Television November 19, 2025
Miss Universe Scandal: Why 3 Judges Quit Just Days Before the Pageant
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Miss Universe, the premier international beauty pageant, is being rocked by scandal.
Three judges have quit, with one claiming the contest is rigged.
“Extra” spoke with People magazine’s society and culture reporter Zoey Little, who chatted with a recently resigned judge who claims the Top 30 is pre-selected by “a kind of clandestine, impromptu jury.”
She added, “He also told me that one of the people on this alleged impromptu jury… is having an affair with one of the contestants.”
The pageant has denied those allegations.
In a statement to People magazine, the Miss Universe organization said, “The Miss Universe Organization firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created, that no external group has been authorized to evaluate delegates or select finalists, and that all competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MUO protocols.”
“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi also spoke with former Miss Montana USA Dani Walker about the turmoil surrounding Miss Universe.
She said, “It is very damaging to the contestants because whenever controversy surrounds the organization, we tend to see a waning of sponsor support and that might mean a university sponsor pulling out of their support for the organization. It might be a sponsor like an airline pulling out, not helping to provide travel for the year for a title holder. When these things happen, it actually directly affects the contestants.”
A source told “Extra” that some have left the organization because they don’t feel like the women are being protected the way they used to be.
For now, the competition is still set to go on Thursday night.
