Miss United Kingdom has handed back her crown after directors of the Miss United Continents pageant told Zoiey Smale to lose “as much weight as possible” before competing this fall, the beauty queen told the Daily Mail.
“I said to my director, who was really supportive, that I don’t think someone should say that to girls, it’s awful and it’s horrible and it’s wrong,” Smale, who is a U.S. size 6, recounted. “I don’t think to be a good role model you have to be stick thin and I explained my reasoning that way.”
Smale, who is a mother of one, elaborated on her decision in a Facebook post, saying that pageant girls are “more than just a number on a clothing tag.”
“Real queens empower others, are intelligent and help communities come together,” Smale wrote. “I love seeing queens on my news feeds promoting giving through charity work, educating themselves, eating well and enjoying life … It saddens me that even still, there are pageant directors who believe you must be skinny to be beautiful.”
Smale isn’t the only beauty queen to withdraw from a competition over demands to lose weight. Miss Iceland withdrew from an international pageant after she was told she had “too much fat” on her to compete in Las Vegas at the Miss Grand International event.
Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir told a local news outlet that organizers instructed her to abstain from breakfast, eat only salad for lunch, and drink water every night leading up to the finals.
“In my country my body shape is perfect. And that’s what I’m gonna remember. No one will ever tell me anything else,” Jónsdóttir wrote in an open letter that she published to her Instagram account. “I truly hope that the organization opens their eyes because the year is 2016 and if you are gonna hold an international pageant you have to be able to see the international beauty.”
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