Madara Zilberte says seeing her previously shy daughter Tina Walczak on stage with a huge smile on her face makes every penny worth it
AS she struts down the catwalk in her mini rah-rah skirt, knee-high socks and cropped top, seven-year-old Tina Walczak has all the confidence of someone decades older.
Her mum Madara Zilberte has spent £13,000 turning her girl into a pageant princess, splashing out on fake lashes, nails, hairstyling and bespoke costumes for Tina’s competitions, plus travel and accommodation around the country.
She says seeing her previously shy daughter on stage with a huge smile on her face makes every penny worth it.
But Madara took some persuading to let Tina follow her dream.
The mum, from Wellingborough, Northants, says: “Two years ago Tina and I were watching US reality show Toddlers & Tiaras.
“When Tina saw the dolled-up little girls on the show she was dying to be like one of them.
“She was in complete awe. After the show finished, Tina kept begging me to let her become a beauty pageant girl. I told her to stop being silly but a few weeks passed and she was still asking every day.
“I decided to look online. When I found there were competitions all over the country, I finally gave in.”
TOTAL: £13, 260.
In May 2016, Madara, 30, entered Tina into her first beauty pageant in Dublin.
Madara, a retail team leader, says: “I went to the cash machine and withdrew £1,000. I bought Tina a £400 dress, make-up, hairpieces and jewellery.
"I paid £220 for the pageant entry fee, swimwear and talent rounds, hotel, travel and food for the big day. I didn’t mind. It made Tina happy.
“When I saw her on stage in a glitzy dress, her smile was impossible not to notice.
“I knew it was money well spent. She used to be too shy to talk in front of people but on stage transformed into this confident performer. She came out of her shell.”
Since then, Tina has entered 20 competitions and won first place in two of them. Madara says: “I spend around £970 each month on Tina’s pageants.
“I learned to make her dresses from scratch rather than buy them, which has saved a bit of money.” Madara, who lives with partner and Tina’s dad Wojciech Walczak, 38, insists the pageants have been positive for her daughter.
She says: “I am not one of those pageant mums who forces my daughter to compete. Tina loves doing them and there’s no pressure from me.”
But not everyone approves. She says: “My family came to watch Tina compete in Manchester.
“She was wearing her most popular outfit, ‘Pepsi Girl’, which I made for her — a skimpy blue skirt, red pants, a crop top, trainers and knee-high socks, teamed with red lipstick. It won her Best Outfit but my family still questioned why I let her wear crop tops at such a young age.
“Many people have a negative opinion about pageants, but the ones in America are much worse. I would never make Tina wax her eyebrows or dye her hair like the mums on those shows.
“At the end of the day, if she is happy then so am I.”
Wojciech, a warehouse operator, adds: “I wish my parents pushed me to do well. Tina has gained a sense of achievement.
“To the critics out there, I have one thing to say.
“All young girls want to be a princess, so why would I stop my daughter dressing like one?”
