Monday, May 23, 2016

We sat down with Miss Grand International Claire Parker and found out what makes her tick

      First off congratulations gaining the title of Miss Grand International, tell us more about the role actually involves

Thank you so much! Well, the advocacy of Miss Grand International is 'Stop the War and Violence', so my role basically is to promote peace and tolerance worldwide, to spread awareness of the effects of wars and violent behaviour and to provide aid and support to the people who have been affected by such situations. I will be doing a lot of international travel in the next 6 months to carry out these kind of humanitarian activities where possible but also will be able to attend lots of events and conferences, continue my work as a model, and I also get to travel and crown other queens which is awesome! I have two trips coming up in June, one to crown Miss World Vietnam and the other to crown Miss Grand China! 

       What made you want to become a part of such a great cause 

 I've been competing in beauty pageants for a number of years previous but I was particularly drawn to Miss Grand because it has such a relevant advocacy at this time, given all the political unrest and fighting that is happening in the world. I find a lot of other pageants will put their face to a cause but not actually actively go out and do anything to support it, where being Miss Grand it is a very hands on role and I love the fact that I really get to make a difference.

      What would you like to focus on after you have finished your officials duties 

 My lifelong dream (other than saving the world) has always been to be an actress and I did actually study acting at a tertiary level, however life has been leading me down a slightly different path the last few years with my modelling and beauty pageants career really taking off. I am hoping that once my duties are finished at the end of this year I can really dedicate more of my time and effort towards building a career as an actress!

     Where would you like to be in the next ten years 

 I have a lot of ambitions and goals I'd like to achieve in the next ten years, I'd love to own properties in major cities around the world, I really would love to open my own cat shelter for rescue cats, I'd like to be in a position where I can chase the summer all year round because I HATE winter, I'd hope that I have built a successful acting career, there's so many things I'd love to be doing by then but I guess you just never know where life will lead you. 2 months ago I had no idea I was even going to be crowned as Miss Grand International so I guess we will wait and see!! Hopefully wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, I'm happy, healthy and surrounded by the people (and cats) I love.

      What are 3 things that people don’t know about you

1. I don't eat fruit. People think that's really weird, I eat everything else don't worry, but I don't eat fruits!
2. I used to be ambi dextrous as a child (I could write perfectly with both hands), but now I'm super out of practice and can only write with my right hand.

3. I wanted to be Australia's first female Prime Minister, until Julia Gillard beat me to it.