Doctor with genius IQ who won Miss England wants to use beauty for a 'better purpose'

This year’s Miss England, Bhasha Mukherjee from Derby, holds the titles of both “Miss England” and “Doctor” to her name.

She was awarded the former in a ceremony on 1 August and earned the latter when she graduated with a second degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Nottingham in July this year.

The 23-year-old, who works at a hospital in Lincolnshire, speaks five languages and has an IQ score of 146 (over 140 is classified as genius).

She is also a managing director at the Generation Bridge Project, a volunteering enterprise which connects elderly people with youth – and has spoken about how she wants to use her beauty for a good purpose.

In an interview with Sky News, Mukherjee was asked whether she thought her win had changed the perception of beauty pageants.

She responded: “I think that perception comes from ignorance because beauty pageants have changed a lot in the last decade.

“Obviously beauty is an aspect of it, but it's subjective. But beauty pageants give women that opportunity to display a bit of both.

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“The grooming side of things that everyone can do, staying in shape, putting on make up - that's something easily achievable. But what else do you bring to it? and how you utilise your beauty for a better purpose? That's the ethos of Miss World.”

On her personal Instagram account, which boasts 13,100 followers, Mukherjee posts a mixture of glamorous shots of herself with images of her everyday life as a junior doctor and a volunteer.

“We're essentially marketing this tool that we have, this grooming that we have, this ability to voice a good cause and also be a role model for girls out there - to be something other than an Instagram model or someone who just gets lip fillers or wears these fancy clothes,” Mukherjee added.

“It's about showing women out there that actually we can be both and it's not boring to be an academic or it's not boring to back a charity and that's what beauty is for.”

While Mukherjee beat 19 other finalists from around the country in order to score her prestigious Miss England title, it isn’t her first award.

“I won the Einstein Award for being the smartest in my class and I was the top of my school with my GCSE results,” she said in her Sky News interview.

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In December this year, Mukherjee will compete in the global Miss World pageant– although thankfully she has not got far to travel, as this year it takes place in London.

Beauty pageants, typically associated with strict rules and regulations, have changed in recent years. Last year, Sara Iftekar became the first beauty contestant to wear a hijab in the Miss England final, and in the same year Spanish model Angela Ponce became the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe.

However, many argue beauty pageants still have some way to go in terms of diversity – with this year’s Miss India line-up sparking a colourism backlash.

Mukherjee’s make-up for the Miss World contestant was done by make-up artist Joggy Khan, who goes by the Instagram handle @MakeupStorePro