Miss Universe Fiji contestants Nadine Roberts, left, and Manshika Prasad, right. Photo: Miss Universe Fiji
In what was supposed to mark Fiji's grand return to the Miss Universe pageant later this year, the organisers of the Miss Universe Fiji have revealed they crowned the "wrong winner" after a "controversial decision by judges".
On Friday, twenty-four-year-old Manshika Prasad was announced Miss Universe Fiji at a gala event in Pacific Harbour, marking Fiji's return to the global stage after four decades.
However, in a statement on Monday, Miss Universe Fiji said the judges had "incorrectly awarded the wrong winner at the Gala Top Ten finalists" event held at the Pearl Resort.
The "actual winner", they said, was the runner up on the night, Nadine Roberts.
Miss Universe Fiji said the "rushed announcement and error" resulted in Roberts being announced as second-best "twice now".
"It's not the first time this has happened in the beauty pageant world, but could have been easily avoided, if the contracted organiser had followed correct procedures in the event," the statement said the Miss Universe Fiji website said.
"The 8 votes had led to a tie, meaning the licensee holder must then decide on the winner, not the contracted organiser, who wanted a Fiji Indian winner to leverage potential Global Business deals."
"A failure to count the licensee vote, to ensure only the Fiji Indian contestant would win by the judges, against a local Fiji non Indian contestant winning.
"7 judges plus one vote by licensee holder, left the two girls with 4 votes each, an internal review revealed, after concerns were raised by the local licensee representative on the night, sent to ensure transparency in voting calculations."
According to the statement, the contracted organiser failed to count the licensee vote, and failed to then consult in the event of a tie, who has the determining vote to decide who is best to represent Miss Universe Fiji at the finals in Mexico in November.
"Despite concerns raised on the night by the local licensee representative that was in attendance, that the Licensee vote must be counted, and then consulted in the event of a tie, to then decide on the winner, the contracted organiser rushed to announce their favourite candidate as the winner on the night, creating unnecessary confusion and controversy.
However, in another media statement on Monday, Grant Dwyer, who is the contracted organiser of the event, doubled down that Prasad is the "official winner".
Dwyer said Prasad "was judged fairly, amongst the 9 finalists, at the live crowing event on Friday".
"The 7 x official winners voted Manshika Prasad winner of the title. One of the 7 judges was a Lux Property Bali (Miss Universe Fiji licence holder) representative while the other 6 judges were all independent, confirmed and presented on the official website originally."