Pageant insiders claim this is the reason why Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip may shun SA’s Bryoni Govender.
Images via Facebook:
@annejkn/ @misssouthafricaofficial
‘No chance of winning’: Why Miss Universe CEO could discriminate against Bryoni
According to pageant insiders, who big obstacle is stopping Bryoni Govender from not placing at the Miss Universe pageant this weekend.
Pageant insiders claim this is the reason why Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip may shun SA’s Bryoni Govender.
Images via Facebook:
@annejkn/ @misssouthafricaofficial
While South Africans are pinning their hopes on Bryoni Govender to win the Miss Universe pageant on Sunday, 19 November, a few insiders claim that it’s unlikely the beauty will place at all.
And this is likely due to CEO Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip’s disapproval of non-title winners competing at the pageant.
Bryoni – a Miss SA runner-up – was selected to represent the country after Natasha Joubert was ruled out after competing in 2020, where she did not place in the Top 20.
According to the rules, no woman may compete in the pageant more than once.
ALSO READ: Bring it home, Bryoni! SA beauty to join these Miss Universe winners from Mzansi?
BRYONI IS A FAN FAVOURITE – OTHERS ARE DOUBTFUL
In the latest pageant predictions, Bryoni was named a Top 10 favourite. One pageant fan page, Pageanthology 101, named her their first-place pick.
But while many South Africans were happy to see their queen make the cut, others weren’t so sure she would place at all.
@angel_liosa: “South Africa has no place of winning (even if she deserves it). She did not win her national competition. If she does win, we will know that Anne does not keep her word.”
@masiongregoria: “I’m afraid that she will end up unplaced because she is the first runner-up in her country. 2020 all over again”.
Another pageant expert, Dani Walker, a former pageant queen, claimed that Bryoni’s non-title would overshadow her at Miss Universe.
She said in a video posted on YouTube: “Beauty is not enough. I just don’t feel like she [Bryoni] has come across with a really strong brand. She’s kind of hidden in the shadows. We’re not hearing as much from her. Unfortunately, because of how the competition worked out
“I feel like that when that happens when you don’t get your big crowning moment in your country. You just don’t get as much press. I feel like that is what happened to her.”
WHAT MISS UNIVERSE CEO HAD TO SAY
Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip has previously expressed her preference for national title holders to represent their countries rather than runners-up.
In a video posted on the pageant platform Missology, she said: “The winner goes to Miss Universe. The first runner-up, you go to this. The second runner-up, you go to that. I respect the work in the past 20 to 30 years. I admire what you have done, but this is the principle of the company and the organization”.
JUST A PREFERENCE?
Speaking to The South African, pageant expert Rina Hendriks claimed the Thai businesswoman’s preference is NOT a pageant rule.
She said: “The new owner’s preference to have National Titleholders (Winners and not Runner-Ups) ONLY at Miss Universe is just that, a preference. It is not a set-in-stone RULE yet.
“But most countries are encouraged to comply with this and other “preferences” that the new Miss Universe owner has if they wish to remain in her good graces – in theory, at least.”
Hendriks added that Bryoni’s “chances are just as good as anyone else’s.”
She added: “Bryoni’s circumstances are special.”
