A mother and daughter duo have proved that beauty really does run in the family – after picking up a Miss Blackpool title 40 years apart.   

Tabitha Bennett, 20, from Knutsford in Cheshire, took home the Miss Blackpool crown four decades after her mother after Vicky Bennett, 59, was awarded the prestigious beauty prize back in 1984.

Despite her mother’s impressive win, Tabitha, who is a fashion student, hadn’t initially expressed interest entering the competition for Miss Blackpool herself. 

But she quickly changed her mind and began competing in smaller competitions in the six month run up to the prestigious Blackpool pageant.

When it came round to competing for the title, Tabitha aced the pageant and walked away with the top prize on the event’s 70th anniversary.

After being crowned winner, a thrilled Vicky took to the stage to join her daughter for a sweet picture.

The stunning duo beamed as they posed for pictures onstage, both wearing the same sash to mark the historic wins.  

When Vicky, who owns a baby supplies shop, won the same competition four years ago, she was dubbed the ‘most titled beauty queen ever’. 

Tabitha Bennett, (pictured) 20, from Knutsford in Cheshire, took home the Miss Blackpool crown after Vicky Bennett, 59, four decades after her mother scooped the prestigious beauty pageant back in 1984

Pictured next to her mother, Vicky. Despite her mother’s impressive win 40-years ago, Tabitha, who is a fashion student, hadn’t initially expressed interest entering the competition for Miss Blackpool herself

When Vicky, who owns a baby supplies shop, won the same competition four years ago, she was dubbed the ‘most titled beauty queen ever’

She said of her daughter’s success: ‘There are honestly no words, and I don’t mean to be dramatic, but it’s been my dream to see her do it.

‘Tabitha really rocked it. A lot of the girls get pageant training, but she only had me. She was just so brilliant.

‘It was really exciting, we had an absolute ball. It was the best night. We were on cloud nine.

‘Win or lose in another competition, it wouldn’t have mattered, but because there was so much on it, I wanted her to win the 70th anniversary.

‘It was really special to me that she’s held the same trophy,’ she exclaimed.

Tabitha said it was ‘an honour’ to become the first-ever mum and daughter crowned Miss Blackpool.

She said: ‘Winning Miss Blackpool was something I will never forget, and it was so incredible to create history and take after my mum.

‘To win on the competition’s 70th anniversary is an absolute honour and we as a family were absolutely delighted.

When it came round to competing for the title, Tabitha aced the pageant and walked away with the top prize on the event’s 70th anniversary

Vickysaid of her daughter’s success: ‘There are honestly no words, and I don’t mean to be dramatic, but it’s been my dream to see her do it’

‘I am so excited for my year as Miss Blackpool and to bring more publicity and promote the incredible organisation run by such a lovely family.’

Vicky won ‘hundreds’ of beauty pageants when she strutted the boards at UK-wide events during her teens and early 20s in the 1980s.

Her impressive run saw her scoop the Miss New Brighton crown and also take home the Miss Stoke on Trent and Miss Oldham titles.

But one of her biggest successes came when she won a car and cash prize money after being crowned ‘Butlins Holiday Princess’ at the age of 18.

Vicky said: ‘I won hundreds of titles. It was said in the 1980s that I was the most titled beauty queen ever.

‘The Butlins Holiday Princess was one of the biggest national titles that a beauty queen could win in those days.

‘And when I won it in 1982, I also won a brand new Ford Escort car worth £5,700. I was literally taken outside and given the keys – and £1,000 in cash.

‘My mum and dad had never had a brand-new car. That’s how big beauty competitions were.’

Vicky said the Miss Blackpool beauty pageant had always been one of the key events in the calendar stretching back decades.

And when she was victorious in 1984 at the age of 19, TV luminary Les Dawson was among the judges.

So she was thrilled when Tabitha put herself forward for the contest before later coming home with the top prize on 22 November.

Vicky said: ‘Tabitha didn’t really show any signs of doing this, but slowly she’s come round to it.

‘Within six months she’s won two major titles and got the public vote in Miss Great Britain, which is just fantastic.

The stunning duo beamed as they posed for pictures onstage, both wearing the same sash to mark the historic wins

Vicky won ‘hundreds’ of beauty pageants when she strutted the boards at UK-wide events during her teens and early 20s in the 1980s

Tabitha is now set to enter the Miss England Cheshire competition in March, which would give her a shot at the Miss England crown if she is victorious

‘She’s really making waves and I’ve watched her grow into it.

‘From doing it the first time and muddling through, to now, when she came out on stage this time, even I was saying, ‘Oh my God, who are you?’

Vicky said the timing of her daughter’s success on the 70th anniversary of the competition had meant a lot to her.

She added: ‘I wanted her to win it so badly.

‘I didn’t want it to win it next year or the year after, I wanted her to win it this year, on the 70th anniversary because I just thought it was special.’

Tabitha is now set to enter the Miss England Cheshire competition in March, which would give her a shot at the Miss England crown if she is victorious.

And if she is successful in the national competition, she would then represent England in the Miss World pageant, which Vicky said could happen.

She added: ‘It’s not that far away – it is huge, but it’s only two steps and the way she’s going on, it’s possible.’