Beauty and the beastly! As Miss Japan quits after having an affair, we look at the most infamous international pageant queens over the decades, from tiara-grabbing catfights to trans lawsuits, and racist rants

  • Reading time:14 min(s) read
Movie channels                     Music channels                     Sport channels

  • Miss Japan was rolled through a love triangle scandal this week after her win
  • International pageantry has seen its fair share of drama, spanning back decades 

From a dramatic on-stage brawl over a golden tiara to a racy scandal about nude photographs and a furious allegations of vote-rigging at one of the world’s biggest competitions, the law of the jungle reigns in the dog-eat-dog world of top-level beauty pageants.

Only this week, the Ukrainian-born winner of this year’s Miss Japan contest announced she was giving up her title after it was revealed she was having an affair with a married influencer known as ‘Muscle Doctor’.

For weeks, Karolina Shiino, 26, had endured abuse over her heritage, having moved to Japan as a child where her mother remarried a Japanese man. When she won, she was slammed online for not being native to Japan – before local media suddenly exposed a celebrity love-triangle hidden behind the scenes.

Shiino was attacked on X, formerly Twitter, for her affair as critics said she ‘shouldn’t have won to begin with’.

Elsewhere in the cut-throat theatre of international beauty pageants, spectators slammed 20-year-old Eve Gilles from Nord-Pas-de-Calais for winning Miss France with a ‘woke’ haircut.

Eve suffered an onslaught of criticism simply for wearing her hair short, telling the Mail she was harassed by trolls for not ‘fitting the profile’ of a Miss France winner.

But the story dates back decades, with dozens of women dragged by critics and competitors fiercely desperate to condemn or win at any cost. MailOnline looks back on the most infamous international pageant queens over the years. 

Carolina Shiino, 26, walked away with the pageant's top prize in Tokyo earlier this year

Carolina Shiino, 26, walked away with the pageant’s top prize in Tokyo earlier this year

Ms Shiino had said she was sorry for being misleading, and organisers had accepted her giving up the title, the Miss Japan Association said

Ms Shiino had said she was sorry for being misleading, and organisers had accepted her giving up the title, the Miss Japan Association said

The fashions may have changed over the years, but the set-up remains the same. Beauty pageants claim to celebrate the most attractive people based on several criteria, boasting their exterior assets on stage while answering questions to let the judges on their qualities inside.

Over the years, pageants have evolved to include criteria such as intelligence, natural talents and charity work – making the events more inclusive of people with great inner beauty who set a good example to others. As we uncover, some recent winners have now been stripped of their titles for scandals and behaviour considered to fall beneath the expectations of a true pageant queen.

Competition is tough at the highest level, with fans and rivals enthusiastically scrutinising entrants through a tense and often controversial contest. Pageants, on occasion, erupt in huge spectacle or scandal before fizzling out and starting again.

The tiara incident: Miss Sri Lanka, 2021

Mrs Sri Lanka resigns after arrest: the damning conclusion of a dramatic three weeks following an on-stage outburst at the annual competition in Colombo in 2021.

Caroline Jurie was not named the winner of the event in the capital that April 4, but had claimed the titles for Mrs Sri Lanka in 2019 and Mrs World in 2020.

She appeared outraged when Pushpika De Silva was instead named Miss Sri Lanka 2021 and drew global attention when she forcibly removed the winner’s tiara on stage in front of an audience.

‘There is a rule that prevents women who have already been married and are divorced, so I am taking steps to make the crown go to second place,’ she said in a bizarre on-stage intervention. 

While De Silva was estranged from her husband, they were still legally married. 

‘I’m still an un-divorced woman,’ De Silva said. ‘A true queen is not a woman who snatches another woman’s crown, but a woman who secretly sets another woman’s crown!’

De Silva claimed she sustained injuries to her head as Jurie snatched the crown from her and it became caught in her hair. 

The judges ultimately took De Silva’s side, allowing her win to stand so she could go on to compete in the international Mrs World competition.

Her rival, meanwhile, gave up her title after being arrested and released on bail only later that month.

Chandimal Jayasinghe, the national director of Mrs Sri Lanka World, told the BBC: ‘We are disappointed. It was a disgrace how Caroline Jurie behaved on the stage.’

Organisers said they were claiming compensation from Jurie for damages to the stage and backstage dressing rooms where several mirrors had been smashed.

Jurie was also accused by organisers of bringing disrepute to the event.

Mrs World Caroline Jurie (second left) was arrested after she  took the crown off the head of Mrs Sri Lanka winner Pushpika De Silva (centre) after stepping on-stage

Mrs World Caroline Jurie (second left) was arrested after she  took the crown off the head of Mrs Sri Lanka winner Pushpika De Silva (centre) after stepping on-stage

Trans controversy: Miss United States of America LLC, 2022

Top pageants are protective over who can and who cannot enter. We saw the controversy around Mrs Sri Lanka over whether the winner was divorced or officially separated from her partner. In 2018, Miss Ukraine was stripped of her crown after becoming pregnant – a decision that riled women’s charity Pregnant Then Screwed.

In 2022, a US appeals court ruled that pageant operator of Miss United States of America could not be forced to allow trans women to compete because doing so would interfere with its ability to express ‘the ideal vision of American womanhood’ – a controversial move that critics said violated anti-discrimination laws.

Judges for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a complaint brought by Anita Green, an activist and trans woman who argued the requirement for contestants to be ‘natural born females’ violates Oregon law, where she lived.

It took three years from the first lawsuit against Miss United States of America LLC – not to be confused with the Miss USA pageants – for the court to reach an outcome. The eligibility requirement was ultimately protected under the First Amendment’s protection against compelled speech, the judges ruled.

‘I don’t think someone shouldn’t be allowed to compete simply because they are transgender,’ Green said in 2019. ‘I think that’s very arbitrary. Transgender women are equal to cisgender women.

‘To me, pageantry isn’t just about the way a person looks. To me, it’s about giving people a voice.’ 

Anita Noelle Green, who brought a lawsuit against a pageant competition in 2019

Anita Noelle Green, who brought a lawsuit against a pageant competition in 2019

Federal judges ultimately ruled that the pageant was protected by the First Amendment

Federal judges ultimately ruled that the pageant was protected by the First Amendment

Love Island sex scandal: Miss GB, 2015

Zara Holland, winner of the Miss Great Britain pageant 2015/16, made headlines when she was stripped of her title for having sex with fellow contestant Alex Bowen on reality show Love Island in 2016.

The star, then 20, was seen going on a date with Bowen – who later married fellow Love Islander Olivia – before heading off to the ‘hideaway’ for some alone time during Series 2.

In response, the organisers of Miss Great Britain released an unexpected statement saying that, based on feedback from pageant insiders and members of the public, ‘we cannot promote Zara as a positive role model moving forward’.

‘We wholly understand that everyone makes mistakes, but Zara, as an ambassador for Miss Great Britain, simply did not uphold the responsibility expected of the title.’

Zara snapped back that she had ‘done nothing wrong’. ‘All women have needs. There is nothing wrong with having sex on TV. I knew what I was signing up for – it is Love Island. I am a 20-year-old girl who was in the moment.’

‘I haven’t committed a crime, so why should I have my title taken from me? It’s horrific,’ she said upon leaving the villa.

Zara Holland, Miss Great Britain, poses for a photo at the Little Black Dress cocktail party in London, October 22, 2015

Zara Holland, Miss Great Britain, poses for a photo at the Little Black Dress cocktail party in London, October 22, 2015

Fired over racy pics: Miss Nevada USA, 2007

‘Katie Rees has been relieved of her duties as Miss Nevada USA 2007,’ said Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, in late December 2006.

It was the pithy conclusion to an industry scandal in which Ms Rees, then 22, was judged to have acted inappropriately after revealing photos were published online.

Photos showed Rees ‘kissing other women, exposing one of her breasts and pulling down her pants to show her thong underwear at a party’, CBS reported at the time.

Her attorney said she ‘wants the public to know she was 17 and had a lapse in judgement’ when the photos were taken.

‘The actions on that evening in subject are in no way indicative of the person she is or the person she has become.

‘She is a law-abiding citizen and talented adult. This was an isolated incident that occurred more than five years ago when she was a minor.’

The decision saw runner-up Helen Salas awarded the title to go on to compete at the Miss USA pageant in early 2007. Rachel Smith of Tennessee ultimately won the competition.

A similar story had unfolded before. In 1993, Huda Naccache was disqualified as Lebanon’s entrant in the Miss Universe pageant that year.

She was revealed to have posed for nude photographs, causing controversy in Lebanon and raising questions about the standards and expectations placed on contestants. 

Ten years prior, Vanessa Williams had made history as the first African American women to be crowned Miss America. But her reign was also short-lived due to a scandal in which Penthouse magazine bought and published unauthorised nude photos of her.

Williams was again pressured to give up the title. It would be another 32 years before former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell would publicly apologise to her.

Katie Rees is crowned Miss JET at the JET Nightclub in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007 after she was disallowed from continuing in the Miss USA pageant

Katie Rees is crowned Miss JET at the JET Nightclub in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007 after she was disallowed from continuing in the Miss USA pageant

The 2006 decision saw runner-up Helen Salas awarded the title to go on to compete at the Miss USA pageant in early 2007.

The 2006 decision saw runner-up Helen Salas awarded the title to go on to compete at the Miss USA pageant in early 2007.

Title stripped for being camera-shy: Miss Universe, 2016

Puerto Rico’s 2016 Miss Universe contestant was stripped of her crown after revealing in an interview that she did not like having her picture taken.

Kristhielee Caride was made to give up her title after organisers raised questions about her attitude.

Desiree Lowry said she was embarrassed by the interview with a Puerto Rican newspaper.

‘I saw the damage that she was doing and the damage that she was doing to the organization,’ Lowry said during a press conference. 

‘Miss Puerto Rico is a public figure and part of your job is to be in front of the camera.’

‘You always have to put your best face forward. It’s a given that we are going to be in front of cameras and that we have to answer all types of questions.’

The story took a sad turn when Caride, having been stripped of her crown, said she had been overcome with depression and stopped eating.

‘I [have] depression. I’m not eating, but it is something that I have controlled,’ she told Univision.

Ms Caride revealed she briefly checked into a psychiatric hospital after the decision was made.

‘(I feel) betrayed by the organization because there was never a moment that I disrespected them,’ she told the station.

‘There wasn’t a reason for them to do what they did to me.’

But Caride apologized to her fans in a Facebook note earlier this month and revealed she had been having personal problems in the day leading up to the interview.

‘Beauty queens are not exempt from having a bad day,’ she wrote in Spanish. ‘I allowed my feelings to get in the way of my work.’

Caride wrote that she did not agree with the organization’s decision but said she accepted it ‘with dignity’.

‘I will always remember that night of November 12,’ she wrote. ‘When I won the title, and all the experiences and lovely memories of having been Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2016.’

Puerto Rico's former 2016 Miss Universe contestant Kristhielee Caride

Puerto Rico’s former 2016 Miss Universe contestant Kristhielee Caride

'There wasn't a reason for them to do what they did to me,' Caride said after losing the title

‘There wasn’t a reason for them to do what they did to me,’ Caride said after losing the title

‘Woke haircut’: Miss France, 2023

Twenty-year-old Eve Gilles received a torrent of abuse after her sensational victory in the Miss France 2024 pageant late last year.

Critics slammed the starlet from Dunkirk who sported a short bob as she fulfiled her lifetime ambition and claimed the title on December 16.

Trolls said the long hair favoured by previous winners would have been more appropriate than a short pixie cut, laying into Gilles online.

Gilles said that she was shocked when she was then suddenly ‘hit by a wave of body-shaming’.

‘I stopped looking at these comments saying that I am thin, that I have no shape, this thing, that thing.

‘Being criticised about my hair doesn’t bother me, I chose it like that and I can change it.

‘But I don’t choose my body. I don’t choose my shapes. The metabolism that I have, I don’t choose it.

‘These are things that we learn to live with the, and I don’t understand how we can criticise something that we can’t change.’ 

Commenting on her own choice of haircut, she said: ‘We’re used to seeing beautiful Misses with long hair, but I chose an androgynous look with short hair.’

Gilles entered the highly competitive environment from a refreshingly ordinary background, working in egg factories as she read mathematics in hope of becoming a statistician.

‘The path doesn’t matter, the important thing is the arrival,’ she said in an interview with French media after securing her title. 

Eve Gilles (pictured), 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern part of the country was crowned Miss France in front of 7.5 million TV viewers

Eve Gilles (pictured), 20, from Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern part of the country was crowned Miss France in front of 7.5 million TV viewers

Eve Gilles (left), is crowned Miss France 2024 by Miss France 2023 Indira Ampiot (right), at the Miss France 2024 beauty pageant in Dijon

Eve Gilles (left), is crowned Miss France 2024 by Miss France 2023 Indira Ampiot (right), at the Miss France 2024 beauty pageant in Dijon

Vote rigging: Miss Universe, 2023 

R’Bonney Gabriel made history as the first Filipina American to be named Miss Universe in 2023 – but her victory was marred by allegations of corruption from fans.

The Miss Universe Organisation said spectators believed it was ‘suspect’ that JKN Global Group owned both Miss Universe and Miss USA, whom Gabriel was representing.

The group rubbished the claims, however, saying critics ‘aren’t familiar with the history of the organisations’ and that a top accounting firm in the US ‘handled the results and verified the process’.

Amy Emmerich, the CEO of Miss Universe Organization, said a third-party investigation into the claims of vote rigging turned nothing up.

‘Their results showed that the rigging allegations were unfounded. R’Bonney has been a strong and dedicated contestant.’

‘The false rigging allegations are absurd and distract from the incredible milestones our organisation and the delegates experienced this weekend,’ the organisation added in a statement to Today.

A year prior, the Miss Universe Organisation suspended Miss USA President Crystle Stewart pending a separate investigation into allegations the Miss USA 2022 pageant was rigged.

‘The current allegations that the 2022 Miss USA pageant was in favor of one contestant over another are misleading and simply not factual,’ Stewart said in a statement.

Miss USA contestants at the time took to social media to complain about R’Bonney Gabriel’s Miss USA 2022 win, alleging favouritism. Gabriel denied the allegations.

‘We really can’t blame this girl and it’s really sad because her performance was amazing and she probably could have won fair and square,’ Miss Montana USA Heather Lee O’Keefe said in a TikTok video.

‘The issue is not with Miss Texas or R’Bonney winning. The issue is with the alleged corruption of the Miss USA organisation.’ 

Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel reacts as she is crowned Miss Universe during the final round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, in New Orleans on Saturday, January 14, 2023

Miss USA R’Bonney Gabriel reacts as she is crowned Miss Universe during the final round of the 71st Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, in New Orleans on Saturday, January 14, 2023

R'Bonney Gabriel is seen in Midtown on January 21, 2024 in New York City

R’Bonney Gabriel is seen in Midtown on January 21, 2024 in New York City