Hyderabad: With one week to go for the Miss World 2025 finale, the international beauty pageant has landed in a major controversy. One of the contestants, Miss England Milla Magee quit the competition midway, which she later allegedly said was because she felt “exploited by the pageant organisers” and was made to “feel like a prostitute”.
The Revanth Reddy-led Congress government in Telangana is hosting the 72nd edition of the international event this year, which got off to a sparkling start at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad earlier this month. The finale of the competition is set to take place on May 31.
While Telangana government officials hosting the pageant were alarmed by Magee’s accusations, the organisers of Miss World released a statement Saturday, rebutting the alleged statements made by her published by media outlets in the UK, and calling them “false and defamatory”.
Magee, who arrived in India on 7 May, had reportedly returned to the UK on 16 May, citing personal reasons at the time. However, according to UK-based tabloid The Sun, the 24-year-old reportedly claimed later that she had participated in the contest to “make a difference”, but the contestants “had to sit like performing monkeys”.
Magee said she could no longer have continued to be a part of the contest from a moral standpoint. She further alleged that she decided to speak out after being “paraded” before wealthy male sponsors. The contestants were asked to wear heavy makeup and remain dressed in their ball gowns throughout, in order to charm “wealthy middle-aged” patrons sponsoring the pageant, she claimed.
“There were two girls to each table of six guests. We were expected to sit with them for the whole evening and entertain them as a thank you. I found that unbelievable. I remember thinking, ‘This is so wrong.’ I didn’t come here to be farmed out for people’s entertainment,” she told The Sun.
Magee further said that the Miss World pageant “has become outdated and stuck in the past”.
“They made me feel like a prostitute,” she said, according to the tabloid report, adding that she did try to talk about the causes she was supporting, “but realised that the men were not interested”.
Magee, a surf board instructor and beach life guard, said that her “beauty with a purpose” project is aimed at educating everyone about the life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) process, which has been supported, among others, by Prince William.
‘Unfounded claims’
According to the organisers’ statement, Miss World Organisation chairman and CEO Julia Morley CBE sought to address “recent media reports circulating in the British press concerning Miss England 2025”.
“Earlier this month, Milla Magee requested to leave the competition due to a reported family emergency involving her mother’s health. As a mother and grand-mother herself, Julia Morley responded to Milla’s situation with compassion and immediately arranged her return to England, placing the well-being of the contestant and her family first,” read the press statement released through the Telangana government.
“Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that certain UK media outlets have published false and defamatory statements, allegedly made by Milla Magee, regarding her experience in India. These claims are completely unfounded and inconsistent with the reality of her time with us.”
The organisation also released some video clips recorded during Milla’s stay in India, in which she can be heard expressing “gratitude, joy, and appreciation for the experience”.
“These videos reflect her own words and sentiments, and serve as a direct contradiction to the recent false narratives,” the statement added.
In one of the video clips from a gala dinner hosted by Telangana government at the Chowmahallah Palace in the old city, Magee was seen seated at a table with mostly women.
“Miss World remains committed to truth, dignity, and the values of Beauty With a Purpose,” the organisers further said.
Following Magee’s departure, Charlotte Grant, first runner-up of Miss England, has stepped in to represent the country at the contest. Grant arrived in India Wednesday.
Meanwhile, K.T. Rama Rao, working president of opposition party Bharat Rashtra Samiti, condemned the “misogynistic mentality” on international forums like Miss World.
It takes a lot of guts to stand up and call out misogynistic mentality, especially on international forums like the Miss World
You are a very strong woman, Milla Magee and I am truly sorry you had to go through this in our state of Telangana
Telangana has a rich culture of… pic.twitter.com/c7Gla3x3yI
— KTR (@KTRBRS) May 25, 2025
“You are a very strong woman, Milla Magee and I am truly sorry you had to go through this in our state of Telangana…” he wrote on X Sunday. “Unfortunately, what you had experienced doesn’t represent the real Telangana.”
He added, “Also, I strongly condemn the attitude of victim gaslighting and demand a thorough investigation into the allegations made by Miss England Milla Magee.”
This is the second controversy to hit the pageant currently underway in Telangana. Earlier, local women in Mulugu district washing or helping wipe the feet of Miss World contestants before their entry into the 13th century Ramappa Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, had triggered a massive controversy.
Union Minister and state BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy had shared a video clip on X, saying that “in a shocking display of servility, the Telangana Congress government made local women wash and wipe the feet of Miss World contestants, a humiliating act that reeks of colonial-era mindset.”
In a shocking display of servility, the Telangana Congress government made local women wash and wipe the feet of Miss World contestants, a humiliating act that reeks of colonial-era mindset. Further, this was done within the sanctity of the Ramappa Temple and in an area in close… pic.twitter.com/ha0xRrTCYr
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) May 15, 2025
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Miss Milla Magee thought she would be “making a difference” by participating in the Miss World contest? She must have a pea-sized brain.
It’s bizarre that the state government of Telangana has nothing better to do than host Miss World contest.