Miss Australia Reveals "Sabotage" During Miss U

For most Miss Universe contestants, being in the spotlight doesn't end on the pageant's coronation night. For the winners, their victory is followed by warm welcomes in their home countries and a lot of different activities honoring their victory. For the non-winners, they revert to doing what they did before the pageant like being active on their careers and advocacies. But for winners and non-winners alike, the lure of the entertainment business is hard to resist. Such is the case for most Filipina beauty queens who are welcomed to the entertainment business just as soon as the pageant they competed in was over - and apparently, so as for other beauty titlists in other countries. Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell, who placed second runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant last month, has recently embraced a new stint as an entertainment reporter in her home country. But this isn't the freshest news about the Australian beauty queen. On one of her interviews on NovaFM, Campbell claims that someone from her 82 rivals for the Miss U crown tried to ''sabotage'' her during the pageant by tampering with the national dress she wore for the competition. ''There was a bit of sabotage backstage,'' she told NovaFM. You know my national costume? When I went to put it on, I found about six pins all in the back of it and they scratched all the back of my back...and yeah someone had been in there.'' But being as graceful as any beauty queen should be, Campbell didn't point any fingers regarding the sabotage drama. ''I don't know who it was because all of our stuff was backstage together so it could have been anyone.'' The idea of sabotaging fellow contestants in pageants is not new. It is rather quite popular especially in big events like the Miss Universe pageant, where the competition is fierce. In 2007, Ingrid Marie Rivera, who was Puerto Rico's representative to the Miss Universe pageant that year, claimed that someone doused her make-up and clothes with pepper spray. It was followed by an investigation that was, however, dismissed because of lack of evidence. In 2008, during the Miss South Florida Fair Pageant, someone smeared lipstick to Jessica Wittenbrink's gown. She, like Miss Puerto Rico, also got the crown. But little things like these are not enough to stop these beauty queens to reach their goals. As Miss Puerto Rico told Reuters in 2007, ''It was a lot of sacrifice, and my tears were genuine...at one point, I asked, 'Am I a masochist?' But I said regardless of the results, this is my goal. The more rocks there are in my path, the more thanks I will give to God for sustaining me.''

...while Miss Australia just laughed it off. ''The sabotage was a bit harsh, but you have to laugh at these things and not take it too seriously and it did give me a story to tell when I got home,'' Campbell said about the sabotage during an appearance as entertainment reporter for Australia's Channel 7's The Morning Show. Sources: News NovaFM

-Manila Bulletin