A woman who spent years sleeping rough as a teenager has turned her life around to win a beauty pageant.
Astrud Theadora Caldwell, 21, was kicked out of home aged 16 while in a violent relationship with her ex-boyfriend, which had led to arguments with her family.
Until she was 18 she then lived on the streets and in homeless hostels, reports the Daily Record, and would spend every night looking for places to stay overnight with her then-partner.
She and her boyfriend would also drink heavily, and she told the newspaper of her life before: "Half the time we didn’t sleep, we walked until sun up."
"I got thrown out the house. I was in a destructive, violent relationship with an ex-boyfriend. It was toxic."
“I ended up living on the streets and in five different hostels before I found my way out.”
But things began to look up after Astrud was given a flat from Cadder Housing Association in Glasgow, where she was able to kick her drinking habit and start to earn money for herself.
At one point she was even working seven days a week doing a variety of jobs, she says, including as a receptionist, a factory worker, bar worker and hairdressing assistant.
Astrud now enjoys a healthy relationship with her family, and has begun to set her sights on bigger things after winning won the Miss Kelvingrove pageant in Scotland.
She says beauty contests have always been “her dream”, and is now saving money for outfits for this summer's Miss Glasgow - which will qualify her to compete at a national level for Miss Great Britain if she wins.
Astrud still has to deal with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which causes her to suffer memory issues and means she can wander off at tangents.
She said the condition is "very misunderstood" and has taken "a real toll on my life and it is difficult to get a routine in my life."
But she also believes it has helped her in other ways too, as she says: "But in a way, it is a superpower. With ADHD there is a lot of living in the moment and that is ideal for competitions.”
