Turns out, being a beauty queen is not the height of beauty.
Even after you walk down that runway, and even after you have that pageant crown placed upon your carefully blow-dried hair, you’re still not enough. Ugh.
That is the story of Zoiey Smale, who was crowned as Miss United Continents in June. Just after she won, the 28-year-old was asked to lose all the weight she could.
You see, apparently, a size 10 was too big.
Despite that being a completely normal, healthy size… a 10 was too big for the pageant organisers.
Smale could have submitted to their requests; stopped eating, drastic dieting. Instead, she has now gone public with her decision to hand back the crown.
In a recent Facebook post, the mother-of-one announced her refusal of the prize, in defiance of the industry standards.
“You eat less, parade around in a bikini for a few days and sit at the arm of a man over dinner whilst pushing an olive around a plate…,” she wrote on Facebook.
“I was branded ‘fat’ because I am size 10. I actually believed that I was so disgusting that no one would ever love me. How sad is that?
“After being asked to lose weight and go on a diet plan for an international competition, I have withdrawn. Some of you may think this is cowardly, however I don’t think it is the right to have my face representing a pageant ethos I do not believe in. I will be handing back my crown and wish the new title holder the very best of luck.”
