Miss Philippines returns crown after mocking new Miss Earth

The host country's beauty queen accused the reigning beauty queen Katherine Espin of not possessing natural beauty.

The Miss Earth 2016 pageant ended on October 29 with the victory of the Ecuadorian beauty, Katherine Espin. However, the aftermath of the pageant still lingers as the new beauty queen has been embroiled in a series of scandals. She was accused of spending the night with the main sponsor of the pageant and recently was publicly defamed by the host country's representative.

In a clip posted online, Imelda Schweighart - the representative of the Philippines at Miss Earth 2016 but did not make it to the top 16 - accused the reigning beauty queen of having fake body parts such as her nose, chin, and breasts. According to her, Katherine Espin is not worthy because Miss Earth should have natural beauty.

The beauty from the Philippines (left) and the new Miss Earth. Photo: CNN Philippines.

Imelda Schweighart's actions were opposed by many netizens, including Miss Universe Philippines 1985, Joyce Ann Burton. She wrote an apology to Miss Ecuador on her personal page: "I am very sorry that our country's beauty representative had such an ugly attitude. I just watched the video and felt very embarrassed. I hope the pageant organizers will clarify this issue and hope you feel comfortable here. Congratulations on your victory."

A netizen named Ralph Irish commented: "Imelda Schweighart is an embarrassment to Philippine beauty. I can't imagine her behaving like that. So disgusting."

According to the latest information updated on the ABS-CBN website, because of these negative statements, Imelda Schweighart had to return the crown of Miss Earth Philippines 2016. She and her mother met with the representative of the organizing committee at around 6pm on October 31 and voluntarily gave up the title.

Miss Philippines returns crown after incident. Photo: Philstar.

Previously, in an interview with CNN Philippines, Schweighart said: "If telling the truth is a crime, I apologize. I did not mean to offend Miss Ecuador. I don't really know much about her, but she was in the same room as me."

Schweighart also confirmed that Espin had admitted to having plastic surgery.

The Philippines beauty representative revealed that the evening gown she was supposed to wear in the final night belonged to Miss Ecuador and she had to borrow the dress from Miss Guam. This hurt her: "They didn't explain anything to me. I had nothing to wear. Why did they do that to me?"

According to Zing