Miss Grand Internatioanl 2024 Rachel Gupta resigns amid body shaming, harassment allegations

India: In a shocking development coming from the world of beauty pageant, Rachel Gupta, Miss Grand International 2024, has officially resigned, becoming the second queen to relinquish the crown, following Anea Garcia’s 2015 resignation, which cited unsafe conditions and sexual harassment allegations.  

According to the information, the Miss Grand International Organization, on Wednesday, announced on Facebook that they terminated her effective immediately. 

However, just 30 minutes later, the contestant took to social media and noted that she herself stepped down because of alleged ‘body shaming and toxic environment’.  

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According to the organisation, they decided to terminate the queen after her failure to carry out her official duties, involvement in external projects without any approval from the organisation as well as denying participating in the scheduled trip to Guatemala. “As a result, her title has been revoked, effective immediately,” added the organisation. 

They added that Miss Rachel Gupta will no longer be allowed to use the title or wear the crown linked with Miss Grand International 2024 and also requested her to return the crown to the MGI Head Office within 30 days from the date of the notice.  

In her place, CJ Opiaza of the Philippines—first runner-up in the competition—has now been officially declared the new Miss Grand International 2024. This marks a historic victory for the Philippines, as Opiaza becomes the first Filipina to hold the MGI crown.

Rachel Gupta reveals reasons behind giving up her crown 

The former Miss Grand International from India who won the crown in October last year also revealed her reasons for giving up her crown. In a 56-minute-long YouTube video, the first Miss Grand International from India turned emotional as she recounted "what I have been going through for the last seven months." 

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Talking about harsh encounters after claiming the crown, Gupta said, “I remember one time, like they sent their representative to me and he just comes up to me and he starts pinching me in different places and he's like, oh, you need to lose weight here. You need to lose weight there.” 

She called this moment ‘embarrassing’ and said that it makes one feel so small and bad and added, “I understanding I have to stay fit for the job. I have to to stay in shape, but it is so difficult, like when you don't have access to anything and you're just locked in a house basically all day long, you know, like, what are you supposed to do?” 

Rachel Gupta further described her reign as marred by constant harassment, mental torture as well as systematic mistreatment. She claimed that after the initial joy of winning, she felt depressed and alone for several months.  

Describing the sad reality of the voting system, the former queen said that countries pay for votes and that MGI accepts these payments. She believes that her victory was because of public support as India could not afford to buy votes. 

With minimal contact from the organization and few public events, Rachel says she was left isolated and forced to smile and pretend everything was fine and she's with "her happy MGI family." Moreover, she never received the promised penthouse and only got her stipend for the first month. Her family had to cover her expenses. $1,000 reportedly went missing from her accommodations, but the blame was pinned on her.