Think of a burlesque dancer and lacy black stockings, passion-red corsets and soft feather boas come to mind.

Candy Valentina, a model, fire-eater, all-round jack of all performance art trades does not fit the bill.

Yes, you can tell there is something a little different about her.

The Sittingbourne resident has long, bright red hair, the front of which is twisted into an elaborate curl – it is not the sort of hairdo most of us could sport, going into work.

But other than that, she is fairly, well, regular.

But that is the thing; I’m not meeting Candy Valentina, I’m meeting the girl underneath, the family-orientated person who harbours dreams of being a dance instructor one day.

The girl who has a boyfriend of nine years, who helps her step-mother bring in the shopping.

She has asked me not to use her real name. She wants to keep her personal life away from the 6,000 people on Facebook who helped the former Fulston Manor School pupil claim the crown of Miss Americana Pin-up UK, away from the super-fan in the United States who sends her pencil sketches, and away from the eyes that gawp at her as she moves provocatively on-stage.

“It’s better for you as a person to have one of these names. So, when I hit 30, say, and I have kids, I can stop it,” says the 24-year-old.

“Candy Valentina is someone I work under, promote. She’s just a character I can put away in a box and then be myself when I want to be.”

But where does the persona end and the ‘real’ her begin? It is difficult to say.

Candy calls it a “confidence thing” – the “sparkle” she has to have when she is up on stage and competing against 12 other wannabe pin-ups, as she did recently in the Miss Pin-up competition.

You cannot help but wonder if perhaps the confidence she possesses when she performs is down to armour she wears to do it – the lacy attire, the full face of make-up.

Candy says a large proportion of her social media following are young women.

Indeed, the fan who sends her intricately-drawn pictures is a 26-year-old woman. Her own idols are fellow performers Raquel Reed and October Divine, the industry’s equivalent of royalty.

Looking at these models it is hard not to be envious of them – glossy-haired, long-limbed and clearly not bogged-down by any obsessive body hang-ups that plague many women.

When asked whether she thinks she could be having a negative impact on the issue of girls’ self-esteem and body image issues, she insists women like to follow the careers of other women they find “inspirational”.

She says: “October Divine is an incredible pin-up and she has a massive fan-base.

“She has women say ‘You inspire me to dress more pin-up’ and ‘You inspire me to try my hair different or my make-up different.’

“Women like to follow other women who are doing something that makes them happy.”

And maybe she’s right – it might seem a shame they are not being inspired to do a little more than change their hairstyle, but women we can look up to come in all shapes, sizes, intelligence and, apparently, stockings.