After being crowned Miss World Australia in 2019, Sarah Marschke was, well, on top of the world.
The Queenslander, who hails from a sporting family and is a semi-professional rugby player, was thrilled to be chosen to represent Australia on the global stage at the Miss World pageant.
Sarah Marschke in 2019. Image: Instagram.
But then it all came crashing down.
Fellow Miss World contestant, Miss Greece Rafaela Plastira, claimed Marschke pushed her down the stairs of a bus during the pageant in London in December 2019.
"We were coming back from an event and as I was getting off the bus, Miss Australia was behind me and she pushed me with force. I fell and sprained my ankle," Plastira told Greek publication Espresso.
"For two days I was in a wheelchair and I was unable to walk. I'm still with gauze on my foot. The girl who assaulted me claims that it was a mistake and that it was an accident, but she pushed me on purpose. From the beginning Miss Australia was very rude and hostile towards me."
The alleged altercation made international headlines, with the insinuation that Marschke was a "mean girl" who was willing to do anything to win the crown. Marschke has always denied the accusation and recently told The Herald Sun the accusation hurt her for a very long time.
"It ruined all my chances of becoming a Miss World and I have held that with me. The accusation was just unbelievable - it was untrue and the fact that Miss Greece was my friend at the competition... she completely backstabbed me," she said.
"What probably hurt me the most was that she was a friend and I trusted her in the competition, but because she was threatened by me she knew she had to take me down. It is an insight into beauty pageants, they are not as glitz and glam as you might think."
Marschke has wondered over the years if things would have been different had the accusation never happened. Prior to the scandal, she was one of the favourites, and it is possible she would have made it to top five or even won the competition. She revealed that it has taken her years to find the positive from the incident; it taught her resilience.
And it's definitely prepared her for another big competition - as a contestant on this year's reality TV survival series Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains.
Watch the trailer for Australian Survivor 2023. Story continues below.
Given her "background", Marschke is playing as a Villain on the show.
She even poked fun at the 2019 scandal in her opening monologue for Australian Survivor. "Miss Greece claimed that I pushed her down the stairs," she intoned. "I didn't, but if I did... she wouldn't have gotten up."
"Competing at Miss World international is brutal, it’s a very competitive pageant because you’re there to win, you’re not there to make friends or have a good time," she told Network 10.
"You should never underestimate what a beauty queen is willing to do to win."
And that probably includes pushing a Survivor tribe mate down the stairs.
Australian Survivor continues tonight at 7.30pm on 10 and 10Play.
Feature image: Network 10.
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