Brianna Frizzell-Ryan is Miss Teen Canada Petite
By Mark Squibb | Vol. 12 No. 19 (September 19, 2019)
Brianna Frizzell-Ryan from the Goulds is representing Canada on the international pageant stage.
She was crowned 2019 Miss Teen Canada Petite in a pageant at the end of August.
She spent 11 days in Toronto, competing against 14 other girls in the teen competition.
First there was the regional competition, then the preliminaries, and then the final competition.
The regional stage was mostly training and preparation, explained Brianna.
Brianna Frizzell-Ryan
“Non-stop training; confidence training, make-up training, hair training, we learned all of that,” she said.
At ‘Preliminaries’ she represented the Atlantic Region, competing in swimsuit and evening gown competitions. The Finals night came down to a competition against four other petite teens.
“We were trying to cram all of our training into one hour before we had to go on stage, and all of us had to get our hair and make up done, and we didn’t have enough time, so we’re all rushing around, and someone actually got sick, which was rough,” Brianna recalled.
The final competition came down to Brianna and Miss Southern Alberta as the last two standing.
When she heard her name called, she told the Irish Loop Post that she thought she was being summoned as the runner up. It took a moment for the realization to kick in.
“It was so unexpected. I didn’t even think I would get into Top Five,” she said.
One of the challenges was answering an onstage question.
“If you could choose between a crown or a boyfriend, what would you pick?” was the question Brianna was asked. Her answer?
“A crown. Because there’s power behind the crown, and I can change the world and be a role model for everyone and help charities, and a boyfriend is just there,” she laughed.
Frizzell-Ryan said that whether answering a silly question or walking across stage in a swimsuit, confidence is key.
“Walking in a swimsuit is not about your body, its about how confident you are in your body,” said Brianna, who noted that a lot of the exercises and competitions were about confidence-building.
“You learn how to speak in public, you learn how to be more presentable. We did a lot of live videos, which was stressful, but it showed us how to be okay with ourselves and be confident in ourselves.”
Along with the skills, and the crown, Brianna said that she’s made plenty of new friends along the way.
“It was incredible, because now I have so many friends from all across Canada. There were two other girls in Teen from Newfoundland, and I’m really good friends with them now. And there was a lot of girls from Toronto, two girls from Nunavut, two girls from Alberta, as well as Saskatchewan and British Columbia, everywhere,” Frizzell-Ryan said.
“All of us were so friendly. Some of us didn’t know how to put on makeup. So other teens would take their time to help other teens, even though we were competing against each other.”
Brianna will hold the crown for a year and will return to the competition next year to act as a mentor for up and coming Miss Teens and to crown the new winner, and she will also be competing in Miss Petite Universe in Mexico next July.
As Miss Teen Petite, Brianna will be busy over the next year making public appearances and getting involved in charities, particularly Habitat for Humanity, her charity of choice.
“It’s not just a title, you’re supposed to do something with it,” Frizzell-Ryan said. “I want to be a role model for other girls who were struggling with confidence, like me.”
