By Ben Barry

Miss Great Britain says she felt "ashamed" of her Palestinian heritage and would tell her school friends in Kent she was Italian.

Madeleine Wahden, 30, grew up in Deal with her mum's family being British and her dad's side of the family Palestinian and living in Jordan and Qatar.

In the wake of 9/11, Madeleine - who is Muslim - said she felt "ashamed" of her heritage after she was a victim of racism and wanted to avoid being singled out.

As she grew older, she became determined to stand up to discrimination and has used her platform to encourage young girls to be empowered by their cultural identity.

Despite the conflict in the Middle East continuing, Madeleine says she is happy with the support for Palestinians around the world but wished it came sooner.

Madeleine, a sales manager and Miss Great Britain 2023-24, said: "I was the most foreign person in my school and within my local community.

"It was in the age where Islamophobia and the narrative towards Muslims and Arabs changed.

"I shied away from what I was. I wasn't embarrassed at all but I wasn't confident enough to explain where I was from in the fear of backlash.

"If people said, 'Where are you from?' I used to say something different as people weren't always kind.

"I was shy. I didn't want to explain exactly where I was from because I knew if I said I am Arabic or if my family were Muslim it would have been a negative experience for me."

Madeleine insists she didn't feel comfortable talking about her heritage until she was 16-years-old.

However, she says the recent escalation in the conflict between Israel and Gaza has left her feeling "empowered" to speak out and share her experience.

She added: "I think having the Miss Great Britain title has given me a voice and that platform to share and speak about the monstrosity going on there more than I would have prior.

"My family moved out of Palestine as a result of the conflict in the 1960s.

"They were refugees in Jordan in a refugee camp, that is why we have Jordanian nationality and passports.

"We are proud Palestinians but the opportunity to have a Palestinian passport isn't there at the minute."

Madeleine said the wave of marches in support of Palestine were a "lovely thing to see" but she would have loved them to have come sooner.

"The conflict has been going on for nearly 100 years so I would have loved to see it five years ago and 10 years ago.

"But it is great to see people rallying behind the cause now and really protesting and campaigning for peace in that region.

"I think there still is a lot of work to do in the Western world.

"Palestine isn't on a lot of peoples' radar, there is a lot more information to share and a lot more people who need to be educated on the issue there."

Madeleine said her main hope is for there to be peace in the region.

She said she also hopes to be able to take her grandma back to her birth place in Palestine one day.

She said: "The destruction there is going from bad to worse.

"My hope is that there will be peace in the region and Palestinian people can access medical supplies and live long, healthy, prosperous lives.

"It would be the icing on the cake for me to take my grandma back to her home.

"Unfortunately, her house is not there anymore but her village is and from the stories I have heard it used to be a beautiful amazing place.

"I would love to take her back one day and visit myself - it is a life dream of mine to go back."