Miss England quits Miss World contest after being 'harassed, exploited'
Entertainment
Miss England quits Miss World contest after being 'harassed, exploited'
(Web Desk) - Milla Magee, the reigning Miss England 2024, became the first contestant in the pageant's 74-year history to walk out of the Miss World competition, held in Hyderabad, India.
Magee left the competition on May 16, claiming she felt harassed after being asked to sit with middle-aged male guests and being disrespected by pageant officials.
The news was originally published in The Sun, a UK newspaper, in which it was added that the Telangana government has conducted an initial inquest, have recorded the views of other candidates and is likely to submit a report that the allegations made by Magee were inaccurate.
Magee told The Sun that the situation became intolerable when she and other contestants were told to "entertain" sponsors who had financially contributed to the event.
“There were two girls at each table of six guests. We were expected to sit with them for the whole evening and entertain them as a thank you,” she had said. “I remember thinking, ‘This is so wrong’. They made me feel like a prostitute.”
The inquiry conducted by a senior IAS officer in Telangana however claimed that Magee was seated with Miss Wales on a table, along with an IAS officer, his wife, daughter-in-law and a woman friend. Miss Wales reportedly has not raised any complaints and said that the seating arrangement was not awkward.
Magee also described being publicly scolded by a pageant official after an event. In her interview with The Sun, she said, “She [the official] clapped her hands right in my face to get my attention. It was so disrespectful, like she was addressing children rather than a coach full of adult women.” Magee had later phoned her mother in tears, saying she and other contestants felt being exploited.
