Miss USA to keep her crown after rehab promise

Miss USA Tara Conner, who had come under criticism amid rumours she had been frequenting bars while underage, will be allowed to keep her title, real estate mogul Donald Trump announced today.

“I’ve always been a believer in second chances,” Trump, who owns the Miss Universe Organisation with the NBC television network, said with Miss Conner at his side.

Trump said he and Miss Conner had met earlier today.

“She left a small town in Kentucky and she was telling me that she got caught up in the whirlwind of New York,” Trump said.

“It’s a story that has happened many times before to many women and many men who came to the Big Apple. They wanted their slice of the Big Apple and they found out it wasn’t so easy.”

Miss Conner won the title in April and has since been living in New York.

Recent media accounts of heavy drinking brought a storm of criticism, since she was underage at the time.

She turned 21, the legal drinking age in New York state, yesterday.

In a tear-choked voice, Conner said: “In no way did I think it would be possible for a second chance to be given to me.”

Turning to Trump, she said: “You’ll never know what this means to me, and I swear I will not let you down.”

Trump said Miss Conner would be entering rehab.