Women hailing from the small town of Bell have dominated the Darling Downs showgirl competition for the second year in a row.
Nicole Blanck, 21, received the top sash on Saturday, taking over duties from fellow local and 2021 winner, Paige Caldwell.
With her parents, grandparents and boyfriend in the crowd cheering her on, Ms Blanck was selected from a field of seven finalists representing show societies from across the Downs, with judging taking place at the Toowoomba Royal Show.
Isabella Grima, representing the Jandowae Show Society was named runner-up showgirl, while Toowoomba's Ella Rose Mienert took out popular showgirl, voted on by the finalists.
Ms Blanck will head to the Ekka in August to compete in the state titles.
She said Bell's back-to-back success was the result of the show society's focus on fostering young talent.
"It is a great show and they really encourage the young ones to help out and I think that's a part of it. They really encourage the next generation to help and get involved," Ms Blanck said.
"I think it's just a good community and you've got a lot of hard workers there."
Ms Blanck said she was "very excited" about the win.
"I wasn't expecting it, but it's amazing and I'm looking forward to the Ekka and looking forward to going to all the shows next year."
Ms Blanck is fourth generation, coming from a cattle and cropping property in the Bunya Mountains area.
Graduating with a bachelor of agribusiness from The University of Queensland Gatton campus in December, she's applying her knowledge by working in sales administration at AGT Foods Australia - a pulse and grain business headquartered in Toowoomba.
"There are a lot of opportunities in Toowoomba to use my degree, and when I got a good job, I decided to stay," she said.
"I'm definitely using a lot of those skills now. It's good to step into a job and already understand what's happening."
As for the future, the woman with a passion for the country would like to buy her own property one day.
"I do miss being out on the farm. You can just jump on a horse and go look at cattle and you don't have close neighbours," she said.
"I definitely want to end up back on a property. I would like to end up back in the Bell area, but you never know where life's going to take you. You've just got to roll with it."
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Brandon Long
Brandon Long is a Queensland Country Life journalist based in Toowoomba.
Brandon Long is a Queensland Country Life journalist based in Toowoomba.
