Orange girl on her way to becoming Miss Galaxy

Orange local, Ashlyn Narayan will be competing in this year’s Australian Miss Galaxy Pageant.

A 21-year-old medical science student at the University of Canberra, being on the pageant stage is a world away from the lab work she aspires to do, but Ashlyn’s excited to give it a go.

With a supportive mother who encouraged her from a young age, Ashlyn decided to try her luck and applied. Shortly after which she was accepted and sent her tiara and sash.

“I’ve got a lot of family support. Ever since high school she’s told me I should do it,” Ashlyn explained.

Founded in 2011 the  Australian Miss Galaxy Pageant aims to provide motivation and tools for all the women to become the best versions of themselves and role models for others. They use charity work, community involvement, volunteering and overcoming fears in order to achieve their mission.

More than just a beauty pageant, Miss Galaxy prides itself on the belief that all women are worthy of the chance to become the best versions of themselves. For that reason, there is no criteria surrounding background, body type, marital status or levels of experience.

“Miss Galaxy is really accepting of all people – all personalities and everything. They’re really open to body weight, size, anything,” Ashlyn said.

So, just what does it take to become Miss Galaxy?

“They look at how you carry yourself, how you answer questions under pressure, there’s lots of photoshoots,” Ashlyn explained.

For former winner, Shikye Alyce Smith (Miss Galaxy Australia 2016 and 2017) the pageant was an important step to her building a career as a singer, dancer, model, presenter and mental health advocate. Obviously inspired by the experience, she has been the National Director of the pageant since 2019.

The Miss Galaxy finals will take place in Sydney May 3–6, 2023.