American Teen Crowned Miss World Amidst Controversy
The United States is number one again when in the world of beauty pageants after Kentucky teenager Alexandria Mills was crowned the 2010 Miss World this past weekend. But the title has not come without controversy.
The 18-year-old beat out 115 other contestants to win the coveted 2010 Miss World title. Mills is only the third American to win the title in its nearly 60-year history. The perky blonde was over the moon after accepting the crown from Miss World 2009 Kaiane Aldorino. Mills said, “It’s a cliché but this is really a dream come true. I can’t believe it’s happening to me. My time has come. I’m loving it!” Mills is a vegetarian who currently works as a model and hopes to become a schoolteacher one day.
This year’s beauty pageant has been embroiled in controversy after the early front runner, Mariann Birkedal of Norway, was reportedly “cheated out of the title” due to the difficult relations between Norway and the pageant’s host country China. China is apparently still harboring resentment to Norway after they awarded this year’s Nobel Peace prize to imprisoned Chinese author Liu Xiabobo and there is speculation that Chinese officials pressured judges to give Birkedal low scores. Birkedal, a past winner of the Miss Universe title, went into the final stage of the competition the favorite after winning the preliminary Top Model award. In the end she failed to make the top 5.
Meet Miss World Alexandria Mills
Photo: Liu Jin/AFP/Getty Images
