She’s just eight-years-old, but Ellie-May is already making a name for herself on the pageant circuit with her revealing outfits and risqué dancing.
Gypsy schoolgirl Ellie-May, who is from Buckinghamshire, rips off a child-sized wedding dress to reveal a skin-tight number beneath, and wiggles her chest at judges as part of startling routines caught on camera for the Channel 5 show Gypsy Kids.
Ellie-May said she likes to look ‘fabulous’ on stage, embracing heavy make-up and voluminous hairstyles as ‘to traveller girls hair is important’. But she admitted she initially hid her background from her schoolgirl rivals because they ‘wouldn’t understand’.
According to Ellie-May’s family, her ‘traveller attitude’ and ‘sassiness’ is key to her success, and she herself said it means she handles defeat better than her competitors when she does lose.
‘I don’t cry, because travellers wouldn’t do that,’ she said.
In another dance Ellie-May shook her chest at the judges, who clearly seemed shocked
The schoolgirl said on the show it’s rare for gypsy children to enter beauty pageants, and suggested little girls were more likely to be found at home cleaning.
Ellie-May said: ‘In the olden times travelers used to sit home with their mum and dads helping them clean up and they still do the same now, but I like doing something different to other travellers.’
She is coached through the pageants by her mother Ivy and family friends Jerry and Adam, who wear t-shirts bearing her name and cheer her on from the audience.
Jerry said: ‘She gets up, she does her own thing, and she loves it.
‘Attitude comes naturally to Ellie-May. What makes Ellie-May different to everyone else that’s in the pageant, and what’s so special about her, is because she’s got that sassiness and the attitude of a traveler.’
Ellie-May, 8, from Buckinghamshire, is a Traveller who competes in child beauty pageants. In next week’s Gypsy Kids she performs raunchy dance routines, including this one where she ripped off her skirt to reveal her hotpants
Ellie-May was awarded second place in the first pageant and fourth place in the pageant with the skirt ripping move
The schoolgirl decided to wear her hair down for the pageant because she says long hair is an important part of a Traveller girl’s identity
In the first pageant Ellie-May is seen dressed up as a pineapple as she wiggles her chest at the camera, with the judges appearing bemused by the suggestive move.
She said: ‘I want to look fabulous when I’m on stage. The judges are very impressed by eye contact… if you look away from them you’ll score you down for that.
‘If the judges like it you get crowns… like big crowns.’
Ellie-May came second in the pageant and decided she would up her game for the next competition, ordering a specially made outfit online for the occasion.
Despite her success in the pageant world, she was originally reluctant to let the other hopefuls know she is a traveller.
She is supported by her mum Ivy and family friend Jerry (pictured left and right), who said Ellie-May’s Traveller attitude helps her do well in pageants
Ellie-May says she doesn’t cry if she doesn’t win competitions because it’s not how Travellers behave
Ellie-May doesn’t tell fellow competitors that she’s a Traveller because she’s worried they’ll call her names
She explained: ‘When I’m at pageants I wouldn’t really tell people I’m a traveller because they wouldn’t really understand.
‘When you’re the only traveller in school people would call you p**** and all that. I just don’t know what it means.’
Her new outfit consisted of red crop top and matching skirt, which she whipped off halfway through her risque dance number.
Underneath the skirt she was wearing hotpants that said ‘Usher’ on the bottom as she shook her hips along to the music.
The schoolgirl has won over 60 crowns from various pageants, which she proudly showed off in the show
Ellie-May’s costumes can be elaborate including this bright dress and an outfit with a risque lace up back (and pictured left and right)
She wore her long hair down, and told the cameras: ‘To Traveller girls your hair is quite important and it makes you look all pretty. At pageants it makes them stand out more,’ she explained.
Despite all her efforts, Ellie-May only came fourth in the Teenie Pageants competition – but she didn’t appear to be disappointed.
She said: ‘Some people at the pageant cry and get upset because they don’t win. I don’t cry because Travellers wouldn’t do that. It isn’t the end of the world, is it?’
Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World airs on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 5.
Ellie-May said it wasn’t ‘the end of the world’ that she didn’t win her pageants