A woman who fled Kosovo with her family when she was three and found a new life in Britain has said she considered taking her own life due to bullying at school - but she remained strong and is now a beauty queen.
Franceska Murati, 27, was born in Kosovo but her family escaped to the UK amid bloody wars, and settled in Bermondsey, south London.
She said that at the age of 12 she began experiencing bullying, which continued for most of her school years.
She told CoventryLive: "People used to come up behind me and cut off my hair on the bus.
"People would throw their lunch at me and steal my Oyster card, which meant I sometimes had to walk for over an hour just to get home. The bullying basically went on until I was 15.
"I was at the point where I thought I was going to end it all."
Franceska added: "I had a bright pink backpack and crystals and I liked to do my hair big. I think everyone just thought, ‘She's weird because she’s different’.
"I became boring and invisible to avoid them, and it worked. It was a difficult time in my life."
When she finished school, Franceska forged a highly successful career as an entrepreneur.
She now runs a clothing store based in Albania, her ancestral homeland, where she employs disadvantaged women, while she also works in financial services.
She then decided to enter Miss London as a way of getting back at those who bullied her - and won the tile on May 27.
The beauty queen now has her eyes on becoming Miss GB, as she said: "I still can't get over it and I can't believe I won. It feels like a dream. I'm really standing up to the bullies."
Franceska said that taking part in the competition helped her gain confidence in herself and said she hopes to show that people who face adversity can overcome it and be successful in life.
The competition is not just a beauty contest, and also includes a charity round, where contestants have to raise the most money for their chosen charity, and a general knowledge round.
Franceska raised £350 for Cancer Research UK and Alex’s Wish by climbing Ben Nevis solo. She is now thinking of entering the Miss GB contest later in the year.
