Nadeen Ayoub, the first-ever official Palestinian contestant in the Miss Universe pageant, alleged on Monday that the contest was manipulated after a rival gained what she said was an "impossible" surge in votes.
"I was leading in the voting category on the Miss Universe app for the most beautiful people and it was the only category on the application that didn't close and they didn't award anyone out of all of the other categories, even though the competition was over," Ayoub said in a video reel posted to her official Instagram account on Monday.
"I was leading by far, and we only had maybe 30 minutes until the voting closes," she said. "Within two minutes, another contestant went up over 20,000 votes, which is very impossible to do – unless there's more than one person voting, and it's not really realistic unless it's done internally."
"I just find that this is very injustice [sic]," she said. "Anyway, the voting just closed but I really had to say something. I have to stand up for myself just like I stand up for other people. As a Palestinian woman, I will stand up for what's right," she added.
Ayoub, who made it into the top 30 last week, was eliminated from Miss Universe on Thursday night following the swimsuit round, in which she wore a white one-piece and white tights, the New York Post reported.
Ayoub's inclusion in the top 30 meant she scored higher than 90 other contestants, but not high enough to make the top 12, the report added.
Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch was crowned the 74th Miss Universe at the Pak Kret, Thailand pageant following the final ceremony on Friday.
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