Gemma Dawn Garrett (born 25 September 1981,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) is a former holder of the titles

Miss Great Britain Miss Great Britain is Britain's longest running beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. Owner and CEO John Singh made history crowning his first winner and to this date only the first black Miss Great Britain 1996. Singer and dancer A ...

and Miss Ulster. She is the official face of the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

. She appeared with

Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...

in the film '' Direct Contact'', which was scheduled for release in 2008. She was cast as a character called Creech due to her "distinctive" looks. She stood as a candidate in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election on 22 May 2008, representing the "Beauties for Britain" party, formed recently by herself, in the intention, in her own words, of "making

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

less dowdy and down-trodden". She came in tenth with 113 votes, 0.27% of the total. She contested the Haltemprice and Howden by-election following the resignation of its MP, David Davis, representing the 'Miss Great Britain Party'. Her candidacy attracted 521 votes, placing her in fifth position behind the Conservative Party, Green Party, English Democrats and National Front Britain for the British.

Life and career

Gemma Garrett was born on 25 September 1981 in

, Northern Ireland. Her mother and father worked as a classroom assistant and a security manager respectively. She has an older sister and a younger brother, Stephen, a footballer who has played for local clubs including Newry City and

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

. Garrett spent her early years in the

Ballybeen Ballybeen (), also known as Ballybeen Housing Estate, is the second-biggest housing estate in Northern Ireland. It is in the village of Dundonald, on the outskirts of east Belfast. It lies within the townlands of Ballybeen and Carrowreagh, betwee ...

estate in Dundonald, around from Belfast, before moving into the East Belfast area of the city at the age of seven. She achieved ten

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

s, but left school at the age of sixteen after experiencing bullying. In a 2018 interview she told the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant po ...

'' that she had been bullied, sometimes physically, because she was "obsessed by beauty queens and models". After leaving school Garrett began modelling, signing with the Style Academy agency in Belfast. She took part in the Miss Ulster contest in 2000, going on to win the event. She returned briefly to education, studying a college course in applied science and sports massage with the intention of eventually studying physiotherapy, but at age 20 she decided to devote her career to modelling. She spent the subsequent years in London, with modelling assignments including lingerie shoots. After a brief spell back in Belfast working for

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrelat ...

, Garrett in 2007 entered the

pageant. She came second in the contest itself, behind winner Rachael Tennant, but in February 2008 inherited the title herself after Tennant resigned her title.

References

External links

Miss Great Britain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Gemma 1981 births Living people Female models from Belfast British beauty pageant winners Irish beauty pageant winners People educated at Bloomfield Collegiate School