The recent Miss Puerto Rico incident has once more put beauty pageants in the spotlight.
There are some people who think that beauty pageants are archaic, sexist and pretentious and believe they ought to be done away with entirely. There are others who see them as a romanticized tradition that needs to be cherished and allowed to continue. Whatever your thoughts may be regarding pageants, you must admit that they have provided us with some mighty fascinating scandals over the years.
Some other beauty queens who got people talking are:
Leona Gage- Miss USA 1957
Even back in the “golden days” of beauty pageants, things were not always perfect.. Leona Gage, Miss USA 1957, lost her title and all that went with it when pageant officials learned that she was three years younger than she had claimed and was married for a second time with two little urchins, not exactly the sweet young thing she led the public to believe. She forfeited her crown, but got loads of publicity, making a number of popular television appearances. She later became a Vegas showgirl and, as her career slid into nowhere, ended up doing a few commercials, modeling and performing, briefly, in a strip club. Gage married six times and now lives in California.
Marjorie Wallace- Miss World 1973
Marjorie Wallace enjoyed the distinction of being the first woman from the U.S. to win the Miss World title. There was trouble in paradise, though, when pageant officials noted that she was not displaying the proper “image” that they wanted. It was too much for them to have to deal with the publicity she received for going out with well-known male celebrities and daring to actually have a social life during her reign. In response, pageant organizers canned her. Wallace later went on to become a morning television news show hostess.
Vanessa William- Miss America 1983
Vanessa Williams was the first African-American crowned as Miss America. That victory was short-lived, as Penthouse Magazine caused a stir when it published compromising photos of her with another female that were taken several years before. The ensuing scandal forced her to resign, but, as the old saying goes, success is the greatest revenge. Williams has gone on to star on Broadway and in films and television, as well as being nominated for a number of Grammys for her top selling record albums. The scandal only gave her more of a resolve to succeed, which she has done, perhaps better than any beauty queen before or since.
Sharon Nicole Redmond- Miss Savannah 2003
Months after being selected as Miss Savannah 2003, Sharon Nicole Redmond went on trial for the murder of her fiance Kevin Darnell Shorter. It seems that the gentleman neglected to inform her that he also had another fiance. According to Redmond’s account, she went over to the other woman’s home to calmly dispute accusations that she had been making harassing telephone calls to her rival.
Allegedly, Shorter showed up on the scene and when he made threats towards her, she fired a pistol at him from her car in “self defense.” Redmond claimed that she left the scene, totally unaware that she had actually wounded him. Shorter’s left femoral artery was severed and, after being hospitalized, he died and Redmond was charged with his murder.
Over the course of the trial, she claimed that her fiance had continually abused her and that wounding him was accidental, since she only intended to fire the gun as a warning. She must have been pretty convincing, because the jury acquitted her.
Ashley Harder- Miss New Jersey USA 2007
Ashley Harder continued to dispel the dying myth of beauty queens as innocent, virginal little things when it was discovered that she was pregnant. She was forced to turn over her crown, because pageant rules stipulate that being preggers or ever having had a child is a big “no-no.”
Tara Conner- Miss USA 2006
Tara Conner was crowned Miss USA in 2006. The beautiful blonde from a small town in Kentucky continued to make headlines after her win, but not because of ribbon cutting ceremonies. When reports of her nightly activities in a NYC bar, cocaine use, man-hopping and public smooching with Miss Teen USA were exposed, the tearful Conner gave a news conference, apologizing. It seems that big city life contributed to her corruption and, after she promised to clean up her act, a forgiving Donald Trump allowed her to keep her title.
Katie Rees, Miss Nevada USA 2007
Katie Rees lost her crown after incriminating photos of her were plastered on MySpace that showed her locking lips with other women and doing other sexually suggestive things. Despite several tearful public apologies, she was dethroned. Still, it’s rather ironic that her behavior was so fiercely condemend by pageant officials who live in a state that has legal brothels.
Amy Polumbo- Miss New Jersey 2007
22-year-old Amy Polumbo was threatened with blackmail by a person who claimed to have “revealing” photos of her. Instead of knuckling under, the plucky beauty queen went public, going on several morning news shows and even showing the supposedly “improper” photos, which turned out to be relatively benign, scandal-wise.
Christina Silva- Miss California USA 2008
Now you have it, now you don’t. That pretty much describes the situation the once and former Miss California 2008 found herself in when, after being crowned as the winning contestant in December 2007, she was informed hours later that there had been an “accounting error” and she was, in fact, not the winner. The title was then given to Raquel Beezeley. The humiliated 24-year-old Silva is not taking this indignity without a fight. She has, as of this writing, consulted a legal representative and my guess is that she is going to take pageant officials to the cleaners and rightly so.
