There was a particularly high quota of bevy of beauties at the Terminal 5 departure gate to Nassau.

Miss India, Hungary, Germany, Slovak Republic and Switzerland were all on board the beauty airbus.

Introductions would have to wait however as the theory of 6 degrees of separation proved bang on as I settled in next to the neighbour of Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe.

My national auction gift is a pair of boxing gloves signed by the man himself you see.

All proceeds from the auction go to HIV and Aids awareness charities all championed by the Miss Universe organization and I\'m hoping for a legend like Joe, who has never been defeated, that people reach deep into their pockets.

On arrival we were taken to the Atlantis Resort in 4 stretched limos.
Living in the West End of London, I\'m pretty used to hustle, bustle and sirens going off left right and centre, so it only dawned upon me a couple of minutes into the journey that the sirens were for us - we had a full on police escort literally stopping traffic to usher us through

Since settling in with my room mate Miss Egypt, the first 48 hours have been non stop.

The team has just a couple of days to shoot and interview all 84 girls.

Hair stylists and make up artists have been flown in from all over the world - including good old Covent Garden, London - to help with the High Definition \"Beautification process\".

My highlight so far has without a shadow of a doubt been my shoot with Fadil. The man is a legend and shoots the swimsuit section for the programme every year and every lady looks like a goddess in them.

I can\'t wait to see the results (they don\'t release those for a while longer), especially as it involved skill clambering up into mid air.

Yes you read that correctly, I think I deserve extra brownie points for not breaking my neck, and lets face it the whole neck brace look is so much more becoming on Avid Merrion.
My make up for Fadil\'s shoot was executed by Isabel Perez. If you\'re not familiar with the name, you would be with her work.

She\'s had the likes of Britney pimped and preened to perfection on tour as well as in her \"I\'m Slave for You\" and \"Toxic\" videos.

The lady is magical, I want to put her in my bags and bring her back to London with me.

Isabel is allergic to the sun and I felt her pain, the weather is hot heavy and humid.

Miss Guatemala who I figured would cope with it no problem commented on how strong the sun was as I was lotioning sun block on her shoulders.

I decided it best to take my lead from Miss Panama and plonk myself under a brolly to have lunch and got chatting with Miss Israel.

She explained to me that she had taken a month\'s leave from her training in the army to compete in the pageant.

To me that\'s the depiction of a strong beautiful mama if ever I saw one.

The Bahamians have made us feel so very welcome and all sorts of shenanigans are planned over the upcoming weeks. There have even been whispers of swimming with dolphins!

For now, over and out - your roving reporter from Nassau!