Riots not our fault, say Miss World chiefs

MISS World officials yesterday vigorously denied the beauty pageant had caused last week’s violent riots in Nigeria that left over 200 people dead.

The pageant’s Irish spokeswoman, Helen Quinn, said the riots were the fault of a “big mouth journalist”.

“It’s important to say that the Miss World Pageant went out there at the invitation of the Nigerian Government and everything was fine. It was all because of that big mouth journalist who should have known better,” she said.

Trouble flared in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna last Wednesday before spreading to the capital, Abuja, the country’s capital after a newspaper article offended local Muslims.

The article claimed that had the prophet Muhammad been alive, he would have wanted to marry one of the Miss World beauty queens.

“I think it’s really sad for Nigeria that it won’t go ahead there because the whole idea was for it to be a showpiece for Nigeria,” Ms Quinn said, adding that the show will still be Nigerian because all the footage has been recorded there.

Ms Quinn said Miss Ireland, Lynda Duffy, 22, was in good form and glad to be closer to home.

“She’s terrific. She’s delighted,” she said, adding that many of the contestants had been through a pretty tough time.

The contests chief spokeswoman, Julia Morley, said the pageant had been used as a political football and also blamed the Nigerian journalist for inflaming the situation.

At a chaotic press conference held in the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, Mrs Morley said: “It was not a mistake to hold it in Nigeria. What was a mistake was a journalist making a remark he shouldn’t have made.

“I am sad about the riots. But does that mean you can’t go anywhere in the world just because there might be a riot?” she said.

Miss Northern Ireland, 22-year-old Gayle Williamson, from Lurgan, who is working as a full-time model, said: “We’re all very upset that such a tragedy happened but we don’t feel it’s Miss World’s fault.

“It’s all just very uncomfortable,” she said.

Miss England, 22-year-old student, Daniella Luan, said: “It’s a lovely country and it’s a shame because I’m sure it would have been a great contest had this awful situation not happened.”

Organisers are still searching for a London venue for the event, which is contracted to go ahead as planned on December 7.

Wembley Arena and Alexandra Palace have been mooted as possible venues.