Leave me be: Rachel Reid does not want to lose any more work because of ‘so called feminists’ (Picture: Rachel Reid)

A backlash has started after F1 grid girls and darts walk-on women were consigned to history.

Former grid girl, model and Presidents Club host Rachel Reid has hit out at ‘well off’ and ‘middle class’ women who she believes are behind the demise of the industry.

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She’s taking part in a protest being held this weekend in Birmingham for women who work in motor sport, hospitality, boxing and other promotional industries.

Miss Reid, who has spent the last 21 years working across several industries, believes the axing of women from darts and F1 is already having a knock-on effect.


She said: ‘It starts with the F1 and darts but that is just the tip of the iceberg, women are losing bookings for all kind of jobs now, from motorcycle shows to exhibitions at the NEC.



‘What is so sad is there is so little work out there anyway, the sector still has not recovered from 2008, the economy is awful and now through no fault of their own women in these industries are going to find it even harder to work.

Rachel Reid at the international Bike Show at the NEC last year (Picture: Rachel Reid)

‘For so-called feminists to be taking jobs from fellow women is so wrong, we have had years of men causing women trouble, now it is women attacking other women’s livelihoods.’

And Miss Reid believes there is a class aspect to this latest raft of controversies around women’s jobs.

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She said: ‘It seems to be well off, if not privately educated then certainly middle class women, mostly based in London telling working class women, many of whom are single parents in the provinces what they can and can’t do.’

Miss Reid will be attending a protest at Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre on Saturday which has been organised to show support for women who face losing their jobs in sports, promotion and hospitality industries.

There will be a march through the city centre to the shopping centre at 11am where an estimated 1,000 women are expected to turn up.

There is a protest march in Birmingham this weekend in support of grid and promo girls (Picture: Facebook)

The ‘Grid Girls and Promotion Girls March Through Birmingham’ Facebook page has been inundated with support.

The description of the event is: ‘We are marching In protest of the recent news from F1 banning of Grid/Promo girls. The extremists are ruining a perfectly harmless industry and we must make a stand.’

Miss Reid added: ‘I have always classed myself as a feminist and think if this is about equality then lets get some male models involved then so it is not all about women titillating the opposite sex, that would create more jobs, not take away jobs.’

The current controversy started with revelations about a men-only Presidents Club dinner which forced hostesses to dress a certain way and included claims of harassment.

Miss Reid was a hostess at the infamous Presidents Club charity dinners for eight years in a row.

Rachel Reid worked at the Presidents Club for eight years in a row (Picture: Rachel Reid)

She said: ‘I have never seen money like it in my life, the raffle tickets alone would pay off a normal person’s mortgage. It was £100 for five hours work and we could drink if we wanted to, I had some great nights there. And I certainly was not abused or harassed during my time there.



‘What no-one seems to understand is that these events need pretty women to coax the money out these rich men.’

The 39-year-old from Birmingham added: ‘It is amazing what a smile can do from an attractive woman, the money raised for charity was mindblowing and we were proud to be a part of that.’

Miss Reid has complained several times to employers about inappropriate costumes and urged women not to wear anything they feel uncomfortable in.

She said: ‘Women have so much grief, from so many different areas, personally and professionally, we should be sticking together as women, not pushing each other on to the dole queue.’

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