From selling meth to bizarre kidnap plots & illicit affairs – the scandals behind the polish and preen of beauty queens

WHILE beauty contest winners are treated like royalty, their glitzy, glam world can quickly collapse around their tiaras, as happened this week to Karolina Shiino, Miss Japan.

It emerged Ukrainian-born Karolina had been having an affair with a married man and she was forced to step down and relinquish her title.

Miss GB head judge Sally-Ann Fawcett, author of Misdemeanours: Beauty Queen Scandal, tells Georgette Culley of other cases which have seen queens dethroned or in trouble with the law – or both!

Miss Wales 1976, Sian Adey-Jones

DUBBED “the Welsh wildcat”, Sian was arrested in her title-winning year for assaulting a police officer.

The glamour model had to be restrained as she was taken to the cells, yelling, “I’m a wildcat!”, with one copper saying sarcastically: “Look who we’ve got here, Miss Wales!”

Sian was fined when the case reached court but this setback didn’t stop her becoming one of the most popular Page Three girls ever.

Miss USA 2006, Tara Conner

IN 2006, Tara came close to losing her Miss USA title.

She was caught drinking underage, using cocaine and kissing Miss Teen USA Katie Blair at a party.

The then-owner of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants, a certain Donald Trump, announced that she would be allowed to retain her title on condition she went to a drug rehabilitation unit.

Miss Great Britain 2015, Zara Holland

THE British beauty was dethroned after an on-screen romp on ITV2’s Love Island in 2016.

The scandal attracted sympathy from Zara’s fans but fury from the pageant directors.

She later called her actions “the biggest mistake of my life”.

Miss England 2009, Rachel Christie

THE first black Miss England lost her title after an altercation in a nightclub.

Rachel, niece of Olympics sprinting legend Linford Christie, allegedly fought with Miss Manchester, Sara Beverley Jones, during a row over Gladiators star David McIntosh.

In 2015 Rachel appeared on Love Island, leaving in week two.

Miss Bermuda 1982, Heather Ross

IT was a shameful fall from grace for Heather, 22, who was arrested just one week after the Miss World pageant for trying to smuggle more than £250,000 worth of cocaine into London from Amsterdam.

The once Miss Bermuda was sentenced to three years in jail.

Miss Nevada 2007, Katie Rees

MISS Nevada 2007 was stripped of her title when naughty photos emerged two months after winning.

The images showed her simulating sex acts. But worse was to come, when Katie was arrested for the possession and sale of methamphetamine in 2015 and given a suspended jail sentence.

Miss America 1983, Vanessa Williams

AFTER becoming the first black Miss America, she had to abdicate when Penthouse magazine announced plans to publish nude photos of her.

Vanessa went on to become an actor and singer, having a worldwide hit with Save The Best For Last.

The Miss America pageant belatedly apologised to her – in 2015 – for forcing the resignation.

Miss Kentucky 2014, Ramsey Carpenter-Bearse

A PRISON sentence awaited Miss Kentucky 2014 when she went on trial for sexting a minor.

Ramsey Carpenter-Bearse was a 28-year-old teacher when she sent topless photos to one of her 15-year-old former students.

She was sent to jail for two years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Miss World 1980, Gabriella Brum

GABRIELLA became the shortest-serving Miss World in history in 1980.

The 18-year-old’s relationship with 52-year-old porn film producer Benno Bellenbaum came under immediate scrutiny, as did the revelations of nude photos.

The German-British pageant queen quit just 18 hours into her reign.

A year later, the controversial couple went on to marry but when they split shortly afterwards, Benno committed suicide.

Miss World 1974, Helen Morgan

THE Welsh beauty quit as Miss World 1974 after only three days.

Helen revealed, after winning the Miss United Kingdom title, that she was an unmarried single mum to baby Richard.

It was against pageant rules but organisers allowed her to carry on and to compete in Miss World.

The frenzied press attention that followed her victory became too much for her and, when it was reported that she was to be cited in a divorce case, she stepped down.

Miss Wyoming 1973, Joyce McKinney

THE bizarre story of Joyce McKinney became a worldwide sensation in 1977 when the “Manacled Mormon” case hit the tabloids.

She was accused of kidnapping a Mormon missionary, Kirk Anderson, chaining him to a bed and sexually assaulting him.

When the law finally caught up with the blonde beauty queen, she told police that she loved Anderson so much that “I would ski naked down Mount Everest with a carnation up my nose”.

The story was made into a 2010 movie, Tabloid.