Priyanka Chopra was 'favoured' to become Miss World 2000 as the event had Indian sponsor, alleges former Miss Barbados

Chandigarh, November 4

A YouTuber and former Miss Barbados Leilani McConney has alleged that Miss World 2000, which Priyanka Chopra won was allegedly “rigged”.

Leilani McConney alleged the show was sponsored by ZeeTV and alleged that Priyanka was ‘favoured’.

In a video, Leilani, where she too was a participant, alleged that Priyanka’s gowns were better made and she was even allowed food in her room.

Leilani said that when she read about allegations being made about the Miss USA 2022 pageant and she was reminded of what happened during Miss World 2000.

“I literally went through the same thing at Miss World. I was Miss Barbados, and the year I went, Miss India won. Mind you, Miss India had won the previous year (Yukta Mookhey),” she said in the video, adding, “Apparently she was using some skin tone cream, to even out her skin tone and it was splotchy. It didn’t work, her skin was blotchy so she did not want to remove her sarong. So during the actual judgement, she is actually in a dress.”

She alleged Priyanka Chopra’s large photos came out in newspapers while the other contestants were in group on a beach. She also said that Priyanka was allowed to wear a sarong for the swimsuit round while others were not.

She said that she found Priyanka ‘unlikeable’. “My only problem with Priyanka is that getting to know her in the pageant, she was just unlikeable. And she is Meghan Markle’s best friend so go figure,” she added.

After winning the 2000 Miss World title, Priyanka worked in movies. She is married to US singer Nick Jonas.