Miss World organisers accused of being ‘vindictive and bitter’ against ex-contestant

Their mantra is “beauty with a purpose”. But the organisers of the Miss World competition were accused of one thing altogether uglier: being “vindictive and very bitter” against a contestant who left over claims she have been used as window dressing.

The reigning Miss England, Milla Magee, stated she agreed to participate within the 2025 Miss World competition as a result of she believed it might be a platform to advertise her marketing campaign to have CPR incorporated within the college curriculum. But she stated the truth was once very other.

She left ahead of the grand ultimate in India on Saturday, pronouncing she felt she was once being exploited and claiming she and the opposite ladies felt that they had been equipped as leisure for traders as a “thank you”.

Miss World organisers spoke back with a observation by which they referred to “false and defamatory statements” that they stated had been “completely unfounded and inconsistent with the reality of her time with us”.

The organisation’s leader govt, Julia Morley, went additional in an interview with the Hindu newspaper, by which she accused Magee of leaving as a result of she “believed she didn’t stand a chance in the competition”.

On Saturday, Magee stated: “What Julia said was vindictive and very bitter. And it was a ridiculous statement. I did not leave because I thought I was not going to win. I left because I wanted to stand for what I believe in and it didn’t align with my values. And I would hate for another young girl to go into this system after watching me this past year and have to experience the same.”

Magee stated there have been a “lot of tears behind the smiles” on the Miss World match in Hyderabad and she or he was once unwilling to “promote a lie”. She stated that whilst the competition presupposed to be about “beauty with purpose”, she discovered it to be about “wearing different ballgowns every day and what you look like”.

She stated: “I felt like I’ve been fed a false narrative of this system that promotes ‘beauty with a purpose’, that’s supposed to be about advocacy and what you champion for. And I thought, right, this is a real good opportunity for me on a global stage to be able to talk about [my campaign] Go Far with CPR. This isn’t about me standing on the stage, this isn’t about what I wear. It’s not about what I look like.”

Instead, Magee claimed she discovered she and the opposite contestants had been there extra to seem lovely and to entertain visitors, with handiest restricted alternative given to advertise their reasons. In one example, she alleged, a person she may just no longer determine walked as much as her and stated: “Next time I’m in London or England, hook me up,” leaving her feeling uncomfortable.

Magee additionally stated she felt Miss World had uncovered her to anger from its backers via posting its observation on social media for them to touch upon – failing, she stated, in its accountability of care to her.

Nevertheless, she stated, she have been “inundated” with messages from ladies who had taken section in pageants “saying how they felt the exact same”.

She referred to as at the organisation to modernise, pronouncing: “They have a big responsibility to acknowledge what I’ve said, acknowledge and listen to the reasons of why I left, to not just so quickly and irresponsibly put out a statement to say it’s because I didn’t think I was going to win.”

Miss World has been contacted for remark.