Miss Iceland has hit back after being told she’s ‘too fat’ to take part in a beauty pageant.
Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir, from Reykjavik, Iceland, was told she should ‘stop eating’ by Miss Grand International founder and Thai TV presenter, Nawat Itsaragrisil.
A message sent from the pageant founder told the 20-year-old former gymnast to ‘stop eating breakfast’ and ‘eat just salad for lunch and drink water every evening until the contest’. It added: “[Itsaragrisil] is telling you this because he likes you and wants you to do well in this contest.”
Worryingly, here’s what all the fuss is about:
Understandly, Arna Ýr was shocked by the message.
She told The Iceland Monitor:
If the owner of the contest really wants me to lose weight and doesn’t like me the way I am, then he doesn’t deserve to have me in the Top 10.
Yes, my shoulders are a bit broader than the other girls’ but that is because I was a member of the Icelandic national athletics team and I am proud of that.
Of course, I don’t take these comments to heart, but to do my best then hear this… Personally, I think I’m fine as I am.
The Miss Grand International contest is one of the world’s five major international beauty pageants, The Sun reports. It aims to ‘promote happiness’ and, interestingly, to ‘take a stand and say ‘Stop the War and Violence’. I’m not sure how bikini-clad women on a stage say ‘stop the war’, but I’m sure they have some valid points.
Since its founder’s message, however, Arna Ýr has decided to quit the competition, saying: “I no longer have any interest in doing my best in this competition after receiving that message.”
She added: “This is definitely the last contest I shall be taking part in.”
We’re rooting for you, Arna Ýr.
