The importance, or more importantly, the lack of importance of beauty pageants has been a long-standing debate. Over the course of time, many people have discussed how relevant they are in today’s world and the many problematic sexist and misogynistic issues they still propagate.
The recent controversy with the ongoing Miss World 2025 beauty pageant has just resurfaced those topics. The news of former Miss England Milla Magee quitting the Miss World beauty pageant on 16 May, while it was mid-way, was already concerning; however, it was her comments afterwards that revealed a sinister and troubling problem that not many seem to focus on when it comes to beauty pageants. It is even more concerning to realise how these contestants, women who are clearly going to great lengths to prove themselves, are treated shamefully.
What Did Miss England Say About Miss World?
On 16 May, Milla Magee, who was Miss England 2024, quit the Miss World 2025 contest that is currently being held in Telangana, India. With this decision, she became the first Miss England in the 74 years of the Miss World contest to quit. According to reports, she claims that she and the other contestants felt “exploited” by the organisers and that she was “made to feel like a prostitute.”
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the 24-year-old discussed her experience when she arrived in Hyderabad, Telangana’s capital city, on 7 May for publicity events. Milla said, “The point was to do good, promote change, and make a difference. But it became obvious that just wasn’t going to happen. As far as I could see, it hasn’t changed and is stuck in the past. Morally, I couldn’t be a part of it. All the crowns and sashes in the world mean nothing compared to using your voice and making a difference in the world.”
She further revealed that contestants were told to wear make-up and ball gowns all day, 24/7, even in the morning while having breakfast, and that she felt that her only purpose there was to be ogled.
She also spoke about how, in one instance, she and the other participants were told to entertain the middle-aged male sponsors of the show as a “thank you.” She said, “There were two girls to each table of six guests. We were expected to sit with them for the whole evening and entertain them as a thank you. I found that unbelievable. I remember thinking, ‘This is so wrong.’ I didn’t come here to be farmed out for people’s entertainment. Miss World is supposed to have the same values, but it’s outdated and stuck in the past. They made me feel like a prostitute.”
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Milla added, “At one point I tried to talk about the causes I was supporting, but it was obvious the men at the table were not interested. Instead, there was weird small talk that left me feeling uncomfortable. I went out to make a difference, to help create a different future, perhaps inspire young people. Never in a million years did I expect to find myself in that situation. We were there to please these people and sit like performing monkeys. I couldn’t stand it.”
Milla also revealed that after the event was over, an official apparently scolded them, saying, “I felt exploited at having to talk to these dignitaries at dinners, and one of the contest’s officials clapped in my face after telling me and the other girls we were boring.” She added, “She (the official) clapped her hands right in my face to get my attention and as a signal for people to listen to her.”
As per The Sun’s report, Milla flew back to her home in Newquay, Cornwall, on May 16 and even told her mother about her experience. She also said, “As Miss England, I was told the role would be ‘beauty with a purpose’ and it was. I’ve campaigned for the causes I am passionate about, and I have a voice as any modern woman would expect. But Miss World is simply about the way you look and present yourself. As far as I could see, it hasn’t changed from the 1960s and ’70s.”
She also talked about how she “felt pressure to conform, and it was made clear if I didn’t, then I wasn’t going to win or get far. But after a short while, I just thought, ‘this is ridiculous’ and started going out without any make-up and wearing appropriate clothes that you would actually wear to have breakfast. “I couldn’t take it anymore. Miss World needs to change.”
After Magee’s statements, Miss World organiser Julia Morley responded sharply by releasing videos of her at the hotel, claiming that she enjoyed the experience. Morley also claimed that the organisers treated her with “compassion” when Milla told them she had to leave because of a “family emergency involving her mother’s health,” helping her arrange her return to England. Morley even released videos of her at the hotel and claimed that she enjoyed the experience.
But Magee’s mother, Kat Russell, denied this, saying that “Milla was put in a taxi at 3 am and left to find her own way back. I organised the flights for her and paid the £600 air fare. She got no help at all from Miss World.” It is extremely unfortunate that this is not the first time that beauty pageant contestants have come out to reveal how they had to suffer from sexist or misogynistic experiences. In 2023, six finalists from the Miss Universe Indonesia beauty pageant filed a police complaint against the organisers, accusing them of forcing the women to undress for “body checks” to “examine scars, cellulite, or tattoos,” and topless photos. Attorney Mellisa Anggraini, representing the women, said that a candidate, going by the initial ‘N,’ said that the event agenda did not include “body checks.”
As per CNN Indonesia, Anggraini claimed that ‘N’ and four other women still allowed themselves to be photographed topless, which was “enough to humiliate and degrade her.” Among other complaints, one said she was told to pose in an obscene manner, including opening her legs, while another alleged that male officials were present while these photos were being taken.
Another instance included Marisa Butler, who won the title of Miss World America in 2018. She recounted a humiliating incident with Jacob Arabo, the owner of luxury jeweller Jacob & Co., in October 2019. Jacob & Co. was a sponsor for the 2019 Miss World America pageant. Butler claimed that Jacob, who had a client list boasting names like the Kardashians, Jay-Z, and Kanye West, while dining with her at the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas, took her utensils out of her hand and fed her sushi with his own hands. Butler, speaking with news media Jezebel in 2021, said how “Michael (Michael Blakey the national director) was sitting right next to me and he was laughing along with Jacob,” adding, “He wasn’t sticking up for me or saying how inappropriate this was, even though it was very clear that I was in distress and I was uncomfortable. I remember I just wanted to disappear.”
Butler further stated, “Being Miss World America was horrible, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.” She further revealed how she felt “silenced and belittled” by the organisation and its officials and that she was pushed into a predatory contract for a personal talent management company owned by Blakey, where in one instance he wanted her to pose in a bikini in front of a Ferrari for Hump Day.
Current US President Donald Trump has also long been called out for his extremely creepy and harassing behaviour while he owned the Miss Universe Organisation for almost two decades and must have interacted with almost 4,000 beauty queens. There were allegations that he entered the dressing room of Miss Teen USA, which had various girls, some as young as 15, as they were changing.
Mariah Billado, Miss Teen Vermont 1997, speaking with BuzzFeed, said, “I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s a man in here.’” Former Miss Arizona Tasha Dixon talked with CBS about how Miss Universe Organisation officials told the contestants to pay a lot of attention to Trump.
Dixon said, “To have the owner come waltzing in, when we’re naked, or half-naked, in a very physically vulnerable position and then to have the pressure of the people that worked for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him, get his attention…
It was so disrespectful, like she was addressing children rather than a coach full of adult women. It was a small incident, but it showed what they really thought of us and how little respect we were being treated with.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Sun, Hindustan Times, Moneycontrol
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Miss World, Miss World pageant, Miss england, Miss England miss world, Miss England milla, Miss England milla magee, Miss England 2025, Miss England comments, Miss England news, Miss England the sun, Miss England quits miss world, milla magee, milla magee miss world, miss world 2025
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