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Baby Beauty Queens

As the American phenomenon of the children’s beauty pageant hits the UK, this documentary uncovers a surreal new world where nine-year-olds get fake tans and seven-year-olds wear contact lenses.

With the grand final of the first ever Mini Miss UK beauty contest taking place at a leisure centre in Milton Keynes, it soon becomes clear that tantrums and tiaras may prevail over perfect poses and pouts. The mastermind behind the pageant is a middle-aged ex-beauty queen, who plans the entire event from her stairwell in Colchester.

The film follows three girls and their mothers in the lead up to the big event, and as they prepare to dazzle the judges the real reasons why they are all desperate to be crowned Mini Miss UK become apparent.

From the evangelical Christians who are convinced that God will help them win the pageant to the disadvantaged kid for whom the contest holds the key to a better life, the film portrays an eccentric, and at times disturbing, snapshot of modern Britain.

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  1. At least the Winner was a NATURAL BEAUTY. That should be be the normal.
    And Madison’s sisters very public dramatic breakdown…..OMG….
    rather than being the supportive and distracting big sister.

    🤨

  2. I’m glad the cut away from that Mama Mia performance……..
    it was too painful and absolutely cringeworthy.
    😭

  3. And poor poor SWEET Sasha…..💔….my heart just broke…..and broke.

    This is the LAST thing she needs to boost her confidence.

    She’s totally out of her element and having her Mother so clueless….making it worse with every choice.

    What a darling Sasha is ….and she was such a trooper trying to be brave.
    Glad her routine went well for her.

    God Bless that little love bug. ❤️🐞

  4. 😳MADISON:
    It’s painfully obvious that every word, carefully crafted sentence and “motto” out of 9 year old Madison’s mouth is a direct (and disillusioned, self-serving) quote from her Mother that’s been repeatedly told to her since she could talk.

    Her Mother is twisting the Religious teachings/values into the teachings
    of “The Secret” …..in such a distorted way…..that her goals (morals, ethics, values ) and what she’s thankful for …are all completely hollow:
    Her God given “Beauty”, winning, being noticed, having money and a big home….and did I mention winning??

    ⛪️Having the PASTOR taking time out of a CHURCH SERVICE encouraging the audience to agree how PRETTY she is and that she SHOULD win…..
    and having the entire congregation praying…..is SO inappropriate!!

    Do they stop to think how embarrassed she’ll feel if she doesn’t win??
    It’s as though God said she wasn’t good enough or believing hard or sincere enough….TOO MUCH PRESSURE for a nine year old. 😟

    Drilling into her that if you believe (later adding work) hard enough you’ll get whatever you want…because it’s
    “Gods Will” 🙄 is just setting her up for major disappointment because failing is part of almost everyone’s life. Madison already shows total indifference and boredom at times.

    Her Mother is literally shaming her into using contacts, seeing her become worried if her Mother “catches her wearing her glasses” was heartbreaking.

    Madison already displays emotional immaturity with whining and being disrespectful, and it will only get worse, and more problematic.
    Relationships will be a definite challenge without therapy.

    Without it – she’ll absolutely internalize all her negative feelings along with all the other insanity her Mother spewed, so by her teens she’ll have body dysmorphia, an eating disorder, OCD and depression.

    🙁 Sigh.

  5. Although the whole entire thing turns me off, the girl that won was so naturally beautiful (As they all are) and her parents let that natural beauty shine…No need for clown faces on ANY of those young girls!

  6. They all look like a bunch of over painted, out of work clowns….

  7. Creepy sexual exploitation.

  8. Child Abuse

  9. This documentary is quite amazing! Didn’t realize that artificial intelligence had advanced so much! If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn that the “people” in the video were actually human! But the dead giveaway is that no truly human hearted mother would ever dream of sacrificing the souls of their daughters on the altar of sexual exploitation. Or would they?

  10. GO SASCHA!!!!! She is just adorable!!!!

  11. This is child abuse no doubt Talk about control ?

  12. I Thought that Vainity was a sin for Christian ?

  13. madison’s really pretty

  14. These people are stupid. It’s not all about beauty. Most of the judges in beauty pageants judge based on personality too.

  15. “I want to become a model. I don’t want to be just sitting around the house doing nothing.” This is scary: she really seems to believe that as a girl, you either aspire to becoming am model or you’ll be doomed to sit around the house doing nothing.

  16. they did it all wrong! why did they not have the girls go age by age???

  17. that Madison girl seemed miserable the whole time, frowning, like she wasn’t even doing it for herself. I think her mother manipulated her into thinking she was for sure going to win.
    Don’t these people realize that only a tiny fraction of people ever make a honest living being beautiful? Why put false hopes into these poor girls’ minds? 

    These are children and children will mimic what they see and what they think is important. Just because they like to dress up doesn’t mean god wants them to be a child beauty pageant winner. I think Jesus would frown on young girls wiggling their asses for adults.

    sick world we live in.

  18. I’m so glad my mother always told me to focus on my mind and personality. Of course she likes it if I look nice, but she would absolutely hate it if I changed anything about myself. These little girls should be playing and getting dirty, not being dressed up like grown up women. It’s very distasteful, and also extremely sad to watch. I would never want my daughter to enter a competition like this!

  19. They’ve also been linked to child prostitution / porn, with some types serving as a way to display “the goods” to men before they auction them off. Can’t find direct links offhand, but if you look into child sex trafficking, satanic ritual abuse, pedophile rings, etc you’ll find proof.

    And yes, the mothers are living vicariously through their daughters which is totally unhealthy and shows their terrible lack of self-esteem. Also, a lot of women have children because they think it will give them purpose and self-esteem, and that doesn’t always work out … sad.

  20. thats.. excuse me…fucking  disgusting. 

  21. What hope do these girls have in the future ¬_¬ Some people shouldnt be allowed to have kids. Kids want ponies. Doesnt mean you give them ponies. She disliked her ears so she gave her the birthday present of new ears! she would have grown into them. Surgeons shouldnt be allowed to do that

  22. I have to say, I was kind of pleasantly surprised that the girl who won was NOT caked in makeup, or obviously tanned. Though the dress’ price-tag did give me a bit of shock…

  23. of course they are all religious.

    also did anyone else think it was funny when the organizer woman was talking about how important it was for kids to be attractive, yet she had a bald patch on her head? maybe instead of telling some girl to fix her lazy eye you should invest in a wig.

  24. haha middle aged divorced with 2 kids and a mortgage. That 100% focus on beauty sure as shit worked out well for mum number 2.

  25.  I almost can’t finish this.. Surgery and Contacts at age 7, and the Mother is PROUD!! WTF is wrong with some people. And speaking to the child after, “Mommy doesn’t want me to where glasses”. That is disgusting

  26. omg! i thought this was only for the Mericans, and their, um, ways

  27. omg! i thought this was only for the Mericans, and their, um, ways

  28. omg! i thought this was only for the Mericans, and their, um, ways

  29. PLASTIC SURGERY WHEN SHE WAS 7?!

  30. Wow, so…..this woman is teaching her daughter that the only things that matter in life are material posessions. This little girl’s in for a life of disappointment.

  31. If people think this is what britain is like, they are wrong. I have never seen a pageant advertized as people are so against it. These people are extremes, and as the woman in part 2 said “people think im delirious” when talking about plastic surgery. People should not look at this and think that pageants are part of society, and anywhere near the american interests. 

    This is not accepted in britain, but in America in certain places it is not frowned apon. Personally I think pageants are awful, and are a form of child cruelty, exploiting little girls, and dressing them to look sexy. 

    Normal women dont dress like this, most prostitutes dont even dress like this, so for women to want to dress their 9 year olds like prostitutes is awful and sickening. 

  32. If people think this is what britain is like, they are wrong. I have never seen a pageant advertized as people are so against it. These people are extremes, and as the woman in part 2 said “people think im delirious” when talking about plastic surgery. People should not look at this and think that pageants are part of society, and anywhere near the american interests. 

    This is not accepted in britain, but in America in certain places it is not frowned apon. Personally I think pageants are awful, and are a form of child cruelty, exploiting little girls, and dressing them to look sexy. 

    Normal women dont dress like this, most prostitutes dont even dress like this, so for women to want to dress their 9 year olds like prostitutes is awful and sickening. 

  33. If people think this is what britain is like, they are wrong. I have never seen a pageant advertized as people are so against it. These people are extremes, and as the woman in part 2 said “people think im delirious” when talking about plastic surgery. People should not look at this and think that pageants are part of society, and anywhere near the american interests. 

    This is not accepted in britain, but in America in certain places it is not frowned apon. Personally I think pageants are awful, and are a form of child cruelty, exploiting little girls, and dressing them to look sexy. 

    Normal women dont dress like this, most prostitutes dont even dress like this, so for women to want to dress their 9 year olds like prostitutes is awful and sickening. 

  34. If people think this is what britain is like, they are wrong. I have never seen a pageant advertized as people are so against it. These people are extremes, and as the woman in part 2 said “people think im delirious” when talking about plastic surgery. People should not look at this and think that pageants are part of society, and anywhere near the american interests. 

    This is not accepted in britain, but in America in certain places it is not frowned apon. Personally I think pageants are awful, and are a form of child cruelty, exploiting little girls, and dressing them to look sexy. 

    Normal women dont dress like this, most prostitutes dont even dress like this, so for women to want to dress their 9 year olds like prostitutes is awful and sickening. 

  35. If people think this is what britain is like, they are wrong. I have never seen a pageant advertized as people are so against it. These people are extremes, and as the woman in part 2 said “people think im delirious” when talking about plastic surgery. People should not look at this and think that pageants are part of society, and anywhere near the american interests. 

    This is not accepted in britain, but in America in certain places it is not frowned apon. Personally I think pageants are awful, and are a form of child cruelty, exploiting little girls, and dressing them to look sexy. 

    Normal women dont dress like this, most prostitutes dont even dress like this, so for women to want to dress their 9 year olds like prostitutes is awful and sickening. 

    • You tell other people not to judge britain based on this but you yourself are prejudice of america as if this is the norm. This is just as frowned upon here. There are few exceptions and those are also extremes not the normal. Don’t tell people not to judge then turn around and judge something yourself.

    • You tell other people not to judge britain based on this but you yourself are prejudice of america as if this is the norm. This is just as frowned upon here. There are few exceptions and those are also extremes not the normal. Don’t tell people not to judge then turn around and judge something yourself.

    • You tell other people not to judge britain based on this but you yourself are prejudice of america as if this is the norm. This is just as frowned upon here. There are few exceptions and those are also extremes not the normal. Don’t tell people not to judge then turn around and judge something yourself.

    • You tell other people not to judge britain based on this but you yourself are prejudice of america as if this is the norm. This is just as frowned upon here. There are few exceptions and those are also extremes not the normal. Don’t tell people not to judge then turn around and judge something yourself.

  36. Maybe Madison’s sister (the blonde choreographer), should invest more in her looks..fat, ugly, pig. 

    • Nice to see how good you feel about yourself. It’s obvious that you do since you feel the need to call a 13-15 year old girl a fat ugly pig where she can’t even defend herself. Idiot.

    • I always wondered what calling her smaller and ‘prettier’ sister beautiful would do to her? I wonder if she felt insecure and in need of attention (weird crying fit after her sister didn’t win??)

  37. Maybe Madison’s sister (the blonde choreographer), should invest more in her looks..fat, ugly, pig. 

  38. Maybe Madison’s sister (the blonde choreographer), should invest more in her looks..fat, ugly, pig. 

  39. Maybe Madison’s sister (the blonde choreographer), should invest more in her looks..fat, ugly, pig. 

  40. So very sad. I agree with the rest of the comments – the mothers are shocking. Teaching their children that winning is everything and giving them shallow aspirations is bizarre. And the mother that was worried about her daughter not looking ‘cute’ is a poor example of a human being.

  41. These “mothers” should be tied to a post in public so people can spit at them and kick them in their twats…

    this is beyond disgusting, the girls looked like cheap, little whores…well, just like their moms..

  42. UNBELIEVABLE….THESE MOTHERS SHOULD BE BROUGHT UP ON CHARGES FOR CHILD ABUSE.THESE SO CALLED MOTHERS ARE MAKING THEIR DAUGHTERS DO WHAT THEY COULD NEVER ACHIEVE WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG AND FOR THEM TO MAKE THE GIRLS DRESS UP LIKE DOLLS…THEY ARE SETTING THE GIRLS UP LIKE FRUIT FOR EVERY PEDOPHILE THAT ENJOYS GIRLS THIS WAY.
    THESE GIRLS ARE GOING TO FIND OUT THE HARD WAY THAT THEY MAY NEVER BE RUNWAY MATERIAL AND THEY WILL DO ANY JOB OUT THERE TO TRY TO BE AS CLOSE TO THE LIFESTYLE AS THEY CAN GET.THEY WILL FIND OUT THAT NOT EVERYONE IN LIFE FEELS THE SAME WAY AS THEIR PARENTS THAT THEY ARE MODEL MATERIAL.SOME MAY END UP DOING ANYTHING TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT BECAUSE THEY WERE TOLD THIS IS ALL THEY ARE GOOD FOR…BEAUTY WONT ALWAYS BE THEIR AND THEY WILL TURN TO SUGAR DADDIES THAT WILL ALWAYS LOVE THEM FOR ONE THING…WILLING TO PLEASE
    FOR THE SECOND MOTHER TO SAY SHE WAS WORRIED HER DAUGHTER WOULD TURN OUT UGLY BECAUSE OF HER EARS AND BABY PICTURE?…CANT WAIT FOR HER TO GET TO THE GATES OF HEAVEN AND EXPLAIN TO GOD THAT SHE THOUGHT HE MADE A MISTAKE WHEN HE MADE HER…AND THAT SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD MAKE HER DAUGHTER BETTER THAN WHAT HE SENT TO HER?….GOING TO HELL FOR SURE
    THESE MOTHERS ARE JUST LIVE IN PIMPS FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS..PURE AND SIMPLE….ITS A SHAME THESE YOUNG GIRLS HAVE TO BE FORCED TO DO WHAT THEY DONT WANT TO DO….THE MOTHERS HAVE THE GIRLS ON PINS AND NEDDLES AND HAVE MADE THE GIRLS TO SCARED TO SAY NO…WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE FATHERS …DO THE GUYS IN ENGLAND HAVE NO KAHOANIES TO TELL THEIR WIFE THAT THIS IS WRONG?…IF MY WIFE MADE MY 8 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER DO THIS….ID BRING MY WIFE UP ON CHARGES AND LEAVE HER IN A HEARTBEAT….FOR SURE ID HAVE HER LISTED AS A CHILD ABUSER BECAUSE SHE WAS TRYING TO TELL MY DAUGHTER SHE WAS NOT GOOD ENOUGH IF SHE DIDNT LOOK PERFECT AND HAVING HER DRESS UP IN SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE CLOTHING….PEDOS THRIVE ON GIRLS THAT LOOK LIKE THIS AND FOR THE MOTHER TO PIMP THE DAUGHTER LIKE THIS????….PURE ABUSE AND MAY THE MOTHERS ROT FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE…..SHAME….SHAME

    [email protected] MCBRIDE B.C CANADA

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  44. A good, if shallow doco overall.
    I agree with the comment on Sascha and her mother. Although the activity of pageants might be questionable, they did use it for personal growth. And it clearly worked.
    I liked the narrators cynicism of the winner, her natural look and really expensive dress won her the prize.

  45. I have to say that I was impressed with both Sascha and her mother. They used it as a confidence building exercise, and it worked out for the best.
    When the child is encouraged to compete, rather than win at all costs,a good outcome may be expected, and of the three, she has become the most successful. We can use experiences like this to build kids up, or tear them down. I think we can all see which is the better way.

  46. Like Melanie said, it’s quite disturbing to watch and you can’t help but feel sorry for these little girls who are being fed by their neurotic mothers to a world of superficiality, emptiness and vanity.

    Hopefully this has been a reality check for most of these girls and their mothers; and they realised how futile this is.
    “Some girls really do need to understand that they need to spend the money on corrective surgery”… Seriously? For 9 yo girls?

    Human beings never cease to surprise me, and it’s another high quality BBC documentary well worth watching!

  47. this was difficult to watch. Mothers living through their daughters with no regard for them. It’s quite sick actually.