Miss Gibraltar countdown

SKY NEWS Presenter Paula Middlehurst, will co-host this year’s Miss Gibraltar pageant with James Neish. The former presenter on Radio Gibraltar said: “I always feel at home in Gib.” 

She lived on the Rock in the mid 80’s and says she jumped at the chance to co-host the pageant on June 8. This year’s contestants are Maroua Kharbouch, Stacey Britto, Erika Gonzalez, Arian Barton, Keshia Doody, Jamielee Randall and Anne Marie Yeo.

The Miss Gibraltar Contest Beauty has been held for more than 50 years. The winner goes on to compete for the Miss World title. The first ever Miss Gibraltar contest was staged in 1959. It was organised by the Vox Newspaper. Won by Viola Abudarham, the first election of a Miss Gib took place at a dance organised at the CFCA hall situated at the southern end of Main Street.

Since 1964 the show has been staged uninterrupted. In 2005 the responsibility for the Miss Gibraltar Office was given to the Ministry of Culture.

International acts to grace the show with their presence have included top Spanish guitarist, Paco de Lucia, Elaine Paige, Rolf Harris, Michael Bentine, Gibraltarians Albert Hammond and Melon Diesel and pop stars Whigfield and Sean Maguire.

In 2009 Miss Gibraltar, Kaiane Aldorino, was crowned Miss World.