By Matthew Simpson & Douglas Whitbreadvia SWNS
A glitzy mom and daughter have both been crowned winners of the same beauty pageant – 40 years apart.
Stunning Tabitha Bennett, 20, took home the Miss Blackpool crown after Vicky Bennett, 59, scooped the prestigious award back in 1984.
The fashion student had not shown that much interest in following in the footsteps of her mom, who was once the ‘most titled beauty queen ever’.
But after competing for just six months, she entered the Blackpool competition and walked away with the top prize on the event’s 70th anniversary.
Thrilled Vicky later joined Tabitha on stage for a touching picture sporting the same sash she was crowned in four decades ago.
She said about her daughter’s success: “There are honestly no words, and I don’t mean to be dramatic, but it’s been my dream to see her do it.
“Tabitha really rocked it. A lot of the girls get pageant training, but she only had me. She was just so brilliant.
“It was really exciting, we had an absolute ball. It was the best night. We were on cloud nine.
“Win or lose in another competition, it wouldn’t have mattered, but because there was so much on it, I wanted her to win the 70th anniversary.
“It was really special to me that she’s held the same trophy.”
Tabitha said it was ‘an honor’ to become the first-ever mom and daughter crowned Miss Blackpool.
She said: “Winning Miss Blackpool was something I will never forget, and it was so incredible to create history and take after my mum.
“To win on the competition’s 70th anniversary is an absolute honor and we as a family were absolutely delighted.
“I am so excited for my year as Miss Blackpool and to bring more publicity and promote the incredible organization run by such a lovely family.”
Vicky, who owns a baby supplies shop, won ‘hundreds’ of beauty pageants when she strutted the boards at UK-wide events during her teens and early 20s in the 1980s.
Her impressive run saw her scoop the Miss New Brighton crown and also take home the Miss Stoke on Trent and Miss Oldham titles.
But one of her biggest successes came when she won a car and cash prize money after being crowned ‘Butlins Holiday Princess’ at the age of 18.
Vicky, from Knutsford, Cheshire, said: “I won hundreds of titles. It was said in the 1980s that I was the most titled beauty queen ever.
“The Butlins Holiday Princess was one of the biggest national titles that a beauty queen could win in those days.
“And when I won it in 1982, I also won a brand new Ford Escort car worth £5,700. I was literally taken outside and given the keys – and £1,000 in cash.
“My mum and dad had never had a brand-new car. That’s how big beauty competitions were.”
Vicky said the Miss Blackpool beauty pageant had always been one of the key events in the calendar stretching back decades.
And when she was victorious in 1984 at the age of 19, TV luminary Les Dawson was among the judges.
So she was thrilled when Tabitha put herself forward for the contest before later coming home with the top prize on November 22.
Vicky said: “Tabitha didn’t really show any signs of doing this, but slowly she’s come round to it.
“Within six months she’s won two major titles and got the public vote in Miss Great Britain, which is just fantastic.
“She’s really making waves and I’ve watched her grow into it.
“From doing it the first time and muddling through, to now, when she came out on stage this time, even I was saying, ‘Oh my God, who are you?’
Vicky said the timing of her daughter’s success on the 70th anniversary of the competition had meant a lot to her.
She added: “I wanted her to win it so badly.
“I didn’t want it to win it next year or the year after, I wanted her to win it this year, on the 70th anniversary because I just thought it was special.”
Tabitha is now set to enter the Miss England Cheshire competition in March, which would give her a shot at the Miss England crown if she is victorious.
And if she is successful in the national competition, she would then represent England in the Miss World pageant, which Vicky says could happen.
She added: “It’s not that far away – it is huge, but it’s only two steps and the way she’s going on, it’s possible.”
