A DANCER has proved she is 'poles apart' from the competition — after winning a national pole dancing competition for the second time.

Jess Leanne Norris was crowned Miss Pole Dance UK after wowing the judges at a competition in Crawley.

She saw off competition from a dozen other competitors to take the prize again, after previously winning it in 2011.

Competitors are judged on everything from their posture, their choice of music, their clothing and the difficulty of the routine itself.

Miss Norris, from Westhoughton, took up pole dancing as a hobby and as a way to keep fit and set up a pole dancing studio at the age of 15 after teaching herself the skill.

She set up a studio in Westhoughton and then in Market Street, Farnworth, but now her business, JLN Dance and Fitness Studio, is now based in All Saints Street in Bolton, near the Founders Arms pub.

Miss Norris, aged 22, said: "I was the first person to enter it twice, so I am really proud to be able to say I have won it twice too.

"It was a great day, about 30 people came to support me so I was delighted to win."

Her business caused controversy in 2011 after pictures emerged of children taking part in pole dancing classes, with some parents describing it as "inappropriate".

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But Miss Norris believes that pole dancing now has less of a sexual conotation than it used to have.
She said: "I think a lot more people associate it with the fitness side of things now. When I started everybody used to say it was for strippers but I think that is just people's ignorance.

"Just because they associate it with clubs, it doesn't take away from how difficult it is, and how fit you have to be to do it.

"People sometimes ask if I will be able to come down and do a session for an hour, but a three or four minute routine is very tiring."

Miss Norris is also a qualified personal trainer, and as well as pole dancing classes she offers a number of more general fitness sessions.

She cannot compete next year due to competition rules, but does plan to compete in the world championships and hopes her UK crown will stay in Bolton.

She added: "I can't compete next year because the rules say you have to take a break the next year, but I am going to nominate one of my instructors at the studio to try and win next year so we can keep the title here."