Beauty Queen Stripped of Crown: Canada Realizes Embarrassing Voting Mistake 24 Hours Too Late (PHOTO, VIDEO)
A beauty queen has been stripped of her crown just a day after winning Miss Universe Canada. Denise Garrido was awarded the Miss Canada title at the event, but just a day later was informed that organizers were taking her crown back as judges had made a mistake in their counts.
The hugely embarrassing mistake meant that Garrido was stripped of her crown and awarded just third runner up, as Riza Santos, from Calgary, Alberta was suddenly bumped up to take the Miss Canada crown to represent the nation at the Miss Universe pageant.
Garrido is a biomedical sciences graduate who also impressively holds a black belt in TaeKwon-Do and a grade 8 in piano, was left disappointed and devastated after officials informed her of the switch.
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Pageant director Denis Davila has said: "During the validation of the computerized scoring results (which occurs the following day), a typo was discovered in the top five entries, which significantly impacted the final results of the competition," according to the Toronto Sun.
The statement added, 'This is the first instance of this type of error in the 11 years that Beauties of Canada (BOC) has produced the Miss Universe Canada pageant.
"This is an unfortunate circumstance where a human error was made, and in such a situation, as difficult as it is, it is only right to correct the error."
The eventual winner, Riza Santos, had already flown back to Alberta when the mistake was revealed, but the crown has now been forwarded to her.
Santos, 26, studied engineering and previously served in the armed forces with the Canadian Forces Army Reserve with 15 Field Ambulance.
Prior to the Miss Canada competition she stated for the competition website: "Becoming the next Miss Universe Canada means much more than merely winning a crown. It would give me the opportunity to serve my country and empower women to achieve their dreams. Not everyone aspires to be a beauty queen, but everyone deserves to achieve their dream."
She added, "As a woman who believes in a beautiful mind and spirit, I hope to encourage more young women to become the movers and shakers in any field of their choosing."
