Zara Holland on being de-throned as Miss Great Britain: ‘I think it is quite sexist – would Alex have lost his title?’

Jennifer Ruby23 June 2016
The Weekender

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Zara Holland thinks the decision to strip her of her Miss Great Britain title is ‘sexist’.

The former pageant queen, who was de-throned after she was filmed having sex on Love Island, thinks that it would have been a different story if she was man.

Speaking to Evening Standard Online, the 20-year-old said: “I think it was quite sexist.

“I’ve had people say that if Alex was the equivalent of a Miss GB he probably wouldn’t have had his title stripped away from him. It takes two to tango – it wasn’t just me.”

Holland went on to defend herself against the people trying to ‘shame’ her, insisting that she shouldn’t be vilified for her decision to sleep with someone.

“I regret that I slept with him on national TV but I don’t regret, like, having sex. There’s nothing wrong with that. At all.

“Which I think is where people are getting confused with what I’m saying. There’s nothing wrong with having sex, but doing it on national TV wasn’t one of my brightest moments.

“I did promise my mum that I wouldn’t sleep with anyone there and I broke that promise so that’s why I feel like I have made a mistake and let people down.

“But I didn’t commit a crime, I haven’t bullied anyone, do you know what I mean? It’s really hard.”

The reality star, who has been replaced as Miss Great Britain by runner-up Deone Robertson, said of her replacement:

“They’ve put Deone the runner-up from last year as the new Miss Great Britain and it’s just so hurtful to see that because it feels like I should still be there.

“I don’t know the girl, I‘ve only ever met her once in my life. She’s been doing pageants for years and years and years. I only started them a couple of years ago. Again, I’ve got nothing really to say to her.”

Holland left the ITV2 programme after her mother fell ill and is concentrating on being with her family rather than dating.

“As dating goes for me, I am definitely unlucky in love.”

Love Island 2016 Contestants - In pictures

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