A WORCESTER man is urging the community to vote for him to get him into the next round of the Mr Gay UK competition.

Reece Williams, of St Paul’s Street, Worcester, is currently ranked 15th out of more than 200 applications from men up and down the country in the Mr Gay UK 2013 competition, a national beauty pageant for men.

The 22-year-old mobile hairdresser and student has seen his ranking come down as votes for him increased after he entered by uploading a picture of himself to the competition Facebook page.

The picture which receives the most votes will be put into a top ten to move on to the next stage of challenges which have yet to be ann-ounced by the organisers.

And Mr Williams said he was keen for his home city to support him.

“I have been keeping a close eye on my photo and have noticed that I’m between 15th place and 10th place but my position keeps changing,” he said.

“The reason why I entered Mr Gay UK was just for the experience. Wherever I come I shall be happy.

“I would be grateful if people can help me get into the top ten as it would be nice to bring something to Worcester and maybe even win the show.”

Mr Williams has been ‘out’ as gay for seven years and said he has not applied for anything like this before. And he said he hoped his bid to win would raise the profile of the gay community in Worcester. “The gay community in Worcester at the moment isn’t really a community – there seems to only be one gay bar in Worcester, which everyone goes to,” he said.

“It would be nice to get Worcester on the map and let people know that Worcester supports gay people.

“I may or may not be liked by some gay communities but this is to show all the gay and bisexual people out there that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.”

To vote for Mr Williams, or to see the other entries, search for MrGayUK on Facebook, find the ‘applications’ photo album and like a picture to register a vote. Voting closes at 5pm on Sunday, October 27.