Pageant controversies

The Miss World pageant has been the target of many controversies since its inception.

• In 1970, feminist protesters threw flour bombs during the live event at London's Royal Albert Hall, momentarily scaring the host, Bob Hope.

• In 1973, Marjorie Wallace, the first American to win the title was forced to relinquish the title 104 days into her reign. Pageant officials stated that Ms. Wallace "had failed to fulfill the basic requirements of the job." The responsibilities and duties not the title have been offered to the 1st runner-up and was turned down by Evangeline Pascual of the Philippines.

• The 1974 winner Helen Morgan representing the United Kingdom was forced to resign four days later after it was discovered she was an unmarried mother.

• In 1976, several countries went on a boycott, because the pageant included both a Caucasian and African representative for South Africa. South Africa competed for the last time in 1977, before it was welcomed back in 1991 as that policy disintegrated.

• The 1980 winner Gabriella Brum of Germany resigned one day after winning, initially claiming her boyfriend disapproved. A few days later it emerged that she had been forced to resign after it was discovered that she posed naked for a magazine.

• In 1996, wide-scale protests took place in Bangalore, India over the hosting of the beauty contest. The swimsuit shootings were moved to the Seychelles, and heavy security was placed. Despite the chaos, the pageant's live telecast went on smoothly.

• Just days after her 1998 crowning, Israel's Linor Abargil revealed that she had been raped only two months before the pageant. The man who raped her was later convicted.