‘It was like a cattle market’

Sally-Ann Fawcett, author, former beauty contestant and judge

From a historical point of view, the film Misbehaviour’s sequence of events was incredibly accurate: a women’s liberation group – including activists Sally (played by Keira Knightley) and Jo (Jessie Buckley) – set out to disrupt the 1970 Miss World contest at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They bought tickets and chose their moment to stand up, shake football rattles, shout, scream and throw flour bombs on to the stage. It was a pivotal moment. To do that during a live broadcast in front of millions of viewers – they really did make their mark. A lot of women took inspiration from that.

I think things could have been stronger, though. I once met one of the protesters and she said one of them actually threw a rattle – and it only narrowly missed the head of Joan Collins, who was a judge. And they were really sorry they did that. In the film, it was more about the flour bombs, shouting and screaming. But I think it was trying to show all the angles in a very empathetic way.

There were one or two small errors. For example, they referred to the contest as a pageant. Miss World wasn’t called a pageant until at least the 1990s. It was a “beauty contest”. And there is a storyline about the inclusion of South Africa’s first black contestant, Pearl Jansen, known as Miss Africa South, during the apartheid era. That was portrayed as the idea of Eric Morley, the owner of the contest, though it was actually the idea of his wife’s PA. It was shown as a triumph but it didn’t pan out that way: six years later, South Africa was not allowed to enter either a black or white contestant – although I realise nobody at the time would have known this.

I met Morley and I think they got him pretty spot on. He had a flamboyance. There was a documentary from 1975 that showed him shouting and screaming at the contestants, as he does in the film. They got his wife Julia right insofar as she was trying to steer him in a more PC direction. Eventually, she got rid of the swimsuit section.

They were spot-on with the host, the US entertainer Bob Hope, too. His wife says something like: “We know what happened last time you hosted it – you brought the winner home.” He had an affair with Miss World 1961. It wasn’t mentioned explicitly in the film but for those who know, it was cleverly done. In real life, Julia had to hang on to Hope’s arm after the attack because he wanted to dash off to the dressing room and not come back.

There is a scene where a large group of male journalists and photographers run at the contestants. That sort of thing happened. Bookmakers would take bets and you would see the chief bookmaker going up to the contestants, looking them up and down and writing notes. It really was like a cattle market, as the feminist group says. Miss World was massive business in the 70s and 80s. Only recently has interest dropped.

Morley later admitted that, even though the protest did shake them, they realised all the publicity actually kept Miss World alive. It continues but there’s no swimwear parade and it’s a lot more about the women’s personal achievements and charity work. Is it still a narrow definition of beauty? It is – but it’s about an overall persona. I don’t think pageants are as relevant today, not the way they were in the 60s and 70s, when they actually were a stepping stone for women.

Sally-Ann Fawcett is the author of Misdemeanours: Beauty Queen Scandals

‘We’re angry’ … Women’s Liberation activists protest against the Miss World contest in 1970. Photograph: W Breeze/Getty Images

‘Hopefully, women today have more choices’

Ann Sidney, actor and Miss World 1964

When I won Miss World we still had black and white TV. It was 1964 and I was a hairdresser, earning 30 shillings a week. Suddenly I was on a pedestal – and it was fragile. At that time, we went to modelling schools and all wanted to be debutantes. Beauty contests were a stepping stone for working-class kids, or so we believed. It was an amazing experience for me. I’ve travelled around the world five times. I had to do fashion shows – but I said: “I don’t want to be a model, can I at least compere?”

I found the film was very entertaining and fair. It didn’t take sides, though I think they portrayed Eric Morley a bit cruelly, and Bob Hope. Eric was tough, it was his contest – after the war, we wanted to celebrate beauty again. But he was always very professional with me. He was portrayed as being very bossy and we all know that wouldn’t be acceptable today. Expectations were different for women: we weren’t used to standing up so much for ourselves.

Protest erupts inside the Royal Albert Hall in 1970. Photograph: Leonard Burt/Getty

The camaraderie that exists between the girls really comes across in the film. In those days, lots of beauty contests were held up north, like in Blackpool. It was a way to make a considerable amount of money. One day, one girl would win; the next, somebody else. As Miss World, whenever I toured anywhere, all those girls from the contest came out to visit me. Julia Morley said something about “furthering the cause of international friendship” and this was true.

The feminist group rightly felt it objectified women. As a Miss World, you are a trophy, you are objectified, but you can have a lot worse things to deal with. I never felt uncomfortable. I’m 75 now but I was coming up to 20 when I won. I had a different mindset. We were much more naive and it might not be a choice that I would make now if I were the same age. Hopefully, women today have more choices. I think it’s wrong to choose one woman over another. In this day and age, it doesn’t fit well.

I wasn’t aware of feminists making a noise about beauty contests when I competed. These days, beauty contest are looked down upon. But compared to how women are objectified today, they were mild.

‘We didn’t get our statistics read out’

Carina Tyrrell, doctor, Miss UK 2014 and former Miss World contestant

Carina Tyrrell wins Miss England 2014. She became Miss UK and competed in Miss World before becoming a doctor. Photograph: Danny E Martindale/Getty Images

Obviously, Miss World has changed but some things shown in the film still endure – the multicultural side of things, for example, and the fact that the girls develop friendships. Today, a lot of them keep in touch with one another. It’s quite a strong network. Some have even set up businesses together.

Sally the activist’s experience at university also felt familiar. She is talked over by male peers. I went to Cambridge and was very lucky to be at an all-female college, where you didn’t have to compete with men. You were able to speak your mind.

Comedian Bob Hope crowns Jennifer Hosten (Miss Grenada) as the winner of the Miss World 1970. Photograph: Peter King/Getty Images

I didn’t realise that, back in 1970, Miss World was actually giving a platform to women of colour. It was won that year by Jennifer Hosten, Miss Grenada (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw). And the film touched on women not being able to open a bank account without their husband, not being able to get their own contraception, and equal pay. Some of these are things we’re still fighting for.

There is a swimsuit scene where they’re looked up and down. We didn’t have that, although I did take part in an optional swimwear photoshoot when I was competing in Miss England. I didn’t find it objectifying. But had I been walking down a catwalk with my statistics being read out, then I would have.

Fifty years on, Miss World is now run by Julia Morley. There is a scene where Eric is talking about the women’s body features and Julia says: “They’re personalities as well.” When she meets with heads of state in the Commonwealth Club, she talks about a shift in direction. You can see that she is taking on this leadership role and wanting change – and today the competition is very focused on its charity Beauty with a Purpose, which supports women and children worldwide. It has raised more than $1bn.

What happens now, which wasn’t part of the competition in 1970, is each participant presents a charitable project, often issues facing women in their countries – for example, sexual harassment in Latin America and female genital mutilation in sub-Saharan Africa. The projects thought to benefit most will get funding from the charity, while the girl who becomes Miss World becomes a charity ambassador and supports the projects of the other girls.

Today you don’t have cameras focusing on your body or showing parts of your body. And you don’t have any measurements taken, as they do in the film. People don’t touch your body. It was shocking to see people checking for bra padding in the film. We do still get called by our country – Miss UK or whatever – but that didn’t particularly bother me.

I’m really quite grateful that the Miss World competition enabled a platform for the start of the women’s liberation movement. I’m a feminist and the competition has completely changed. Now it’s a network of strong-minded, caring women who want to bring change to their communities. And so I see it as really quite empowering.