A series of scandals caused Miss Grand International to be called a 'circus' - Lang Son Newspaper and Radio and Television Station

Miss Grand International is one of the famous international beauty pageants, founded in 2013 in Thailand by Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil. The contest is famous for its grand activities and series of "explosive" dramas every season. In Vietnam, this contest once created a big buzz when Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien crowned in 2021.

Mr. Nawat's Miss Grand International contest is constantly embroiled in controversy.

Recently, the reigning Miss Rachel Gupta announced that she would give up her title and return her crown, just months after her coronation, causing a public uproar. She said she faced a breach of contract, poor treatment and a toxic environment, making it impossible for her to continue to remain silent.

This is not the first time that President Nawat's contest has been embroiled in such controversy. The contest has been called a "cooking show" or "circus" by many viewers.

Series of beauty queens and runners-up stripped of titles

Miss Grand International is considered the beauty pageant with the most beauties having their titles revoked in history. After 12 years of organization, at least 5 beauties have had their titles revoked.

Anea Garcia - Miss Grand International 2015 is one of the first beauty queens to have her title stripped by Mr. Nawat after only 5 months of being crowned. The reason is because she could not fulfill her duties as a beauty queen.

A series of beauties were stripped of their titles before their terms ended.

At that time, Anea Garcia and the pageant organization also had many controversies. She proactively returned the crown and accused the organization of publicly disclosing many inaccurate information.

Then, Claire Elizabeth Parker (Australia) - 1st runner-up, was chosen to replace her to take on the title of Miss Grand International 2015. However, in 2019, she was stripped of the title due to participating in Miss Universe Australia 2019. This violated the organization's regulations on not participating in other beauty pageants while holding the title, even though her term ended in 2016.

In 2022, Yuvna Rinishta - 5th runner-up at Miss Grand International 2022 also announced her resignation after 3 days of coronation, citing the inability to sign the contract and fulfill related obligations.

Safiétou Kabengele - 3rd runner-up Miss Grand International 2024 was also stripped of her crown by Mr. Nawat for making negative comments about the reigning beauty queen Rachel Gupta on social media.

Runner-up cried and threw the crown on stage

At the final Miss Grand International 2024 , Thae Su Nyein - representative of Myanmar was named as the 2nd runner-up. She and her team were not satisfied with the result. Right on stage after the final, Thae Su Nyein cried when she was carried away by the team. The national director angrily removed her crown and sash and threw it on the ground.

She livestreamed to announce that she was returning the 2nd runner-up crown because she felt "not getting what one deserves".

The national director of Miss Grand Myanmar also accused President Nawat of asking him to spend $25,000 to win the title but he refused. This person affirmed that he would resign as national director and return the second runner-up crown.

Myanmar representative cried and threw back the 2nd runner-up crown.

Next, Chairman Nawat held a press conference to deny the information about "selling the prize" for 25,000 USD, affirming that he "is the sixth richest person in the Thai entertainment industry".

He also said that the Myanmar beauty was too delusional to win the crown while she only had beauty, was still immature and passive. The MGI organization finally announced that she was stripped of her second runner-up title.

Suddenly stopped hosting in Cambodia

Also at Miss Grand International 2024 , when the competition had only been held for 3 days in Cambodia, the organizers suddenly announced that they would withdraw the hosting rights and move the activities to Thailand. The reason was that the host unit could not provide services that met the organization's standards.

The abrupt decision angered the national director of Miss Grand Cambodia and the organizing team. They said the organization lacked respect and cooperation, and accused President Nawat of being arbitrary and constantly changing the requirements.

The conflict reportedly erupted when the contestants were received on a simple tourist boat. Images circulating online showed the boat with only plastic tables and chairs, a few simple dishes, and contestants standing and sitting with worried faces.

Mr. Nawat criticized Cambodia for being unprofessional.

President Nawat Criticized Cambodia for organizing unprofessional events right from the first day of the contest, such as: not arranging for someone to pick up the contestants at the airport, organizing a sketchy sash-giving ceremony, and in some activities, contestants were not guided by anyone, and had to ask local people to help find a restaurant.

He said that suddenly bringing the contestants back to Thailand caused a huge loss, but he still had to move to maintain the image and reputation of the brand that he had built over many years.

As soon as Mr. Nawat brought the contestants to Thailand, the Cambodian representative, Sotheary Bee, also announced that she would not compete. The beauty said that she competed to represent her country, not herself.

Drop out of the exam, accuse the organizing committee of being unprofessional

In the 2024 season, there were 4 contestants who dropped out, including representatives from Costa Rica, Ukraine, Hong Kong, and Cambodia. The reason was that their stressful and tiring schedules made them not want to continue participating in the competition.

In particular, Kateryna Bilyk - the representative of Ukraine also filed a lawsuit against the Miss Grand organization for exploiting her labor, forcing her to work in poor health conditions and with fever.

In addition, she said that her passport was confiscated by the organizers. During her 3 days in Cambodia, she was restricted and not allowed to move freely.

The Ukrainian beauty and Mr. Nawat fought each other on social networks.

Mr. Nawat said Kateryna Bilyk's departure from the competition was due to her violating several terms stated in the contestant agreement, which she agreed to sign before entering the competition.

The matter became serious when Kateryna Bilyk announced her readiness to pursue legal action to resolve the controversial case with the Miss Grand International organizers.

Commercialization by tricks

As a businessman, Mr. Nawat's management style is said to be commercialized to maximize profits for the contest. Because of this, Mr. Nawat has been heavily criticized. They believe that this man is taking advantage of the girls for profit.

Mr. Nawat forced the winners to livestream to sell products after being crowned. Many viewers believe that with Mr. Nawat's management, the contest will become more commercialized and lose its image.

Miss and runner-up have to livestream to sell products after being crowned.

One of the points that was also criticized was the abuse of voting to find the winning representative in the categories. No beauty contest has ever become "Miss Vote" by opening many voting programs for representatives to enter the Top 20, Top 10, Best National Costume and even other small categories such as having dinner with the presidium like Miss Grand International.

Miss Universe 2011 once bluntly criticized Mr. Nawat's contest as nothing more than a "circus" and only aimed at the commercial value it would receive when considering choosing the beauties to enter the top.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/loat-on-ao-khien-miss-grand-international-bi-goi-la-rap-xiec-5048571.html