of events, be they charity or whatever, are promoted well in advance.
And those who do win at whatever level are on hand to help give others a lift, getting behind them and spurring them on.
“Whenever the girls win the Diamond Ireland titles, they often do little appearances with their sashes and their crowns,” explained Chloe. “So it’s nice for them to go and support the other girls doing their pageants.”
Indeed, it’s akin to a family, a real community, with pageants now proving more popular than ever.
For anyone in any doubt about getting involved, the best advice and words of encouragement come from the mum of a national winner from Lurgan…
“If anyone’s looking to build confidence, pageants are a good way to do that,” insist Chloe. “It is very focussed on confidence and even the community of it now, more than just the looks of it as it maybe was years ago.
“So definitely, it someone’s thinking about it, give it a go. Everybody’s going to be pleased for them anyway.”
