The beauty pageant Miss Universe, held in the South Pacific island of Fiji for the first time in 43 years, revoked its winner and reinstated the original winner amidst intensifying controversy.
The organizers named the runner-up as the winner, only to reveal that the new titleholder was the wife of a real estate company executive linked to the event. As the controversy escalated, the winner changed again in five days.
On Saturday, BBC reported that Manshika Prasad, a 24-year-old MBA student, claimed the crown at the Miss Universe Fiji (MUF) competition on Aug. 30.
However, just two days after the event, the organizers announced a “serious violation of principles” and indicated that revised results would be forthcoming.
Furthermore, they informed Prasad that the runner-up, Nadine Roberts (30), would represent Fiji at the Miss Universe World competition in Mexico in November.
Roberts is known as a model and real estate developer.
The organizers claimed that the winner was revoked due to manipulated votes. However, various suspicions arose as the judges protested. The real estate development company Lux Project, which invested heavily in licenses like tickets using the Miss Universe Fiji(MUF) brand, also came under fire.
Miss Universe operates under a franchise system, so each competing country must secure a license to use the organization’s branding and sell tickets. As the license often costs millions of dollars, small countries such as Fiji usually struggle to find a willing business to fund it. However, this year, Lux Projects Bali, a property development firm, stepped forward to fund the license required to hold a national pageant, enabling Fiji to host the beauty contest for the first time since 1981.
Later, the organizers emphasized that the reason for overturning the winner was due to errors in failing to account for the fact that license holders of the event should also have voting rights. The license holder, who had the decisive vote, voted for Roberts, resulting in a tie with four votes each, but Roberts became the winner.
Melissa White, one of seven judges on the panel, stated that further investigation has revealed that Lux Projects was closely associated with an Australian businessman called Jamie McIntyre, and Roberts was his wife.
McIntyre’s team dismissed the claims of any connection to MUF, calling them conspiracy theories, but they acknowledged that they advised license holders.
Ultimately, amidst rising controversy, Miss Universe Fiji reinstated Prasad as the winner. She shared on her Instagram on Friday, writing, “What an incredible journey. I am truly Miss Universe Fiji 2024.”
