Was Miss Australia misquoted?

By Gerry Plaza – September 11th, 2010

 

Showbiz Eye by Gerry Plaza


A maelstrom of controversy emerged the past week after reports that Miss Universe Australia Jesinta Campbell had accused her opponents in the beauty pageant of sabotage.
These reports said she suspected a number of contestants, including Bb. Pilipinas Universe Maria Venus Raj, of sabotaging her national costume that she said proved to her that she faced a hideous, cruel and “bitchy” backstage in an otherwise squeaky clean, image sensitive international pageant, which was held on August 23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
However, as we look closely at the source of these reports, especially a specific quote attributed to her that was published in the Herald Sun wherein she allegedly suspected contestants from Mexico, Central and South America, and the Philippines as the culprit, she obviously singled them out in the context of their competitiveness in general.
“Winning is so important for those girls because they become queens in their country and are worshipped if they win – and it changes everything forever for them,” she said in the interview. This quote, it seemed, had been taken out of context in the subsequent reports that circulated.
Campbell even quickly clarified that she can’t pinpoint anyone.
“But there were 82 other girls there and I can’t narrow it down, so it’s a mystery to me,” she added.
However, the intriguing part of the interview was that she mentioned those contestants who would not have done it.
“But I know who didn’t do it – my best friends were the girls from Ireland, Belgium, Great Britain and Guam and I know they wouldn’t have done that to me.”
In a separate interview with the Adelaide-based radio station Nova 91.9 FM, she said: “I don’t know who it was because all of that stuff was backstage. So it could have been anyone.”

According to Campbell, she discovered pins at delicate parts of her much derided national costume, which consisted of an aboriginal-inspired one piece bikini top, flamenco dress, and high-heeled ugg boots, when she wore it during the pageant. Six pins were placed at the back of the costume which caused her sharp pains but didn’t lead to any injury. She said she did not have time to remove them because she had to get to the pageant stage.
“I put it on just before I was due to go out on parade but I felt these sharp pains when something stuck into my back,” she further told the Herald Sun.
“I took the top off and found all these pins had been stuck into it…I didn’t have any injuries or marks, but I didn’t have much time to take them out and get it back on because I had to be out there.”
But looking back, Campbell, who was adjudged Miss Congeniality in the competition, just shrugged it off. She won second runner up in the pageant.
“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.”
In her interview with Nova 91.9 FM, a DJ suspected a different scenario. Asked if it was a designer who did it, Campbell said, “Probably.”


Photos by Getty Images and AP.
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Aside from this blog, Gerry Plaza writes entertainment features for the Sunday Inquirer Magazine and contributes to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Gerry is a former entertainment section editor of INQ7.net, showbiz channel editor of INQUIRER.net, and associate editor of Philippine Entertainment Portal.

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