Miss guided: Beauty pageant scandals

Rima Fakih is the first Arab-American to win the Miss USA title, but definitely not the first beauty queen to be embroiled in scandal.

Carrie Prejean

Last year’s contestant Miss California Carrie Prejean had her share of scandal during – and after – her run for the crown.

It all started during the pageant, when judge and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton asked Prejean: "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?"

Prejean answered that she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman. She came second in the pageant to Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton, and claimed that the gay marriage issue cost her the crown. It was later revealed the pageant had paid for her breast implants.

A month later, Prejean joined in a television ad campaign against gay marriage, upsetting homosexual rights advocates, as topless photographs emerged of the former contestant.

Prejean was reportedly skipping official pageant events, leading to her dismissal from her contract. She attempted to sue the organizers, but an erotic personal video of Prejean began to circulate, and she eventually settled out of court.

She made an appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live in November to promote her new book Still Standing. When King asked about what motivated the settlement of her lawsuit, she told the host he was being inappropriate.

After being pressed on the issue, Prejean turned to someone off screen and attempted to remove her microphone.

She was unable to free herself from the audio wires, leaving her without a mic – or an exit. Prejean awkwardly sat at the desk for several minutes before leaving.

Tara Conner

Before Prejean there was Tara Conner, the contestant from Kentucky who won the Miss USA crown in 2006.

Conner became mired in controversy later that year when TMZ reported that her behaviour in New York bars might cost her the crown.

The next day, the New York Daily News reported that Conner had tested positive for cocaine, drank underage, had kissed Miss Teen USA Katie Blair in public, and had snuck men into the Trump Place apartment she shared with Blair.

Miss USA contest co-owner Donald Trump called a press conference, saying that he would give Conner a second chance, and she would not lose her crown.

Conner soon entered rehab, and emerged a month later to confess to cocaine use and alcoholism. She blamed her drug use on abuse she witnessed as a child without elaborating on the nature of the abuse.

She made a number of reality TV appearances including a turn on CMT’s 2008 series Gone Country 3, that pits contestants against each other to write a hit country song.

Katie Rees

The year following the Tara Conner saga, Miss Nevada Katie Rees won the crown before diving headlong into controversy.

Soon after her win, explicit photos emerged of the beauty queen exposing herself, kissing other women and simulating oral sex with men and women at a party in Tampa, Florida several years earlier.

Pageant officials investigated and stripped Rees of her title.

"The pictures were disgusting," Trump said. "These pictures were pretty far out there and that is not representative of Miss USA. We had no choice but to terminate her."

Vanessa Williams

Miss New York Vanessa Williams took the crown in 1984, the first African-American woman to win the Miss USA title.

Pageant officials asked her to resign the title later that year, after nude photos appeared of her in Penthouse magazine. She consulted with her family and lawyers before finally deciding to step down. The resignation was another first for Miss USA.

The copies of Penthouse were snapped up as soon as they hit the stands, and the magazine ordered another print run of 750,000 copies. It was the most successful issue of Penthouse at the time, and earned publisher Bob Guccione $14 million in profit.

The centerfold of the issue was adult film star Traci Lords. It was later revealed that Lords was underage at the time the photos were taken, and the September 1984 issue of Penthouse is now banned as child pornography.

Williams claimed that she never signed a release for the pictures to be published. Debate raged about whether race played a role in the scandal.

Williams was allowed to keep $125,000 she earned in appearance fees as Miss USA, and a $25,000 college scholarship she was awarded.

She bounced back from the scandal to have a major recording and acting career.

Mary Leona Gage

Mary Leona Gage won the Miss USA title in 1957, but it was only one day before she was called before pageant officials to explain allegations against her.

She tearfully admitted the allegations were true – she was 18, not 21. She also admitted she had been married since she was 14 and had two children.

She was stripped of her title and prize money. Gage was sent back to Maryland, the very place (it was later revealed) she had been trying to escape.

She soon divorced her husband, who she said mistreated her, and had five more failed marriages over many years.

Gage moved to Las Vegas and became a showgirl at the Hotel Tropicana. She reportedly overdosed on drugs several times, attempted suicide, and was institutionalized. Gage was also accused of abuse and neglect of her children – five in all – and later lost custody of them.

In the 60s, Gage’s acting offers dried up, and she became a performer at strip clubs around the country.

She now resides in North Hollywood, California, and struggles with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

With files from Canwest News Service