Kevin Bellwood has spent much of his life behind a microphone, on a stage or working with people who want to be on one.

From his early days as a radio presenter in the UK and his 26-year journey through pageantry to his current work building media platforms, podcasts and talent across East Africa as group programme director and media talent director at Play It Loud, Bellwood has made entertainment his career.

Now, he is the national director of Miss Universe Kenya through the pageant’s new license-owner Crown Culture Africa.

Behind the scenes, Bellwood admits the first year at Miss Universe Kenya may not be profitable. They are investing heavily in rebuilding the brand after years of stop-start management and controversy surrounding the Kenyan franchise.

He says the competition is a serious investment as the winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 (Sh1.3million), a car, a Nairobi apartment for a year and additional sponsorship deals.

“In the past you’ve had girls fund their own tickets, their own wardrobe, their own food,” he says.

But behind the glamour and business of showbiz is a more personal story: a childhood spent watching pageants with his mother, a father who taught him discipline and respect through karate, and a humanitarian commitment to children that grew from his years in South Sudan. Unable to have children of his own, Bellwood has instead become a father figure to dozens of children through his charity work — including about 40 who now call him “Dad”.

You’ve been involved in pageantry for about 26 years. What first drew you to it?

My mum and I used to watch Miss World on TV.

It was a calendar event. Every first week in December, on a Thursday or at the weekend, it was Miss World. I absolutely loved it. I guess that probably started the process in my head, but it was a few years later, when I was a radio presenter, that I got involved with it. I was asked to judge a pageant in the UK and I loved it.

I started working with the girls, teaching them speech and building their advocacy. For the past three years, I've worked with the Miss Uganda girls who go to Miss World, working on their advocacy, speech content and delivery.

What is it about pageantry that has kept you interested for so long?

I've always loved pageantry — the glamour of it, the showbiz. I think there are people who run terrible stage pageants in terms of the event. When you go to the event, it's on for about 12 hours, and you think, “Come on, man, we could have got this finished in two and a half hours!”

For me, putting on a great show, I just want to make it good.

You mentioned your father was also involved in karate. What was your relationship with him like?

My dad was 92 when he died. And he was still doing karate at 92, and teaching it.

I got the karate bug from. It keeps you incredibly fit and young as well. I'm a third-dan (or sandan, meaning third-degree black belt) teacher, and I've done karate since I was 13.

You don't have children of your own. Has that shaped the humanitarian work you've done with children?

I don’t have children. I’m in a relationship, but I can’t have kids... a bit of an exclusive for you.

But I'm the chairman of a children's charity in the UK called Confident Children Out of Conflict. I lived in South Sudan for a few years and I started helping and volunteering at an orphanage.

When I left South Sudan, I thought, “I can't leave these kids. I need to do something.”

So I set up a charity in the UK when I went back called Confident Children Out of Conflict UK, and we raised money for street children in South Sudan and also now in Uganda.

Some of the girls who were at the centre were getting to that particular age where uncles would come and knock on the door and say, “This is my brother's daughter. We need to get her married.” So some of the girls were moved to Uganda and we, obviously with the permission of either the mother or the father, whoever was alive, educated them.

We educated 140 girls and about five or six boys in Uganda, who were predominantly all South Sudanese. And in South Sudan, we educated about a 1,000. We've had some really, really good success stories, which we're really pleased with.

We sent one girl to Canada, she's now an emergency nurse. We've got a girl studying business at Makerere University. There's another couple of girls who are about to go to university in Dubai.

So, although you don't have children of your own, you've ended up becoming a father figure to many?

I may not have children, but actually I have 40 who always call me and say, “Dad, I want this,” or “Dad, I want that.”

What do you make of the world becoming increasingly intolerant of immigrants and people who are seen as different?

I'm glad I live in East Africa. The people in East Africa are lovely. I've never, ever, as a white guy, suffered any racism or had people saying, “You shouldn't be in our country.” Never. You get it in Europe, and it's terrible.

I think the world has turned to the wrong people, which is really sad.

What's the most you've ever splurged on — something you spent a lot of money on and later thought, “Did I really need to spend that much?”

You can't live on regrets. The only regrets that I ever have are not being there when my mum and my dad died. I was telling somebody a story that I invested a lot of money in retail in the UK, and we were there for 10 years.

The retail business folded after 10 years because of various things — Brexit in the UK, Covid, there was a general election which seemed to go on forever, and people lost confidence in spending.

Someone would regret investing money in something that didn't work. It worked for a few years, but it didn't really work. I don't own a house. I don't own a car. I get around with cabs.

Who's your favourite author, or what's your favourite book?

I'm reading a book which you've probably read, The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett. If I had to pick one that would be my current favourite. It's an easy book just to go into and come out of.

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