And Budweiser employee Gemma Garrett hopes the contest hits the headlines for all the right reasons, following last year's controversy, when Danielle Lloyd was stripped of her Miss Great Britain title after admitting she was dating judge Teddy Sheringham.

"The competition came into a lot of dispute last year, hopefully it won't happen again," Dundonald girl Gemma said.

"I don't know any judges - unfortunately! I am really excited about it. I'm 25 so this will probably be one of the last beauty pageants that I would do."

Gemma beat off competition from thousands of others in a series of heats before learning that she had reached the final at Grosvenor House.

"It was unbelievable. Altogether, there were 5,000 girls applied for Miss Great Britain and 300 applied from Northern Ireland," she said.

"Orlaith McAllister represented Belfast last year and she came fourth, so hopefully I'll be able to do as well as that. If any opportunity came out of it I would definitely take it with both hands."

Gemma is a former Miss Ulster and has done plenty of modelling in the past, including adverts such as McCain's Oven Chips.

"I worked as the body double for Sienna Miller on Layer Cake. They used me for the front of the DVD box and I was on bill boards all over London," she said.

Gemma is keen for people from Northern Ireland - including companies - to join her friends and family in booking tables at the glittering event in Grosvenor House, as part of the vote comes from the audience members present on the night.