A BUS-DRIVING instructor who used to be too shy to speak to people has been named Miss Sussex.

Rebecca Kite, 26, became Miss Brighton in May last year.

Now the pageant queen from Peacehaven has been chosen to represent the county.

She used to struggle to talk to anyone but now – literally – speaks for Brighton and Sussex.

She said: “If you said to me back then that I would be up on stage in a bikini I would have said ‘no chance’.

“Because years ago I was a shy and timid person who did not speak to anyone and felt like she didn’t have any friends.

“That’s why my personal highlight was Pride.

“Because at Pride, people were shouting ‘Miss

Brighton’ at me and I was thinking ‘oh wow they’re shouting at me’.”

Miss Kite will be giving up her Miss Brighton sash soon, after serving in the role for a year.

But she is trading one tiara for another after being chosen as the next Miss Sussex

She works for Brighton and Hove Buses and is based at the depot in Lewes Road.

After being a bus driver herself she now instructs others.

She said: “At a pageant show the judges asked ‘what makes you different?’.

“I told them that I’m a bus driver and it shocked the audience.

“People thought ‘I wasn’t expecting that’.

“People think it’s really catty being in a pageant but it isn’t, I’ve made some great friends.

“Megan O’Hara, who won Miss Brighton in 2016, has given me so much help and advice.”

Miss Kite said most pageant shows are now done online, with a set of questions

sent to applicants for them to answer.

Judges will ask why they want to become a pageant queen and what issues they will promote if they win.

In Miss Kite’s time representing Brighton she has judged dog shows, raised money abseiling the i360 and attended numerous charity events.

She also backed the Save Madeira Terrace campaign, a fundraising effort to help restore the seafront’s crumbling Victorian architecture.

Miss Kite said she has put extra focus on the issues surrounding the mental health of young people.

She is hoping to keep up this promotion in her new title as one of the county’s ambassadors.

And she had words of advice for the next Miss Brighton, saying: “Make the most of it because it goes very quickly, so enjoy every second.

“It’s an incredible feeling to be able to promote what matters to you.”