Teen beauty queen allegedly stripped of crown due to weight gain
Cynthia de la Vega was the runner up in Mexico's Nuestra Belleza beauty pageant last September, earning herself a spot in this year's Miss World pageant in London. (The first-place winner advances to the Miss Universe pageant.) As the big competition grew nearer, 19-year-old de la Vega started to feel the pressure and gained weight. Just six pounds, ABC says. As a result, de la Vega claims she was stripped of her crown. Last week organizers announced that another competitor, Gabriela Palacio, will replace her in the Miss World pageant in November.
Click here to read about another decrowned pageant winner
"I feel healthy enough to represent my country, and I think this is an injustice," Cynthia de la Vega told CNN en Espanol Wednesday. But the head of the Nuestra Belleza Mexico beauty contest insists her weight gain is not the reason she lost her crown. Lupita Jones, Mexico's first Miss Universe winner and the national director of Nuestra Belleza Mexico told reporters "it was a lack of dedication and discipline."
Nuestra Belleza Mexico's official statement says that de la Vega "did not comply with the recommendations and goals agreed upon for her preparation." One of these goals could be maintaining a certain weight, but officials would not elaborate. De la Vega told CNN en Espanol that she was never informed of any weight or appearance requirements, and that the pageant officials did not offer her sufficient aid in training for the competition. "They took away the crown that I earned. That is mine," she told CNN en Espanol.
ABC is reporting that de la Vega elaborated on the situation at a recent press conference. "Organizers of the Nuestra Belleza Mexico contest demanded that I lose a few kilos, but they never provided a nutritionist or any other assistance to ensure the weight loss," de la Vega told reporters. "A proper nutrition plan should be specific for each day of the week and should also be supervised to make the necessary adjustments." She told press that pageant coach Luis Rangel emailed her a diet plan that involved eating "the same food during the whole month."
Without any further comment from pageant officials, it's hard to determine exactly why de la Vega's crown was stripped. For more info you can check the ABC interview and watch footage of de la Vega from Mexico's Nuestra Belleza pageant below:
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