17 year-old Chloe Marshall is the first plus-sized finalist vying for the title of Miss England. At a reported 176 pounds and 5′ 10″ tall she’s a US Size 12 and isn’t your typical beauty contestant.

Chloe was on Good Morning America today in a brief segment which Barbara Walters obnoxiously introduced while gnawing on a roll. Chloe says she works out 4 days a week at the gym but that if she wants a chocolate bar she won’t deprive herself. She says Beyonce is her idol, because she’s curvy and proud.

Cloe wants to serve as a role model and says “I’m showing girls curvy is beautiful and this is what I am. Love me or hate me at the end of the day.” As for her size, she admits girls made fun of her in school but claims “I’m having the last laugh.”

Here’s the video from Good Morning America:

And here’s Chloe and her fellow Miss England finalists in a photo shoot on 4/4/08. Notice that the plus-sized contestant is the only one wearing a cover-up.

I admire this girl’s stance, but the snarky part of me thinks she must weigh over 176 pounds since that’s just a barely overweight BMI for her height. Good for Miss England for acknowledging her, although they could just be doing it for the publicity too.

Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Pseudo-magician/professional skeezball Criss Angel, who has been linked to Britney Spears, Cameron Diaz, and Pamela Anderson, is reportedly dating a beauty queen, Miss Nevada Veronica Grabowski. When Veronica didn’t make the finals over the weekend for the Miss USA pageant, Poor widdle Crissy didn’t like it too much, and was spotted throwing a tantrum and threatening a TV critic.

CRISS Angel, the overrated Las Vegas illusionist who once “dated” Britney Spears for publicity, showed off a nasty temper by throwing a tantrum over the weekend when his girlfriend didn’t win the Miss USA contest. Shortly after Angel’s honey, Miss Nevada USA Veronica Grabowski, didn’t make the finals of the Miss USA pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort, Angel - who flipped the NBC cameras the bird - wigged out when he saw Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Norm Clarke. Angel was ticked off that Clarke ran an interview with preliminary judge Sandy Mecca, in which Mecca claimed Angel exhorted her to give Grabowski “high marks.” Mecca said the comments made her uncomfortable and disturbed pageant owner Donald Trump. When Angel ran into Clarke after the show, he screamed, “You’re a [bleeping] idiot!” Angel then screeched at Clarke, who wears a patch over his right eye, “Don’t ever write another word about me or you’ll need an eye patch over your other eye.” “Good one,” Clarke shot back “Never heard that one before.” Angel’s rep told Clarke, “It was an emotional night for everyone.”

[From Page Six]

How does Criss Angel keep on getting TV shows, attractive women and attention? He’s a hack illusionist, and he’s butt ugly and has a lisp. If it weren’t for his poser “rocker” image, he’d be just another basement-dwelling dork who likes card tricks. His ego is completely out of control, and the day when people see through his shtick and forget all about him can’t come fast enough. If it’s true that he tried to bribe pageant judges, then his girlfriend got what she deserved. Hopefully she will dump his slimy ass when she realizes that he is doing anything but helping her career.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Criss Angel is shown with Miss Nevada below hosting an event at LAX nightclub on 4/11/08. He looks like he shaved off that beard over the weekend as the header is from 4/13/08 from a dinner benefit at Tao, thanks to WENN.

Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart
I watched most of the Miss USA Pageant and it looked like it went off without a hitch. Donnie and Marie Osmond hosted, and the show was modern and entertaining enough to add some moderate interest to the outdated beauty pageant fare. Controversial divorcee Heather Mills, fierce Project Runway winner Christian Siriano, and celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves were among the judges. They tried to keep it fresh with backstage footage and off the cuff chats with the judges and contestants, and the music and competition segments were good, but there’s only so much you can do to make a beauty pageant entertaining. There weren’t any technical issues or big slip ups by the contestants.

Judge Christian Siriano added some of his trademark flair to the show. During the unprepared question and answer period, a judge was drawn from a hat to ask each of the top 5 contestants a question. Siriano asked Miss Oklahoma which famous person she’d most like to help to better themselves and she predictably answered “Britney Spears.” Siriano smiled wide, and you know that’s the answer he had in mind as he’s said publicly that he wants to help Britney too. This was one of the less articulate answers by a contestant, which makes it more fun to watch:

“As of right now, I’d like to pick Britney Spears. Because I’d really like to help her with her self confidence and help her believe in herself, and get over whatever she’s going through right now so she can strive on going to the next deal.”

The winner was Miss Texas Crystle Stewart, a 26 year-old African American college graduate and entrepreneur who runs a party planning and motivational speaking company. Her answer during the judges questions was the most well spoken:

Question from Judge #9, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman: “In some countries when you turn 18 you’re required to spend a year in the military. Do you think that should be enforced in our country?”

Miss Texas, Crystle Stewart: “I don’t think it should be enforced. I think you’re talking about the draft in our country. I think it should be a choice. We have people there in Iraq right now fighting for our country and it was their choice and I really appreciate that. It should be a choice.”

Here are clips from the show. There wasn’t a talent competition unfortunately. Only Miss America includes the talent competition.

Swimsuit Competition, Finger 11 plays in the background:

Top 10 contestants are picked from a lineup of women in their swimsuits:

Evening gown competition:

Pre-arranged Q&A with the top five contestants:

Judges questions for the top 5 contestants:

Miss Texas is crowned:

And in the brief instance where Heather Mills had a chat with host Donnie Osmond, she managed to remain calm and surprisingly soft spoken:

Remember Katie Rees? I didn’t think so. To refresh your memory, the former Miss Nevada was one of several beauty pageant girls last year who got caught doing some rather un-ladylike things on camera, including underage drinking, cocaine use and lewd public acts with other female contestants. Rees was dethroned by Donald Trump, and then complained that Trump ‘played favorites’ when he gave Miss Teen USA, Tara Conner, a second chance and a rehab stint when Conner engaged in similar behavior.

Now, Rees is sitting in a jail cell in Las Vegas after allegedly assaulting a police officer.

Metro police have arrested former Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees in connection with assaulting an officer.

Rees was stopped shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday for a traffic violation. During the stop, police discovered she was driving on a suspended license. When they attempted to arrest her, officers said Rees began to elbow and kick at the police.

She is being held in the Clark County Detention Center in connection with speeding, driving on a suspended license, driving an uninsured vehicle and resisting a police officer. Officials have not said if she will face assault charges in connection with attacking the police officers.

[From
Fox 5 Las Vegas]

Remember when Vanessa Williams was dethroned for some old nude photos that turned up in Penthouse magazine? That all seems rather tame now, doesn’t it? I’m not a fan of the pageant circuit as it is, but it does seem like that genre is attracting all the wrong people these days. It used to be that pageants were justified as a way to build self esteem and win money for college. Now it seems to be a forum for attention whores with substance abuse problems and out of control egos. I’m sure this isn’t the last mugshot we will see of a former beauty queen– but it is one of the most entertaining.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Katie Rees is shown on 1/29/07 at Jet Nightclub when she was crowned “Miss Jet Las Vegas.” The other picture is her booking photo.

The 2008 Miss America pageant was held this past Saturday. It marked the first time the organization has dramatically changed the format to appeal to modern viewers: a four-part series leading up to the pageant. “Miss America: Reality Check” aired from January 4th – 25th on TLC and gave viewers a different view of the pageant world. All 52 contestants lived together and had to participate in events and challenges that would supposedly prepare them for the Miss America pageant. The reality show format allowed viewers to vote for their favorite, dubbed “America’s Choice” – who was Miss Utah, Jill Stevens. That must be like the reality show runner up. Stevens placed in the final 16 in the actual pageant. The winner was Miss Michigan, Kirsten Haglund, 19. Haglund will spend her year in power promoting eating disorder awareness, and as part of that has already discussed her battle with anorexia.

Just three years ago, newly crowned Miss America Kirsten Haglund was eating tiny portions of food and became so thin her concerned parents “dragged me to the doctor.” Haglund was diagnosed with anorexia, and the lack of nutrition caused her collar bones to stick out, her heart rate to drop and her relationships to suffer. “I would feel fatigued walking up six stairs,” the 19-year-old Haglund said Sunday, a day after being crowned Miss America 2008. “I was a completely different person. It’s not a pretty sight.”

Haglund plans to spend her yearlong reign, trying to raise awareness of eating disorders, promoting the pagaent [sic] and helping the Children’s Miracle Network while maintaining a healthy lifestyle and exercise. “You have to have curves,” she said proudly. “You can’t look like a stick-thin model.”

[From the Associated Press]

Haglund also went on to proclaim that “I love chocolate. Chocolates are a girl’s best friend.” I’m guessing she’s going to get a lot of free stuff from See’s. Unlike a lot of contestants, Haglund refuses to disclose her weight to “avoid setting standards for youths obsessed with getting lighter.” She has studied ballet and dreamed of dancing professionally, but eventually changed her mind about the dance world, which she felt ignored eating disorder concerns. Each year Miss America chooses a cause to focus on. Haglund also won a $50,000 scholarship. She is a student at the prestigious Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Most of us have an ex or two that we’re not too fond of. Maybe it’s the guy you dated for years before you figured out what a loser he was, or maybe it was that jerk that you just went out with four times… before you figured out what a loser he was. Either way, we’ve all got a few exes that we’re not thrilled about. But generally we manage not to tie them up, bite them, and stick butcher knives in their ears. Don’t get all huffy, I said generally. I know a few of you probably have done the butcher knife thing. Unlike the rest of us, Miss Arizona contestant Kumari Fulbright, 25 or 27 (depending on which news report you read), did do all those things to her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend, whose name news outlets don’t seem to be releasing. We’ll call him Arnold. Fulbright - who is a second year law student at the University of Arizona – teamed up with another ex-boyfriend, his brother, and a third man, to kidnap and torture Arnold.

A law school student and former beauty queen who has posed for a racy calendar while brandishing a weapon has been accused of kidnapping, biting and threatening a former boyfriend with a handgun.

Kumari Fulbright, 25, who is midway through her second year in law school, faces a long prison term if convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery, aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.

In the Dec. 18 indictment, Fulbright is accused of holding and torturing her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend in early December with the help of three other men, including another man she had previously dated.

[From the Huffington Post]

Not only is she a law student and a former Miss Arizona contestant in 200 and 2006, but Fulbright also was a clerk for US District Judge Raner Collins. So we’re pretty sure she knows she’s not supposed to kidnap and torture people. The defendant lured Arnold to her home on December 8th, when she then claimed she had to take a shower. As soon as she disappeared, two men, ex-boyfriend Robert Ergonis, 46, and his brother Michael, 44, barged into the house with weapons and accused Arnold of stealing some of Fulbright’s jewelry. He was tied up and taken to another home where Larry Bruce Hammond, 40, also took part in the torture. After 10 hours, Arnold eventually got one of his hands free and grab Fulbright’s gun. It went off (apparently not injuring anyone) and he managed to escape.

Fulbright and Hammond were arrested and charged this past week, but the Ergonis brothers have fled, and authorities are looking for them in Columbia. Fulbright has a big year coming up – a kidnapping/torture trial AND she in Miss May in the 2008 calendar for Subguns.com, which features women in bathing suits holding guns. Fulbright holds a HK 51 while wearing a shiny black bikini. I bet that will really help her out in prison.

Beauty pageants are a lot scarier than they used to be. Remember that Sandra Bullock movie, “Miss Congeniality?” Whoever would have thought it would be so accurate… and so eerily foreboding. A few months ago Miss New Jersey was blackmailed with some not-very-racy photos that had been on her Facebook page. Now Miss Puerto Rico, Ingrid Marie Rivera, has been poisoned with pepper spray… in a manner of speaking. At first it seemed that one of the other contestants had sprayed it on her gown and makeup. She broke out in a painful rash, and her makeup bag supposedly went missing for a while.

Beating 29 rivals, Rivera took home the crown and the chance to vie in the Miss Universe pageant. Throughout the competition, Rivera was composed while appearing before the cameras and panel of judges. But once off-camera, she was forced to shed her clothes and apply ice bags to her face and body, which twice swelled and broke out in hives, the Associated Press reports.

“We thought at first it was an allergic reaction, or maybe nerves,” said pageant spokesman Harold Rosario. “But the second time, we knew it couldn’t have been a coincidence.” Later, Rivera’s garments and cosmetics tested positive for pepper spray. Rivera’s bag containing her gowns, makeup and credit cards reportedly had also been stolen before the pageant. Saying that she had wavered about remaining in the competition, Rivera, 24, told reporters at a Sunday news conference, “It was a lot of sacrifice, and my tears were genuine,” reports Reuters.

[From People]

Now authorities seem to be pointing the finger at Rivera, since she was able to turn the waterworks off and on at will during Saturday’s competition. That seems like a pretty extreme measure to go to in order to win a pageant, and it could have very easily backfired. Call me naïve, but I’m more likely to believe that she’s just a consummate professional… or at least someone who can pull it together for something she really wants.

Rivera said the same about herself to Vieira and claimed, contrary to reports of police skepticism over the fact that Rivera’s condition only seemed to occur when she was backstage, that her accusations about the pepper spray are genuine.

“It’s not funny,” she said. “It’s real. I had to go through so much … itchy, burning, reddish, swelling … a horrible feeling.” Crime-lab tests on Rivera’s dress and makeup are to begin Wednesday, says NBC News.

[From People]

If nothing else, it seems most beauty pageant contestants are freakishly determined, at least when they get to the national level. It seems unlikely that someone would do that to themselves to get attention… if nothing else, there’s less unattractive ways to get people to feel sorry for you. In a competition focused on appearance, why would someone sabotage the way they look? I generally refuse to watch pageants, but now I’m intrigued. Maybe someone will come down with Chicken Pox at the Miss Universe competition, and then blame that chicken that was lurking around the dressing rooms all day.

Hilary Gushwa at her 2004 wedding, picture via Ventura County Star

Miss Ventura County 2005 has the crown jewels – and doesn’t want to give them back! I love a beauty queen scandal. Try to stay with me as I explain…

Hilary Gushwa married David Patrick Scanlan on October 10th 2004, then competed in the pageant on October 23rd. Being married is strictly against the rules.

In June 2005 an anonymous call alerted pageant officials that Miss Gushwa, who was preparing to compete for Miss California, was married nine months previous. Days later an annulment was requested, and granted in July 2005.

This was too late for Miss Ventura, who was stripped of her crown and prize jewels in October 2005. Unfortunately, the stripping wasn’t literally carried out, and Hilary Gushwa still has the jewels, valued at $2,600. She has paid damages to pageant organisers after a small claims court case, and was to return her prizes.

Organization officials said they did agree to put in writing that they wouldn’t pursue further legal action, but Gushwa backed down on returning the items.

Some in the pageant community wonder why the scholarship organization continues to pursue criminal charges since Gushwa already has paid the small claims court debt.

“The reason we took it to the next level was because the new evidence showed that Hilary had full knowledge of the wedding, and even planned the wedding herself,” Youngern said.

In the court hearing in April, Gushwa told the judge she was taking medication and was too drunk to remember the wedding. But the groom’s family produced wedding pictures they said were evidence to the contrary. The photos show a smiling Gushwa, now 24, getting married at a chapel in Las Vegas.

The groom’s family has said that said Gushwa was not intoxicated at the time of the wedding, nor the rehearsal dinner the night before. The statement in the investigation files also says the Scanlan family wanted to hold off on the marriage but Gushwa insisted.

Ventura County Star

Too drunk and on medication to remember her own wedding - A wedding which she had planned, and since the groom’s family attended, obviously she continued her involvement with the groom after the wedding.

I don’t know why you have to be single with no children to compete (apart from the fact the contests are always titled Miss, but how hard is it to change to Ms?). The annulment means that in law the marriage didn’t take place, so really she’s been kicked out for questionable character rather than just being married. A questionable character proven given she’s still got the jewels.

Pity Donald Trump isn’t going to come to her rescue like he did for Tara Conner.

Black and white pictures from the Moorpark Acorn.