Karen Mellor

Karen Mellor

Karen Hannan (née Mellor) was born in 1963 and became the 30th contestant to win the Miss United Kingdom pageant.

Mellor was discovered by a model agent while modelling bridal wear for a work colleague's wife. In May 1987 she won the Miss Derby contest, qualifying her for entry to the Miss United Kingdom contest, which she won in August of that year. The 24-year-old had been with her boyfriend Stuart Hannan since she was 19, and he proposed to her backstage after the announcement that she'd won the competition.

In the subsequent Miss World competition, Mellor placed equal tenth in the preliminary round but did not advance to the semi-final round (top 12) because the rules stated that the semi-finals had to have at least one contestant from each continent, so while contestants such as Miss Nigeria (Africa) made it through with a score of 19, Mellor (with a score of 25) did not advance. Being Miss UK meant that she had to stay single for the duration of her office. A month after she passed the crown on, she married Stuart.