Australia’s oldest beauty queen and reigning Ms World 2018/19, Robyn Canner, will sit on the judging panels of an impressive number of beauty pageants this month in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America.

Ms Canner, 60, proved age is but a number by beating out beauties from 22 countries aged 26-plus to be crowned Ms World 2018/19 in Seattle in June this year, and now has a tight schedule flying out of Australia on 13 November, to help select the new Ms USA World 2019 in Reno, Nevada, USA.

Robyn, fresh off the judging panel of Miss Australia Continents 2018 at the Novotel Parramatta in Sydney on the weekend is excited to fly to the USA to reunite with her Ms World family. “The Ms World competition encourages women to celebrate their inner and outer beauty,” said Ms Canner.

Upon arriving back on Aussie soil, Robyn will hop back on a plane to New Zealand one day later to judge the Elite Global Earth pageant in Auckland. Robyn has also just been confirmed to walk at New York Fashion Week wearing McDougal gowns, and also an upcoming cover and spread in the World Class Beauty Queens Australia magazine. Robyn wants to inspire women to stop paying attention to their age number, and be fearless about making changes in their lives, and to celebrate their life experiences and knowledge.

Much more than just a pretty face, Robyn has twice taken first place in the Masters women’s outrigger canoe race in Hawaii with her crew and is also a National Preliminary Dressage champion. Robyn started competing in pageants as a 57-year-old, after losing her son Scott, 22 to non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011. After Scott was diagnosed, Robyn began working with Tour de Cure to raise money for cancer research. Since 2007, Tour De Cure has raised more than $40 million dollars, funding 322 cancer projects, 24 significant cancer breakthroughs and helped to raise awareness of cancer prevention to more than 110,000 school children across Australia.

Through the organisation, she created the Scott Canner Young Investigator Grant to help fund the research of young Australian academics studying cancer. Robyn is using pageantry to help spread her cause around the world. “My goal is to just get one mum to cuddle her child as a survivor,” she said. “If I get three, we’re headed towards a breakthrough. I’m determined no one else will have to go through losing a child.”

Being a positively motivating influence with women older than 50, and starting a conversation around the world about ageing with a positive mindset, is a platform Robyn is very grateful for, and passionate about. She also wants to help inspire and give hope to other parents grieving the loss of a child.

Readers also enjoyed our story about pageant success Mrs Earth.