The fallout from this beauty pageant is getting ugly.
Miss Universe Fiji has become embroiled in scandalous claims of corruption after the winner was stripped of her crown in favor of a runner-up with close ties to the competition’s licensee.
Manshika Prasad, 24, was named Miss Universe Fiji at the pageant, which was held on Aug. 30, after she secured four votes from the contest’s seven judges.
But just two days later, runner-up Nadine Roberts, 30, was declared the actual winner in an official statement released by Miss Universe Fiji.
The press release claimed “correct procedures” had not been followed by organizer Grant Dwyer because he “failed to count” an eighth vote by the pageant’s licensee, Lux Projects.
Lux Projects — a property development company that bought the license to host Miss Universe Fiji — would have cast a vote for runner-up Roberts, the release explained.
That would have given four votes to Roberts and four votes to Prasad.
“The licensee holder must then decide on the winner,” the press release proclaimed, subsequently saying Roberts was therefore the rightful champion.
However, corruption claims quickly emerged after BBC reported that Lux Projects appears to be “closely associated” with an Australian businessman named Jamie McIntyre — the husband of Nadine Roberts.
A rep for McIntyre told BBC that allegations he was involved in the judging controversy are a “conspiracy theory.”
However, the rep did concede that he had “provided advice to the license holder [Lux Projects]” at the time the pageant was taking place.
Several of the seven jilted judges from the pageant spoke to BBC saying they had never heard about Lux Projects being entitled to a vote in the competition. One judge described the beauty pageant aftermath as something that “turned really ugly.”
Judge Jennifer Chan said Prasad was “the clear winner” and was “100% confident” that the beauty was the strongest candidate to represent Fiji at the upcoming Miss Universe extravaganza, which will be held in Mexico in November.
Chan also alleges that runner-up Roberts was “seething” when she failed to secure the crown on the night of the competition.
“I remember going to bed thinking, how could someone feel so entitled to win?” the judge stated. “You win some, you lose some. She’s a seasoned beauty pageant contestant — surely she knew that?”
After being named the new pageant winner in the press release, Roberts took to Instagram to thank Miss Universe Fiji for its “swift action,” according to BBC.
Meanwhile, a devastated Prasad released her own statement saying: “There was so much the public did not know about.”
However, on Sept. 6, another stunning reversal was made: Prasad was re-crowned the winner of Miss Universe Fiji.
It’s unclear what prompted the dramatic U-turn.
The Post has reached out to Miss Universe Fiji, as well as Prasad and Roberts for comment on what went down behind the scenes.
Prasad announced the surprise news in an Instagram post, stating: “What an incredible journey this has been! A heartfelt thank you to Mr. Grant Dwyer and team and the amazing @missuniverse for your incredible support throughout this trialing process.”
Meanwhile, Roberts’ Instagram still features a post that describes her as the actual winner of the pageant.
But the runner-up has been blasted by followers, with one writing: “Your husband tried and failed to buy you a vanity crown and now the whole world knows about it.”
“The Netflix expose on this is gonna be fire,” a second stated.
