Beauty contestants have ditched their bikinis for army camouflages as the current Miss England orders entrants to get fit and healthy.
Katrina Hodge, who won the title last year, is a lance corporal in the army and has persuaded organisers to forego the traditional but controversial bikini round of the competition for Operation Boot Camp instead.
The entrants met at a hotel where they were put through a series of army exercises reports the Birmingham Mail. The blog by Miss Birmingham begins: "I spent time with a great bunch of soldiers recently and it turned my legs to jelly! No, it wasn’t the sight of men in uniforms, it was because I was taking part in a Miss England boot camp."
Curiously the blog doesn't give Miss Birmingham's name but the byline reads Andy Richards. Perhaps now the bikini round has gone, men are entering the competition too.
