Anglee (27), an aspiring Lawyer from North-West London, wowed the Miss Universe GB 2022 judges despite undergoing chemotherapy for stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma just before the competition. Anglee was awarded first runner up in the three-day contest, held in Cardiff.
Miss Universe GB National Director, Paula Abbandonato, also presented Anglee with the ‘Not in Vain’ award which recognised Anglee’s dedication to empowering other young women who are living with cancer.
Anglee: “I wanted to be open about my cancer with the other girls in the Miss Universe GB competition, I told them why I wore a wig sometimes. I felt that being open would help the other women embrace whatever insecurities they had.”
Anglee was 26 and studying to become a lawyer when she noticed heart palpitations whilst exercising.
Anglee: “I’ve always eaten healthily and worked out a lot. I felt some discomfort in my chest, along with heart palpitations. When I went to my GP about it, they told me it was anxiety. I felt like they didn’t take my concerns seriously because I was young and healthy.”
Despite this Anglee pushed for more tests, seeking treatment from The Royal Marsden hospital in Chelsea. It took eight months for doctors to diagnose her with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system that usually starts in the lymph nodes. Anglee was diagnosed in October 2021.
Anglee: “I was an aspiring lawyer and I had just secured a competitive training contract with a legal firm. I had worked so hard and I felt that I was finally achieving my goals. A few months later, I was diagnosed with cancer.”
“Macmillan’s website really helped me after I was diagnosed, there was so much information available on there. When you are at your lowest and you have someone there to support you, you never forget it.”
Nick Dines, Macmillan Case Study Officer said:
“We’re so proud of everything Anglee has achieved since receiving her cancer diagnosis. On behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support, we’d like to say a huge congratulations to Anglee on her brilliant result in the Miss Universe GB competition.”
“There are three million people living with cancer in the UK, with this number expected to rise to 4 million by 2030[i]. Macmillan understands that not everyone will cope with a cancer diagnosis in the same way. That’s why we are here to offer emotional, financial, and physical support through our website, support line, and our Macmillan health professionals.”
Anglee on training for Miss Universe GB after chemotherapy:
“I hired five different coaches to prepare for the competition! Four of them had trained the current Miss Universe winner, Harnaaz Sandhu, and one was a previous Miss Universe GB winner herself. The coaches were mostly based in India, with sessions via video call. Because of the time difference, I had to wake up at 3am for the voice coaching sessions. I had just finished chemo and it was doubly hard for me to cope with the tiredness.”
Anglee: “There were girls in the competition that had been doing pageants for ten years, this was my first ever competition and I got first runner up! I lost my hair after having chemotherapy, and I was going to do the competition wearing my wig, but at the last moment, I decided to ditch it. It was scary to walk on stage without my wig because there is a tradition of having long curly hair in pageants. But did it anyway because I wanted other people with cancer to see that I was being myself, and that they can do that too.”
The Macmillan Support Line has teams of trained cancer information and support specialists, who are there to listen to you, give advice and answer any questions you may have. You can contact the Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, open every day from 8am-8pm.
