Miss England Rehema Muthamia told Insider she received racist remarks online after her win.- Muthamia said some commenters suggested she shouldn't have won because she's not white.
Miss England 2021 says she received racist comments online after being crowned the winner of the beauty pageant in August.
Rehema Muthamia, a 25-year-old health-technology consultant, told Insider she faced criticism on social media and in the comments sections of articles, where she said some commenters suggested she shouldn't have won because she is not "ethnically English" or white.
Muthamia, who was born in the UK and is of Kenyan heritage, also spoke about her experience on Friday during an appearance on "This Morning," a popular British morning show.
According to the Daily Mail, Muthamia told the show's hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary that after winning the contest, "quite quickly, racist messages came through the Miss England platform."
"People were calling about me having won, telling the Miss England platform, they weren't happy that I was a Black woman," she added.
"I'm ethnically Black, but I am British," she said later during the interview. "And I'm so proud to be British."
Speaking of Muthamia's experiences, Angie Beasley, the director of Miss England told Insider they worked closely with her throughout the year to provide support and guidance and would continue to do so.
"We are very sad to read and receive racist comments which sadly we do get occasionally but always go out of our way to respond, educate and enlighten anyone with such a narrow-minded opinion," she added.
Rehema Muthamia says she wasn't surprised by the comments
"I didn't know I was going to win a year ago when I started the process, but I knew if it did get to the point where I got enough exposure, that I would face
It's worth noting that Muthamia isn't the first Black woman to face criticism after winning a pageant this year. After Pamela Uba became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Ireland in its 74-year history this September, the 26-year-old medical scientist told Sky News she faced racially motivated bullying online after her win.
Speaking to Insider, Muthamia said that despite facing racism, she has also been "overwhelmed" by the positive reactions and public support she has received since her win.
"The Kenyan community in the UK are just so happy and so proud to see someone that not only looks like themselves but is from the country that they are also from," she said.
Muthamia said she had never competed in any pageants before Miss England and was fascinated by the "glitz and glamour" of the events as a child. She said she applied to compete in 2020 after seeing a callout for more women of color and was selected for the "Miss All African Colours" contest.
After winning that competition, she said she was "thrown into the world of pageantry," and learned how to walk on a runway, and present herself and speak to an audience. She also got involved in charity work, she said.
In December, Muthamia will travel to Puerto Rico to represent England in the 70th Miss World pageant alongside 123 national representatives from around the world. She said she has been preparing for the past two months by working out three times a week and learning a Latin American dance for the talent round.
With her sights on Miss World , Muthamia hopes to encourage girls to consider STEM careers as well as advocate for domestic-abuse victims
Muthamia said she hopes to show young people with diverse backgrounds in the UK that "if there is a goal that you want to achieve and you work hard, you can get that."
"I never really felt that I would be represented, I wouldn't see representation of Black women in this country, specifically," she said, adding that she often looked to the US to see Black women in mainstream media.
Muthamia wants more young women to consider STEM careers, too.
"When I was studying at university, not only was I the only Black woman, but I was one of very few women at all in the science field, especially in genetics," she said.
She also shared that as a survivor of domestic abuse, she hopes to use her past to "be a voice for young women" with similar experiences.
Representatives for Miss World did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.