a healthy lifestyle

24-year-old from Tampere Matilda Wirtavuori is one of the finalists of this year’s Miss Finland competition. He competes with number eight.

Wirtavuori has a master’s degree in economics and is an entrepreneur. He also has a long background in beauty pageants and modeling. Wirtavuori has been chosen, among other things, as Miss Tampere in 2021.

– I have done various modeling jobs since 2019. It is one of my passions, Wirtavuori describes to Iltalehte at the event announcing the mission finalists.

Matilda has participated in various pageants before. ATTE KAJOVA

Wirtavuori says that he has been preparing for the mission for years. This year, he felt like he was finally ready.

– I am ready both to be Miss Finland and to seek success in international competitions. I know how difficult it is to succeed in the Miss Universe pageant and I feel that I am finally ready for it. I also just graduated from university, so now I don’t have any responsibilities regarding that either, Wirtavuori describes.

Before modeling, Wirtavuori has had to fight a difficult battle with an eating disorder.

Long recovery

Wirtavuori has always been a perfectionist. In 2017, the pursuit of perfection went to extremes and Wirtavuori fell ill with anorexia.

– It was accompanied by a huge amount of dissatisfaction and self-criticism towards one’s own body. Suddenly, my own body became the thing I wanted to be perfect in, says Wirtavuori.

The improvement was the result not only of changing habits but also of long thought.

– Healing required a total understanding that I cannot continue like this for the rest of my life. My life cannot only focus on my body, food and exercise, but I have a lot more to give to this life, Wirtavuori recalls.

– At the moment I feel better than ever and I have found from these challenging experiences some really deep strength and self-confidence to stand today as a Miss Finland finalist, she continues.

Although the modeling industry is brutal, Wirtavuori is grateful that she has not received negative comments regarding her body or appearance.

Even the Miss Finland competition has not brought up memories of the past for Wirtavuori.

– I have been able to build a healthy relationship between food and exercise for myself, so I don’t pay attention to triggering situations. I know which things support my well-being and I focus on them. I’ve been building this self-confidence for so long that fitting clothes or bikini photos don’t arouse any negative feelings in me, on the contrary. I’m really proud of my body right now and I stand with pride just the way I am, Wirtavuori describes.

– I also want to rebel against the fact that misses have to be really thin. I want to show that you can do well even with a normal weight, well-being and healthy body. You don’t always have to lose weight for pageants, she concludes.

The Miss Finland final will be held on September 14 at Aino Areena in Järvenpää.