A bullied teenage girl who was the victim of a real-life ‘Mean Girls’ hate campaign at school has had the last laugh – after reaching the final of a national BEAUTY contest.
Pretty Rosie Thompson, 17, was targeted at the age of 11 because she joined a new school and didn’t have any friends.
However, the student has now put the taunting behind her and reached the finals of Miss Birmingham, beating thousands of other young hopefuls.
Rosie will take on 19 other girls later this month with the winner getting the chance to compete in Miss United Kingdom on November 15.
Rosie, from Redditch, Worcs., said: “I have wanted to do modelling since a young age but I just didn’t have the confidence.
“I have also had a passion for fundraising and by modelling I can also fund raise which is great, the two things just merged together.
“When I was around 11-years-old I was bullied, it wasn’t physical abuse, it was mainly verbal.
“I joined the school late and by the time I got there everyone had their friendship groups, but I was on my own.
“It was a bit like the Mean Girls film when Lindsay Lohan is ostracised at the new school by the popular kids.
“It wasn’t very nice, I had a fall out with one of the most popular girls in the school and people started to turn against me.
“They would call me names and throw things at me which was horrible and I left the school a few years later because it go so bad.
“When I left the school my confidence was at an all-time low, it was horrible.
“But then at my new school I fitted in perfectly and my confidence just grew, I guess that helped with my modelling and helped me to do it.
“I have tried to block out the past, I put up a barrier and just got over it, it was hard to do but I needed to to move on with my life.”
As part of the competition, Rosie is raising money for The Variety Club, a disabled children’s charity.
Proud mum Callie, 50, who runs her own dog grooming salon, said: “I am so very proud of her.
“She is a good girl, she makes effort in everything she has ever done and it is great that she is raising money for the charity.
“She is keen to pursue a modelling career and has applied to lots of different agencies on her own, she is like that, very independent, which is great.
“We have thought about her winning the competition, but we don’t want to jinx it, we are just taking things one day at a time.”
Rosie will compete for the crown of Miss Birmingham on April 27.