14-year-old Ropes Crossing student Chloe Zrebiec has been named a National Finalist for NSW in the Junior Division of the 2019 Miss of Australia beauty pageant, which will be held from the 1st-3rd October in Melbourne this year.

This is Chloe’s first ever beauty pageant and she is also a National Champion in her division for pom, and dances with a local club.

“The opportunity came up through Chloe’s StarNow profile to enter Miss of Australia and she decided to have a go.

She thought she would apply just to help with her confidence, meet people and build up new skills. We got an email saying Chloe had been selected to be a National Finalist on Christmas day last year, which really made our day” said Keri Murphy-Douglas, Chloe’s mother.

Being a National Finalist in Miss of Australia involves participants to undertake various challenges. Chloe recently took part in a video challenge, which posed the question ‘What empowers you in life?’. Her video received 229 votes by the close of competition. The next challenge, Miss Popularity, involves the general public to vote at a cost of $1 per vote, though you can vote as many times as you like. She has had to come up with a national costume that represents her perception of Australia and has had to get an evening wear dress and an athletic costume, as these are the three categories she will be doing on the catwalk.

To assist with the cost of her competing in the Miss of Australia beauty pageant, Chloe’s mother Keri has set up a GoFundMe fundraising page. So far, the local campaign has raised $705 of the $2,500 target. “We are just a regular working family trying to make ends meet as well as making sure Chloe gets every opportunity, we can give her in life.

We didn’t want to say no to her doing the beauty pageant, as it is definitely a great way to build her confidence up” explained Keri.

“Watching Chloe do the challenges that have been requested so far has been amazing. She is a bright young lady and we feel very blessed with how far she has come out of her shell. Chloe was quite shy before the pageant challenges started and I was a little unsure of how she would go. She is very strict with her schoolwork and is determined to keep it up and strive to get dux again this year. This pageant is one that really encourages all the girls and the girls are all very supportive of each other” Keri ended.

To get behind and support Chloe, search ‘Chloe Zrebiec Junior Miss of Australia National Finalist’ on Facebook.