A beauty queen who was stripped of her crown for posing topless in lads mags has defied her critics by reaching the finals of another prestigious competition.
Natalie Paweleck, 35, who works as matchday presenter for Manchester City FC, was controversially dethroned as Mrs Scotland World in November last year.
Pageant organisers were tipped off about her saucy past after she posed for lads’ mags like Zoo and FHM, who crowned her a High Street Honey 13 years previously.
But undeterred by the scandal, Natalie entered Mrs Galaxy UK and was stunned to reach the final of the competition after being crowned Mrs Chester last month.
She will now compete to win the chance to travel to the USA with contestants from all over the world, to compete in the Mrs Galaxy International final in the summer.
The mum-of-one, of Broughton, North Wales, said wanted to enter a more “inclusive and progressive” competition after accusing previous pageant bosses of “body-shaming”.
She said: “I’m moving on and not letting what happened last year get me down and looking to the future. I’ve bounced back.
“I was nervous at first but I thought you can’t be scared of doing things you want to do and just went for it really.
“The Galaxy pageant is inclusive, they’re progressive and invite people from all types of backgrounds.
“I was scared when I found out I was in the final, nervous about what my family and friends would think and say as they saw what I had been through last year,
“But they’ve been incredibly supportive and my husband has said to just enjoy it this time and go have a brilliant time.
“Now, I’m really excited and it would be amazing to win.”
Natalie, who also volunteers for Cancer Research UK and Wellspring homelessness charity, said she was attracted to the competition due to the charity work contestants are encouraged to undertake.
She added: “The Mrs Galaxy pageant is really focused around charity and community.
“The girls do a lot of community work, so you’re encouraged to get out there and do good things and help people.
“I’ve been running a campaign on period poverty and I’ve been collecting and encouraging people to donate.
“I’ve loved pageants my whole life, I used to watch Mrs World when I was younger.
“They do get a bad wrap and are stereotyped on what people might have seen in the 1960s.
“But I would encourage people to follow a current pageant to see the incredible community work being done.
“The confidence it gives women is amazing, I had an emergency cesarean section with my son and my body is not the body it was in FHM but I’m looking forward to the swimsuit competition.
“To me it’s more about standing up there and saying ‘yep my body is not perfect but this is a body that grew a child and birthed a child and I’m proud of this imperfect body.’
“I think that is a powerful message and this pageant has women of all shapes and sizes and I’m proud to apart of that,.
“Hopefully with my voice and football following I can get this message across.”
Edinburgh-born Natalie has worked as a match-day presenter for Manchester City’s TV channel for eight seasons after holding a season ticket since the 1998/99 season.
She added: “I used to model full-time and I had modelled the kit for Manchester City a few times.
“They were creating this match-day programme which is called City Square and they were looking for a woman to co-present it.
“Because I had modelled for them and they knew I’ve been a season ticket holder for the past 21 years, it kind of made sense to have someone presenting who a genuine fan.
“I got my first season ticket when I was 15-years-old, in the 98/99 season – I was there when we were rubbish and before the money and trophies.
“Before that I was a very successful model and was on the cover of FHM several times and on other major men’s magazines at the time.
“I was proud that I won High Street Honeys and proud of what I had achieved back then, I had travelled the world modelling with FHM
“It’s public knowledge that I modelled full-time, I had a great career, I never hid my modelling past and it wasn’t anything to be ashamed of.”
The Mrs Galaxy UK final is being held in March at Park Hall Hotel, in Preston, Lancs.
By Arun Lal