Weight gain costs Mexican beauty queen her crown?
Can a few pounds make a difference? For Mexican pageant queen Cynthia de la Vega, it may have. Officials have stripped her of her crown, claiming she lacked discipline. Her story: They objected to her weight gain, reported CNN and Daily Mail.
Nineteen-year-old de la Vega scored second place at September’s Nuestra Belleza Mexico beauty competition, making her eligible to represent Mexico in the 2011 Miss World competition. (The first-place winner of Nuestra Belleza Mexico will enter the Miss Universe pageant.) Organizers, however, have taken away her title, preventing her from participating in the contest.
“They took away the crown that I earned. That is mine,” she said to CNN, declaring she was “in total disagreement” with the decision.
Head of the Nuestra Belleza Mexico Lupita Jones maintained the decision was not based on de la Vega’s added weight, but rather her “lack of dedication and discipline,” reported CNN.
The official statement from Nuestra Belleza Mexico asserted the beauty queen “did not comply with the recommendations and goals agreed upon for her preparation.”
While de la Vega acknowledges she put on weight from the stress of the upcoming contest, she maintains competition organizers never told her of any specific weight or appearance requirements.
“I feel healthy enough to represent my country, and I think this is an injustice,” de la Vega said, according to Daily Mail.
When officials insisted she lose a few pounds, she said they did not provide the support and nutritional information to do so.
Daily Mail reports that according to de la Vega, pageant coach Luis Rangel ordered a diet that consisted of “the same food during the whole month.” Her objection: A diet plan should “should be specific for each day of the week and should also be supervised to make the necessary adjustments.” She refused to follow the prescribed system.
Officials have replaced de la Vega with Gabriela Palacio, the alternate from the competition.
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Daily Mail
