Janelle "Penny" Commissiong

"Responsibility dictates behaviour and winning never dictated how I lived my life."

"I’d never even been on a stage before. Seeing the competitive spirit around beauty was very interesting."

"Except we never saw a black contestant on the cover."

"It’s an issue that’s touched the whole world, with protests everywhere, wherever there are people of colour."

"Without George Floyd we wouldn’t have seen all the rest that’s happened over the past few months, or understood what’s at the root of parts of America."

"Retirement has traditionally been tied to the 60s and that image hangs over it, but it just doesnt fit."