Sara Makeham was awarded her sash and named the 2019-2020 Showgirl after a decision that was "a bit out of the blue".

"I'd never really wanted to get involved in the competition before so I suppose I was really fortunate then to be crowned as showgirl," the 21-year-old said.

"I just thought I might throw my hat in the ring and here we are."

Going through interviews and judging panels, Miss Makeham said it was not what she expected.

"Before I did this, I thought the showgirl competition was just like a beauty pageant and that was never my sort of thing," she said.

"But then when I started looking into it more, I found out it was actually about getting rural women into the community to empower them."

After just having completed her Bachelor of Criminal Justice, the world is Miss Makeham's oyster.

"I think it would be awesome to get in contact with different groups around the region to look at getting aid for the drought we're experiencing," she said.

"It's not like we're world famous or anything, but there is definitely a pull to this and being involved and passionate about the community is really important."

Drought is an issue close to Miss Makeham's heart.

"My father has been hit hard by the drought as someone in the livestock industry, so I definitely have seen the struggle," she said.

"I've heard about this lady in Parkes I believe who makes care packages for rural women and wives of farmers, getting them things like soap or new clothes.

"It just allows these women to know that people are there for them, so I would like to look into that more over Christmas."

Out of many skills developed over the Showgirl process, Miss Makeham said it was the confidence she learned that will help her most in future.

"Being able to approach different people and in different styles will be one of the big things I take from this experience," she said.

She had a simple piece of advice to give those future showgirls thinking about signing up: "Do it."

"Just be confident, be brave, it's great fun and you meet people, you learn new skills," she said.

"Even having just done the interview and speaking to people on show day has given me a lot more confidence in being able to stand up in front of crowds and talk to different people - especially those like Steph Cooke who are high up in what they do."

This year's runner up showgirls also performed well and enjoyed the journey, with Jaqueline Timms and Eliza Turton both receiving sashes.