Things took a dramatic turn for Pushpika De Silva, the winner of the Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant, after the former titleholder and Mrs. World 2020, Caroline Jurie, snatched the crown off her head.
According to CNN, Jurie falsely claimed De Silva was a divorcee and therefore ineligible to take part in the pageant.
“I have a small request,” Jurie said according to CNN. “As for the Mrs. World Inc., there’s a rule that you’ll have to be married, and not divorced. So, I’m taking my first step saying that the crown goes to the first runner-up.”
Jurie then proceeded to forcefully remove the crown off De Silva’s head and placed it on the first runner-up, CNN reports.
Organizers later declared De Silva the official winner of the pageant, saying in a statement that contestants who were “legally married” were eligible to compete.
In a statement posted on her Facebook page, De Silva said that she was currently separated from her husband “for personal reasons,” but they were not divorced, and if she had been ineligible, she would have been removed from the competition.
According to a news release, Mrs. World Inc. organizers said that they are reviewing the incident.
“Let it be known, Mrs. World Inc. does not sit in moral judgment,” the statement said. “If the delegate sent by Mrs. Sri Lanka-World to compete in the international competition is legally married she will be accepted.”