Beauty queen Holly dazzles at Miss Edinburgh pageant

Miss Edinburgh 2018 winner Holly Jane Reshad, from Lauder.

Holly Reshad, 24, saw off competition from 17 other young ladies at George Street hotel Le Monde on Sunday in her debut appearance at the pageant, now in its 10th year.

The animal biology student at Edinburgh Napier University is more used to spending her time as a cheerleader for the Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team and working at West Morrison poultry farm, near Earlston.

Holly Reshad is crowned Miss Edinburgh at Le Monde Hotel.

“It was my first time doing anything like this,” she said. “I recently gave up cheerleading and live back in Lauder. I felt there was a bit of an empty space so decided to give this a go.”

Holly impressed the judges across each competition category – casual wear, swim wear, occasion wear and sportswear – where she had the chance to show off her love for animals.

“I wore my riding competition stuff which was pretty cool,” she said, “Not a lot of people have horses, so it was a bit different. As Miss Edinburgh I’m now a patron for Kidney Research UK and get to pick another couple of charities to champion, too, so I’ll be picking some local animal charities.”

Up against a former Miss Scotland finalist, as well as some seasoned pageant competitors, Holly, supported on the day by mum Lynn, stepdad Mick, dad Earl, siblings Edward and Suzan, admits it was a daunting experience.

“There were so many lovely, gorgeous girls,” she said. “I had no idea if it was my name in the envelope or not. “A few of the girls had entered before, some were new to it like me. It was a mixed bag.”

“We supported each other through the process or choosing dresses and outfits. We were all really nervous so we were helping each other. It was not catty at all, like you would expect for a pageant.”

Kidney Research UK fundraising manager for Scotland, Sharon Sheridan, added: “We’ve had some fantastic support from the winners of the Miss Edinburgh competition over the years. Special mention must go to Holly’s predecessor, Rachel Flynn, last seen raising funds by hiking the Munros in high heels! We send Holly our congratulations – we can’t wait to see what she has in store.”