Who is Zara Holland? Release The Hounds contestant, Former Miss Great Britain and Love Island star – all you need to know
BEAUTY queen Zara Holland was crowned Miss Great Britain in 2015.
But she only shot to fame when the 21-year-old, who is from Hull, was dethroned earlier this year.
Here we tell you everything we know about the stunning northerner, and controversial reality TV star.
Who is Zara Holland?
Zara is a model and TV personality, who first appeared on ITV soap Emmerdale when she was 18.
Zara went on to win the Miss Hull crown in 2014, and became Miss England the following year.
She was due to compete in Miss World, in Malaysia, in November 2016 - which was won by Miss Puerto Rico Stephanie Del Valle - but was then stripped of her Miss GB title.
When was Zara Holland on Love Island?
Zara appeared on Love Island in June 2016, a move which signalled the end of her pageant career.
While on the show, Zara went on a date with Vicky Pattison's ex Alex Bowen - and ended up performing a sex act on him.
When footage of the reality TV romp was aired on ITV2, Zara was stripped of her Miss England title.
In a statement issued, Miss Great Britain organisers said: "We feel we have no choice but to make this decision under the current circumstances.
"Although Miss Great Britain is the oldest pageant system in the UK, we pride ourselves on promoting the positivity of pageants in modern society and this includes the promotion of a strong, positive, female role model in our winners."
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Zara slammed pageant bosses for the move.
She said: “I’ve done nothing wrong. All women have needs.
“There is nothing wrong with having sex on TV. I knew what I was signing up for — it is Love Island. I am a 20-year-old girl who was in the moment.
“I haven’t committed a crime, so why should I have my title taken from me? It’s horrific.”
Zara recently told the Sun Online that she was 'bored' of talking about the scandal, and wants people to move on.
She said: “(I’m) really bored of talking about it when someone asks about Love Island.
“It’s like the whole thing that happened with Alex, everyday somebody wants to know and it’s like oh my god please move on.
“I’m now with somebody, Love Island was ages ago and there are so many exciting things happening!
“I just think people need to move on and talk about the now, not with the past.”
Who is Zara Holland dating?
Not much is known about Zara's new beau Elliot, who is not in the industry.
She revealed her man to the world in October, by posting a picture on Instagram and calling herself the 'happiest girl alive'.
When unveiling her 2017 calendar, Zara gushed: "He’s so amazing, he’s really amazing and he gets that I’m in the industry, he gets all that.
"He isn’t in the industry and he doesn’t want to be. He means a lot to me."
What else has Zara Holland been in?
Tonight Zara will star alongside Loved Island co-stars Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey on ITV2 high intensity game show Release The Hounds: Famous and Freaked.
Filmed in a remote forest from dusk through to the dead of night, each episode sees three celebrity faces compete in a series of weird and wacky challenges.The aim of the game is to win as much money as possible for their chosen charity.
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