MANILA, Philippines — Miss Philippines Samantha Ashley Lo has failed to make it to the top 20 finalists of the 2019 Miss Grand International pageant on early morning of October 26 in Poliedro de Caracas, Venezuela.
Fans of the 26-year-old beauty from Cebu City were upset when her name was not called as among the finalists despite being among the top 10 most popular in votes and the front-runner in Best in National Costume and Best in Swimsuit polls.
Some fans speculate that Samantha was unable to make the cut for her failure to attend pre-pageant activities since she was detained in Paris for 12 to 13 days due to her passport, which was found to be “tampered,” “altered” and arranged through a “fixer,” Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. said in a statement.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs also said in a separate statement that “Ms. Lo has no record in the DFA passport database.”
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Miss Ecuador, who was named as among the finalists, was hailed Best in National Costume.
“Miss Grand Latina,” many fans commented on the pageant’s Facebook live video, referring to the most candidates from Latin countries who entered the finals.
The pageant was held first ever in the Latin country Venezuela, known for its obsession for pageants. It has also been announced that Venezuela will host the pageant again next year. Miss Venezuela won the title this year.
“Miss Grand Cooking Show,” many fans described Miss Grand International, echoing the Instagram post of pageant owner Nawat Itsaragrisil and Miss Grand International 2018 Clara Sosa last year.
“Mabuhay !!! Real cooking show lol,” the pageant’s Instagram post read, causing outrage among Filipino pageant fans who interpreted it as throwing shade to Miss Philippines Catriona Gray’s Miss Universe 2018 win in Thailand, Miss Grand International’s home base.
Filipino fans got angry again when Nawat said that Philippines’ representative last year, Eva Patalinjug, did not win because other candidates were better than her. He also said in a now viral video that the Philippines will win in the pageant this year.
It can also be recalled that one of this year’s Miss Grand International finalists, Miss Thailand Coco Arayha Suparurk, posted a photo of Catriona next to Miss Grand International 2018 Clara Sosa in her Instagram story. She put a text on the photo of Clara as “fit” while “fat” on Catriona.
Coco then broke down in a press conference as she filed cyberbullying charges against three Internet users.
Despite being criticized for body-shaming Catriona, Coco refused to apologize and said on the talk show “Orange Mama”: “If Cat will message me directly, I will apologize."
Coco eventually wins as Miss Grand International 2018 2nd runner-up. Miss Venezuela bags the crown.