Miss Grand International winner Rachel Gupta exposes beauty pageant scandal: Harassment, corruption and body shaming claims

In a deeply emotional 56-minute video posted to her official YouTube channel, Rachel Gupta—India’s first Miss Grand International and the 2024 titleholder—broke her silence on why she relinquished her crown and levelled a series of grim accusations at the beauty pageant organisers.

Speaking candidly to fans, Gupta detailed a harrowing seven-month reign plagued by neglect, alleged mistreatment, and a lack of support from the Miss Grand International (MGI) organisation. MGI is yet to respond to these allegations, but claimed that they stripped her of the crown because she failed to do her pageant duties in Guatemala.

Here are the top revelations from her video. At the time of writing, MGI were yet to put out a statement or comment on her remarks.

1. A Toxic Reign: “These have been the worst few months of my life”

Gupta revealed that since winning the crown in November 2024, her experience had been anything but glamorous. She claimed her reign quickly became a nightmare, filled with loneliness, neglect, and emotional hardship. "I’ve been at rock bottom," she said.

2. Allegations of harassment and systemic mistreatment

She alleged the organisation subjected her to “constant harassment, mental torture, and mistreatment.” She was body-shamed, including incidents where representatives physically pinched her to highlight areas she “needed to lose weight.”

3. Poor living conditions and no basic support

Despite her title, Gupta said she was forced to live in a dilapidated house far from the city in Thailand, with no transport, no phone, and not even pots and pans to cook. “I am vegetarian and my plea to stock the fridge with fruits were ignored ... They couldn’t even get me fruits,” she said. At times, food deliveries took hours since my accommodation was far away —or never arrived.

4. Financial neglect: “I was only paid for November”

Rachel said the only financial support she received from the organisation was a stipend for the month of November. After that, she received nothing. “My parents had to send me money,” she admitted. She also claimed $1,000 went missing from her suitcase while she was on a work trip, and the organisation refused to take responsibility.

5. Allegations of vote-buying

Gupta accused countries of paying for votes “in the form of donations,” and said she couldn’t afford to compete financially. “The only reason I won was because of public support,” she said.

6. No advocacy, just sales

Rachel criticised the MGI organisation’s focus on monetisation over meaningful work. She claimed she was pushed to do TikTok Lives to sell products like chili sauce—despite her desire to use her platform to advocate for social causes.

"There was no real advocacy,” she said, adding that MGI president Nawat Itsaragrisil dismissed advocacy work as “useless.”

7. A one-sided contract and intimidation tactics

Rachel said the contract she signed felt like “a gun to the head.” Attempts to have a lawyer review it were rejected. When she raised concerns, she claimed the organisation threatened to strip her of her crown. “They use the threat of dethronement as blackmail,” she said.

8. A culture of exploitation

She described MGI officials as “cold-hearted businesspeople” who “only care about looks and money.” According to Gupta, queens are treated as expendable once their usefulness runs out.

9. False appearances

While smiling for red carpet events, Rachel said she often felt invisible and ignored by the organisation. “They don’t know if I’m alive or dead until we meet at the red carpet for a photo,” she said. “It’s all a false narrative.”

10. Her final message: “Don’t compete unless you know the truth”

Rachel ended her video with a warning: “If you’re thinking of supporting or joining this pageant, please go in fully aware. Even if you win, you’ll be on your own.”

Following her resignation, the Miss Grand International Organisation released a statement confirming the termination of her title.

Despite it all, Rachel remains hopeful. “I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything,” she said. “I feel like I’ve gained everything. I have my life back—and I can finally breathe.”