Miss Universe Puerto Rico Comes Out as Scopophobic, Gets the Ax

Photo: Corbis

Those Miss Universe PR people are onto something.

The same pageant that let host Steve Harvey crown the wrong winner in 2015 has now seemingly found another easy way to get press: dethroning the current Miss Puerto Rico, who was slated to compete in the 2016 competition.

At a San Juan restaurant on Thursday, Desiree Lowry, the director of Miss Universe Puerto Rico, announced the organization’s decision to remove Kristhielee Caride from the international running. The reason? Caride, who was crowned just four months ago, suffers from scopophobia — the fear of being looked at.

“I just do not like cameras,” the shy beauty queen admitted during a recent interview with a local newspaper, despite her clear penchant for taking and posting selfies on Instagram. That comment alone was enough to send Lowry over the edge.

“I wanted the earth to swallow me,” Lowry told the AP. “You always have to put your best face forward. […] It’s a given that we are going to be in front of cameras and that we have to answer all types of questions.”

And you’d better believe that wasn’t the only time Caride, 24, let down the Miss Universe universe. According to Lowry, not only did Caride not apologize for the incident (instead, she claimed to be having a “personal problem”), but she later canceled other appearances because of a doctor’s appointment.

“I saw the damage that she was doing and the damage that she was doing to the organization,” said a disgruntled Lowry.

After the announcement, Caride posted a long apology on Facebook (which now seems to have been deleted), writing in Spanish that she would be giving up her title “with dignity.”

“It is human to err,” she wrote. “It is also brave to acknowledge mistakes, and I want to continue being an example of a real woman […] that my experience will serve as a lesson for other girls and the organization of the pageant.”

The same night Caride was axed, Puerto Rico crowned a new Miss Universe hopeful: Brenda Jiménez, who, as of Thursday evening, said she “still [hadn’t] fully processed the information.”

The only question now is, what “scandal” will those PR wizards come up with in time for the actual 2016 pageant? It’s not until December, so at the very least, there’s plenty of time to cook something up that’s real good and juicy. Mmmm.

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