BASINGSTOKE burlesque dancer Betsie Bardot narrowly missed a spot in this year’s Miss Pinup UK finals but hailed the experience as “amazing”.

Betsie, aka Jessica Usher, managed to negotiate her way through the national competition, which celebrates all ladies who embody Pinup style and glamour.

The 21-year-old, originally from Winklebury, impressed judges and the public with her burlesque performances and singing throughout the competition, which saw the dancer take to the stage in London.

It was the first time Jessica has entered the competition, but she has worked on it before as a stage hand before being encouraged by its creator, Rio Wild, to become one of the pinups.

Despite being knocked out, the experience was a positive one for Jessica.

Jessica told The Gazette: “Throughout the competition I’ve just had this amazing feeling. I enjoyed every moment of this experience. I got to sing and do burlesque to big crowds and meet some fantastic girls.

“It was crazy having to come up with new routines for the different stages of the competition. It takes a lot of time and effort.”

The competition was set up in 2013 and is designed to celebrate women and their special talents.

It aims to inspire, empower and support every entrant, friend and fan of the competition by encouraging women to reach for their dreams and achieve their goals in life.

Now Jessica will turn her attentions to supporting a new burlesque troop in Basingstoke called The Muses Divine.

Jessica said: “Part of me wanted to leave it there because there’s something of a legacy - reaching the semi-finals of a national competition after starting burlesque less than a year ago is pretty amazing.”

“Without the experience of this, I wouldn’t have progressed in my dancing and performance. Hopefully I’ll go back next year to show everyone how far I have come.”

She added: “I’ve already started working on two more routines. A Halloween themed zombie dance to Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie and an anti-war based burlesque dance.”

You can watch Jessica’s Hallowe’en dance when she joins The Muses Divine on stage at The Sanctuary, in Basingstoke, on October 28.