Welsh schoolgirl causes uproar after winning America’s Perfect Teen title

LONDON - A British private schoolgirl has caused quite a storm after she was named America’s Perfect Teen.

Anysha Panesar, 16, beat a host of American beauties to win the contest while on holiday in Florida, but her victory has left families of the other contestants furious.

Parents of the American girls have protested to the organisers of the pageant, which has a 2,000-dollar first prize, and an 18,000-dollar scholarship to train as a TV broadcaster.

But Panesar has hit back, arguing that the outcry is just sour grapes.

“Some people did say I shouldn’t have won because I’m British. But really I think the people who said that just said it because they didn’t win,” the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

Panesar, who goes to the same private school in Cardiff that singer Charlotte Church used to attend, entered the teenage beauty pageant while at the family holiday home in Kissimmee, Florida.

The America’s Perfect Teen contest, which included girls as young as 13, has a big following in the States.

The pageant’s founder Michael Galanes, whose toddlers’ pageant Little Miss Perfect has become a TV hit in the U.S., admitted it has caused fury.

“Yes, her win caused a bit of a stir because she is, of course, British. But that is perfectly within the rules of the competition and those people are just naysayers,” he said.

“One of the judges told me they liked Anysha because she was a breath of fresh air. She has natural beauty but she isn’t afraid to be a bit wild. Anysha - what a beautiful girl,” he stated.

Panesar, who plans to use the scholarship to learn broadcasting in the U.S., after her A-levels, is also in talks to have her own TV show about her year as America’s Perfect Teen. (ANI)