Pageant News Bureau - Miss Great Britain

Gemma (center) and Jayne (right) with second runner-up Andrea Clay.

A different kind
of 'pageant mom'

Photos courtesy of Jayne Taylor
and Gemma Cunningham

Mother-daughter pageants have been around for decades. But in those contests, the mother and daughter are a team. Things were very different in the Miss Great Britain competition on Feb. 25, 2006. It was mother against daughter.

Jayne Taylor, 35, who competed as Miss Wigan, was the oldest contestant in the competition, which incidentally is the country's longest-running beauty pageant. Her daughter Gemma Cunningham, 16, who competed as Miss Ashton, was the youngest contestant.

Perhaps it's better for family harmony that neither of them emerged victorious. For the record, the winner was Miss Warrington, Danielle Lloyd, the first runner-up was Miss Basildon, Louise White, and the second runner-up was Miss St. Helens, Andrea Clay.

Jayne and Gemma with Maria the chaperone.

But Jayne and Gemma did something that's almost as good as winning: They made history. Jayne was told that they were the first mother and daughter ever to compete against each other in a British beauty contest. And since recorded British history goes back about 1,300 years, that's an impressive feat.

Our two competitive kinswomen hail from Wigan, in the north of England, where Jayne and husband Alan appear to be creating their own beauty dynasty. Besides Gemma -- who has been competing in pageants since age 4 -- the couple have three other daughters: Zoe, 14, Chelsea, 12, and Maddison, 2. Will Jayne compete against all of them eventually? We can't wait to find out.

Both Jayne and Gemma are models, and they have already done one photo shoot together. The Miss Great Britain experience was a major boost to their careers. On the pageant front, Jayne has competed in two international pageants and is preparing to represent England in Mrs. Globe.

What if somebody held a pageant that was nothing but mothers competing against daughters? What would that be like? Weird, probably.

Jayne and Gemma with the family's other beauties (except for Dad, who may be quite a looker himself for all we know)