“I won with my Tina Turner routine. I’m a dentist, but when people saw me mime and dance, they started requesting me at parties. Now I travel around, performing and crowning queens for other pageants. Before, I didn’t have any dates, but since then I’ve been asked out and even asked for my autograph.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“I’ve had a ruptured brain aneurysm, open heart surgery and two knee replacements – and then I took up tap dancing. My teacher suggested I enter the pageant. It’s a celebration of life, because I shouldn’t even be here.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“I was head majorette at high school, and I’m a retired PE teacher, but I never thought of entering a pageant. Then my 99-year-old father showed me the brochure last year. I entered out of respect for him. He was so proud. He flew all the way to Atlantic City for the pageant.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“I would never have had the confidence when I was younger, but I love ageing. I’ve gathered experience, I know my body better – and I’ve been blessed with good genes. Maybe one day I’d consider surgery, but I kind of like this old girl.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“If anyone had suggested I enter a pageant when I was younger, I’d have said, ‘I’m not beautiful. I couldn’t do it.’ Now I think, ‘Why not?’ I’m going to give it a whirl and have that experience.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“You don’t usually see a 70-year-old twirling, but I’m even better than I used to be. We’re much older and wiser now. We’re not trying to outdo each other. We’re just thrilled for each other.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“I was the oldest in the pageant."
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“Things are different now – people don’t look 60, 70 years old like they did in the past. I still work as the executive director of the Mississippi World Trade Center. My mother is 84 years old, works out at the gym three times a week and has a 90-year-old boyfriend. You would never know the majority of the Ms Seniors are over 60.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“I got married right after school and had four children in four years. I always thought I wasn’t a pageant kind of person, but I felt very glamorous on the day. I work part-time at a foster care agency and sometimes they tease me at work, but I just give them a queenly wave.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
“I don’t think the judges look at us and go ‘Wow!’ because I don’t think we have wow factors at this age. Our beauty comes from within – the elegance, the poise, the self-assurance. I don’t think they are judging truly physical beauty.”
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
Photograph: Sheri Manson/Redux/Eyevine
