Fake tan, make-up, blonde wig, tiara... the 15-month-old TODDLER entered in a beauty pageant

Fake tan, make-up, blonde wig, tiara... the 15-month-old TODDLER entered in a beauty pageant

Mangalore Today News Network

With her long blonde hair, painted nails, heavy make-up and fake tan, Aloka-Romaine Liddle is all ready to stroll out on to the catwalk in a beauty contest.

Or rather, toddle out on to it as best she can. Because tiny Aloka-Romaine is no ordinary wannabe beauty queen. She’s just 15 months old.

She’s one of hundreds of British children who take part in the American-style beauty pageants craze taking hold here.

Aloka-Romaine is up against 100 other ­finalists in the fiercely-competitive Miss Mini Princess UK competition. And she isn’t the youngest ­contestant either. One ­is just 12 weeks old.

The contest has been inspired by ­controversial US reality TV show ­Toddlers and Tiaras, which has been condemned for ­sexualising little girls.

Judging rounds focus on “face and beauty”, the most “wowing outfit” and an evening dress finale judged on the best “poised, elegant stance”.

Such adult-style contests in the US often involve girls parading on a catwalk wearing bikinis. The British version of the craze is still in its infancy. But critics fear the US experience is spreading here.

American pageants are a multi-million-dollar business.

Aloka-Romaine Liddle has her fake tan applied Mum Claire rubs fake tan on to Aloka

And fierce competition has led to shocking stories of parents dressing their girls as prostitutes and even ­teaching them pole-dance routines to give them an edge over their rivals.

The contests are perfectly legal but, because they are also unregulated, there are concerns about exploitation.

The French government has called for a ban — with one MP saying girls were being “disguised as sexual candy” — and there has also been outrage in Australia.

Claude Knights of children’s charity ­Kidscape says: “There is a ‘Lolita’ issue of little girls being sexualised, dressing as adults and not being aware of the sort of feelings this can provoke in others. One of the concerns is the lack of regulation. Anyone can set up a pageant without having to adhere to guidelines, putting children at risk of exploitation.”

Yet parents in the UK insist there are no such issues here and say they have no fears for their daughters.

Claire Walker, Aloka-Romaine’s mum, says: “I don’t see what all the fuss is about. It is just a bit of ­harmless fun. I wouldn’t do it if Aloka didn’t enjoy dressing up, but she adores all the attention.

“She’s a real girly girl. She adores having her nails done. She comes with me when I have a manicure and holds her hands out to have her nails painted. She is there with me in the morning copying as I put on make-up. Putting on make-up for a pageant isn’t any different – it’s just another way of mum-daughter bonding.”

Single mum Claire, 28, has made a round trip of nearly 250 miles from her home in Northallerton, North Yorks, for a photoshoot in preparation for the pageant final in November.

She spent hours the night before adapting a bridesmaid’s dress, sewing on dozens of miniature crystals. Her main worry has been trying to find a ­hairpiece for Aloka, who hasn’t enough locks of her own yet.

The solution is a wig provided by the pageant’s beauty team. They also have bottles of fake tan, false eyelashes and bright lipstick which they offer to every entrant, even the smallest babies. Half an hour later Aloka emerges fake-tanned with full make-up and tiara.

Despite initial cries of ­protest from her daughter, Claire, a hairdresser who also has two young sons Oscar-Rae and Porter, pulls the wig over the ­wriggling toddler’s head. Soon, encouraged by proud mum, who is clapping behind the ­photographer to make her daughter laugh, Aloka is strutting round the studio.

Courtesy: Mirror News