ECONOMYNEXT – The reigning Mrs. World, Caroline Jurie, had strongly defended her action in yanking the crown off the latest Mrs. Sri Lanka in what the organisers said was “totally unacceptable and despicable behaviour.”
In a seven-minute video statement, Jurie dramatically removes her crown saying she is ready to give it up, but stops short of actually relinquishing the title.
According to the local franchise holder of the Mrs. World competition, Chandimal Jayasinghe, Mrs. Jurie could be stripped of the title.
Jurie has a court date on April 19 when she has to defend herself against allegations of assault and damaging public property at the Neluk Pokuna performing arts theatre where the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant was held on April 4.
“If my actions hurt the feelings of any past or current winners of international or national crowns, I do feel what you are feeling right now,” she said without apologising for forcibly removing the crown of Mrs. Sri Lanka Pushpika de Silva.
De Silva has said she is separated but not divorced.
Rules are not set for contestants to find loopholes and win at any cost, she said. She said she stepped down from the panel of judges the day before after her objections were ignored.
A mentor of the Mrs. Sri Lanka pageant, Mrs. Rosie Senanayake, who is also the first winner of the Mrs. World competition in the mid-1980s, said Jurie’s behaviour was totally unacceptable and unbecoming of a person with the title of Mrs. World.
Jayasinghe said the the California-based Mrs. World organisation was having an independent inquiry against Jurie who was also accompanied on stage by Chula Padmendra, a woman who calls herself a super model.
Both were arrested by the Cinnamon Gardens police on Thursday and released on bail with a warning to appear in court on April 19.
Senanayake said she was also appalled during the preliminary stages of the competition when Jurie insisted that only those who were fluent in English should be chosen to compete.
She said 15 out of the 20 finalists spoke only Sinhala. Senanayake said she insisted that language should not be an issue although Jurie wanted English made compulsory. Ironically, Jurie’s video message in English and subtitled in Sinhala was peppered with mistakes and she stuttered to read what appeared to be a prepared text.
Access her video here: https://youtu.be/SFK1lPiYiUE (COLOMBO, April 10, 2021)