What happened to model dubbed 'world's most beautiful girl' after mother faced huge backlash

A model who was crowned 'the most beautiful girl in the world' when she was just nine years old has grown up to pursue a career that couldn't be further from the modelling industry that made her famous.

Kristina Pimenova, now 19 and originally from Moscow, shot to global fame as a child thanks to her striking blue eyes and blonde hair, landing campaigns with some of fashion's biggest names before she'd even hit her teens.

These days, though, she's swapped the catwalk for the stage, enrolling at drama school with hopes of building a career as an actress, according to the New York Post.

It's a serious pivot for someone who spent her childhood in front of the camera, but it's one that comes after years of intense scrutiny that had little to do with Pimenova herself.

What happened to Kristina Pimenova as a child model?

Pimenova began working as a model at just three years old, and by the time she was nine, she'd been dubbed the most beautiful girl on the planet.

That title brought serious opportunities: over the years she went on to front campaigns for Vogue, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry and Monnalisa.

But the attention had a darker side.

Her mother, Glikeriya Pimenova, a former model herself, came under fire from critics who accused her of sexualising her daughter by sharing certain photos online.

Glikeriya strongly denied the accusations at the time, insisting the images were entirely innocent.

"Some years ago, I posted a picture of little Kristina on the beach in the Maldives hugging her three soft toys and laughing," she said in a 2014 interview with Mail Online.

She recalled being accused of implying her daughter was 'covering her breasts because she thinks she has something to hide', branding the claims the product of 'serious psychological problems'.

Glikeriya went further, insisting she never directed her daughter's poses and rarely photographed her at all.

"I do not accept those accusations about the sexualization of my child," she said, adding that critics needed to 'see a doctor'.

What is Kristina Pimenova doing now?

More than a decade on, Pimenova has moved into acting, taking on a role in a Russian stage adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

She's also appeared in a handful of films, including The Russian Bride, Secret Neighbor and Creators: The Past.

Despite the controversy that surrounded her early career, Pimenova has spoken positively about how the experience shaped her.

She said the backlash 'gave me the determination to be anything I want', and has described her rise to fame as something that happened almost by accident.

"It happened naturally. I was just playing around, it was like a game," she explained.

"I didn't even know what it was. It became a big part of my childhood, and it turned into making friends and travelling."

Pimenova now has more than two million followers on Instagram, where her bio reads simply: 'Remember beauty is inside.'