Already the 21-year-old is topping the public vote for the annual competition, which ends in a glitzy award ceremony at The Palace Hotel in Manchester on 7 May.
Vanessa, a clinical support worker at Salford Royal Hospital was refreshingly open when SalfordOnline.com spoke to her today.
She said: “Some of my friends were telling me to enter the competition but I didn’t have the initial confidence, having had a bad few years.
“I’ll admit that I was in a bad relationship which ended up with me living in a hostel for a while.
“I have moved on with my life and have my own house and a job that I really love, my life has improved dramatically and for the better.”
There have been high-profile deaths from domestic violence cases making national headlines in Salford in recent years.
Vanessa, who went to Ambrose Barlow High School in Swinton, had never entered a competition like Miss Manchester before this year.
She said: “If I can give hope to any young girls who are in or have been in a violent relationship then I am happy.”
Vanessa says that if she wins Miss Manchester 2015 she wants to spend more time helping people who have drug and mental health problems, adding that she gets more satisfaction in putting other people’s needs before her own.
To vote for Vanessa text ‘MISS MANCHESTER19’ to 63333. Texts cost 50p plus your standard network rate.
Voting closes at midnight on 6 April 2015.
