Woman Who Was “Spat At” And “Burned” At School For Having Ginger Hair Grows Up To Be Crowned Miss England

Some glow-ups involve a new haircut. Some involve therapy, boundaries, and finally learning to ignore the opinions of people who think “personality” means “being loud in the hallway.” And then there’s the kind of glow-up that comes with a literal crown.

Jessica Gagen’s story hit the internet like a friendly jump-scare: an aerospace engineering student who says she was bullied in school for being a redheadhit, spat at, and even burnedthen grew up to make history as Miss England. It’s the kind of arc that makes you want to high-five your younger self and file a strongly worded complaint to the universe on behalf of every kid who ever got teased for looking “different.”

The headline everyone remembersand the message underneath it

The headline is shocking for a reason. Being “spat at” and “burned” isn’t playground mischief; it’s violence. But the real reason this story sticks isn’t the shock valueit’s the contrast.
Gagen’s win didn’t “erase” what happened. It simply proves something bullies hate: the future exists, and it doesn’t ask for their permission.

What makes this story particularly relevant (even if you’ve never stepped foot in a pageant) is how clearly it illustrates a common bullying pattern:
pick a visible difference, label it, repeat the joke until it becomes a routine, then escalate when nobody stops it. For redheads, that “difference” is hair colorrare enough to be noticed, common enough to be targeted, and loaded with stereotypes that people recycle without thinking.

Who is Jessica Gagen?

Jessica Gagen is best known for two things that don’t usually get shoved into the same sentence: aerospace engineering and a beauty crown.
On paper, her story looks like a plot writer got a little overexcited. In real life, it’s a reminder that people are allowed to be more than one thing.

A quick timeline of the “wait, what?” milestones

• STEM path: She studied aerospace engineering and has used her platform to encourage girls to see STEM as “for them,” not “for other people.”
• Beauty with a purpose: She raised money through a high-effort fundraising challenge that involved repeated 5K runsoften in costume (because apparently she decided sleep was optional).
• Historic win: She was crowned Miss England 2022 at the national final in Birmingham in October 2022.
• International stage: The Miss England title positions the winner to represent England at Miss World.

That combinationbrains, public visibility, and a willingness to talk about bullyingmatters. Because bullying thrives in silence. And nothing punctures silence like someone standing under a spotlight saying, “Yeah, that happened to me.”

What she says happened at schooland why it matters

In a Miss England press release, Gagen described being teased throughout secondary school for being a redhead and said the bullying went beyond name-calling: she reported being hit, spat at, and having objects thrown at herthen described the worst moment as being burned because of her ginger hair. She also described eating lunch in a school bathroom in Year 7 because social isolation made the cafeteria feel like a daily ambush.

If you’ve never been bullied, that bathroom detail might sound like a footnote. It’s not. It’s a signal flare.
Kids don’t choose bathrooms over lunch tables because they’re quirky. They do it because they’re trying to reduce harm in the only way they can control: disappearing.

From an adult perspective, it’s tempting to search for a neat moralsomething like “bullies are insecure” or “success is the best revenge.”
But the more useful takeaway is simpler: bullying escalates when it becomes normal. When teachers, peers, and systems treat repeated cruelty as “kids being kids,” the target learns that reporting is risky and endurance is expected. That’s not resilience; that’s survival.

From surviving school to winning a crown

On October 17, 2022, Gagen was crowned Miss England 2022 at the national final in Birmingham. The win was also framed as historicshe was widely described as the first redhead to win the title in the pageant’s long history.

Miss World’s official coverage highlighted her background in aerospace engineering and her goal of encouraging girls into STEM careers. It also described her fundraising work, including raising thousands of pounds through a multi-day running challenge.

That matters because it reframes what “winning” means. This wasn’t just a trophy moment; it was a platform moment.
In modern pageantry, contestants are often judged on communication, social impact, and charitable initiatives alongside stage presence. Whether you’re a pageant fan or not, you can recognize what’s happening here:
a person took something that once made her a target (visibility) and turned it into a tool (visibility).

Why red-hair bullying exists (yes, it’s a real pattern)

Red hair is strongly linked to geneticsparticularly variants of the MC1R gene that influence pigmentation. That “rare trait” factor can make kids stand out in environments where fitting in feels like oxygen.

Add in lazy stereotypes (“gingers have tempers,” “gingers don’t have souls,” insert whatever the internet resurrected this week), and you get a ready-made script for teasingone that often gets dismissed as “joking,” even when it becomes relentless.

The important nuance: hair-color teasing can be framed as “harmless,” which makes it harder for adults to spot the harm.
But appearance-based bullying is still bullying, and repetition is the point. It’s not one comment; it’s the drumbeat that tells a kid, “You don’t belong.”

What U.S. data says about bullying (and why “common” doesn’t mean “okay”)

If you want to understand why stories like this resonate globally, look at how widespread bullying remains.
U.S. education data shows that in the 2021–22 school year, about 19% of students ages 12–18 reported being bullied at school. Among students who were bullied, a significant portion reported bullying occurring online or by text as well.

CDC reporting also tracks bullying among high school students. In the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the CDC reported that 15% of students experienced bullying on school property and 15.9% experienced electronic bullying in the past 12 months.
Different surveys measure different age groups and contexts, but the message is consistent: bullying is not rare, and it’s not a “phase” we can afford to romanticize.

And here’s the most important part: when adults treat bullying as normal, kids learn that cruelty is a social currency.
When adults treat bullying as a safety issue, kids learn that school is a place where they’re protected, not tested.

Bullying isn’t “just jokes”: the long tail of harm

U.S. anti-bullying guidance emphasizes that bullying can have lasting impacts on mental health and well-being for those who are bullied, those who bully, and those who witness it.
Reported outcomes include increased risk of anxiety and depression, health complaints, school avoidance, and academic impacts.

That “witness” part matters. Bullying is a performance. It needs an audience to feel powerful.
When bystanders freeze (which is extremely human), the bully gets a reward: attention. When bystanders intervene safely, the bully loses the payoff.

Stories like Gagen’s often spark a predictable comment section: “Kids are so mean” (true) and “She should just get over it” (no).
The adult brain loves closure. But bullying memories aren’t movie scenes you can delete. They’re social injuries that can shape how someone trusts, speaks up, and sees themselves for years.

How to respond to bullying: a practical playbook that doesn’t require superpowers

Let’s get concrete. If you’re a parent, teacher, coach, older sibling, or just a human with eyeballs, here are evidence-informed approaches supported by major U.S. child and psychology organizations.

1) If a child tells you they’re being bullied: start by believing them

• Listen first. Don’t interrogate them like they’re on a crime show. Let them tell the story in their own order.
• Name it. “That’s bullying” can be validating. Kids often minimize to avoid being dismissed.
• Ask what they want next. Some want action immediately; others want a plan.

2) Teach simple “in-the-moment” strategies (then practice them)

Pediatric guidance often recommends rehearsing short, calm responses and an exit plan.
One popular model is “Stop-Walk-Talk”: a firm boundary, a confident walk-away, and reporting to a trusted adult.
Practicing at home matters because stress steals vocabulary.

3) Loop in the school with specifics, not vibes

• Document patterns: dates, locations, what was said/done, who witnessed it.
• Ask about policy: What’s the school’s bullying reporting process? What interventions are used?
• Request safety supports: seating changes, supervised areas, check-ins with a counselor, safe routes between classes.

4) If your child is the one doing the bullying: treat it as a behavior problem, not a personality trait

This is the hard one. But it’s crucial.
Kids bully for reasonssocial status, insecurity, poor impulse control, modeling what they see at home or online.
The response should be: clear consequences, empathy coaching, and adult supervisionnot shame spirals that teach them to hide it better.

5) Empower bystanders with “safe interrupt” options

• Distract: change the subject, pull the target away, create a break in the moment.
• Support after: “I saw that. Are you okay?” can reduce isolation instantly.
• Report: if there’s physical harm or threats, adults need to knowfast.

Organizations focused on bullying prevention also emphasize building school-wide norms: clear reporting channels, consistent enforcement, and climates where kindness is social capitalnot a niche hobby.

Red hair, real science, and a little self-care (because being a redhead isn’t a “problem”)

Since this story centers on ginger hair, it’s worth separating myth from reality.
Red hair is largely linked to inherited variation affecting pigmentation pathwaysparticularly through the MC1R gene, which influences how the body produces melanin.

Health-wise, research institutions have explored a few redhead-linked considerations:

Skin protection matters

Researchers have reported that MC1R-related biology may be associated with increased melanoma risk, even beyond the obvious “fair skin burns faster” explanation.
Translation: sunscreen isn’t optional, it’s skincare with consequences.
(And yes, this applies to non-redheads too. UV rays don’t check your hair color before being rude.)

Pain and anesthesia: talk to your clinician, don’t self-diagnose from TikTok

NIH and clinical resources have noted that some people with red hair (and/or MC1R variants) can differ in pain sensitivity and anesthetic needs.
This does not mean every redhead will need “extra everything.”
It means: if you’re having a medical procedure, communicate clearly about pain control and anesthesia historyjust like everyone should.

The point of including science here isn’t to turn red hair into a medical identity. It’s to reinforce something basic:
being a redhead is a normal genetic variationnot an invitation for commentary, jokes, or cruelty.

Why this Miss England win resonates beyond pageants

It’s tempting to file this story under “inspiring viral news” and move on. But it lands because it intersects three real issues:

1. Appearance-based bullying is common and frequently minimized.
2. Visibility can be reclaimedbut it shouldn’t require extraordinary success to be treated with basic respect.
3. Representation changes the script for kids watching from the sidelines.

A redheaded kid who feels targeted doesn’t need a promise that they’ll grow up to win a national title.
They need a promise that they’ll grow upperiodwithout being harmed for existing.
Stories like Gagen’s are powerful not because they’re a “happy ending,” but because they shine a light on what should have been protected in the first place.

Extra : Experiences that echo this story (and what people wish adults had done sooner)

If you talk to adults who were bullied as kidsredheads, kids with acne, kids with braces, kids who were tall too early, kids who were short too longyou hear the same theme:
it wasn’t the single insult that did the damage. It was the routine. The predictability. The feeling of walking into school and not knowing if today would be “a normal day” or “a day where someone decides your existence is entertainment.”

Many redheads describe the early stage as “jokes” that adults brushed off: nicknames, comments about freckles, the tired lines about tempers or being “weird.” Then it becomes social targeting:
laughter when you walk by, a chant that follows you, a group that suddenly stands up and leaves when you sit down. That’s when kids start changing behavior to survivetaking different routes, eating faster, eating alone, hiding in the library, or, like Gagen described, choosing a bathroom stall over a lunch table because at least the stall has a door.

The experiences that linger into adulthood aren’t always the dramatic moments (though those absolutely count). Often, it’s the small lessons learned the hard way:
“Don’t draw attention.” “Don’t complain.” “If you tell an adult, it gets worse.” Those beliefs can follow people into jobs, relationships, and friendships. They become adults who over-apologize, who keep quiet in meetings, who laugh at jokes that sting just to keep the peace. Not because they’re weakbecause their nervous system learned a strategy that once reduced danger.

But there’s another pattern too: the turning point.
People often remember one adult who didn’t minimize it. One teacher who moved seats and checked in privately. One coach who said, “That’s not how we treat people here.” One parent who didn’t storm into school to “handle it,” but instead helped them build a plan: who to go to, what to say, how to stay safe. Sometimes the turning point is a friend who simply sits down and stays seatedrefusing to participate in the social exile.

That’s why Gagen’s win resonates. It’s not just “she proved them wrong.” It’s “she’s visible now on her own terms.”
Visibility is complicated for anyone who’s been targeted. You want to be seen, but you don’t want to be noticed.
Pageantry and public advocacy flip that equation: being noticed becomes the job, and being seen becomes a choice.

If you’re reading this as someone who went through something similar, the most honest encouragement isn’t a cheesy slogan. It’s this:
your younger self deserved protection, not a personality makeover. And your current self deserves softness, support, and the freedom to take up spaceno crown required.

Conclusion

Jessica Gagen’s story is a headline, yesbut it’s also a case study in what happens when cruelty is normalized and resilience is mistaken for “handling it.”
Her Miss England crown doesn’t “fix” the past; it amplifies the lesson: bullying is real, its effects can last, and adults can intervene early in ways that change a child’s entire trajectory.

The best takeaway isn’t “bullies lose.” It’s “kids deserve safety long before they become success stories.”
And if you happen to be raising, teaching, or cheering for a kid who stands outremember:
the world will try to label them. Your job is to teach them to write their own label in permanent ink.