Actress and former ‘PBB’ housemate Franki Russell/ARMIN P. ADINA
Former “Pinoy Big Brother” housemate Franki Russell’s dreams of taking part in the Miss Universe pageant have once again faced a roadblock after the franchise holder in New Zealand failed to comply with a “specific order” from the Miss Universe Organization.
The actress-beauty queen was supposed to represent New Zealand in the global competition’s 73rd edition later this year in Mexico in a bid to succeed Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
An image showing a supposed statement from the country’s Miss Universe franchise holder circulated online on Wednesday, July 31, saying, “[as] a result of our team’s non compliance with a specific order from the Miss Universe Organization, we have decided to cancel the franchise held by Yugen PR for Miss Universe New Zealand for 2024.”
Yugen PR statement on Miss Universe New Zealand/YUGEN GROUP
A representative from the House of Yugen later on confirmed the veracity of the document to INQUIRER.net.
Public relations practitioner and publisher Josh Yugen of Yugen PR holds the Miss Universe franchises for Bahrain, Egypt, and Pakistan. In March, he flew to Manila to introduce Russell as the Miss Universe New Zealand titleholder who will compete in the 2024 Miss Universe pageant.
Observations from pageant followers online point to Russell’s risqué movie scenes as the supposed reason for her current predicament. The Filipino-Kiwi actress and model has not released an official statement regarding the recent development, but she has already removed “Miss Universe New Zealand” from her social media profile.
Before her appointment as Miss Universe New Zealand earlier this year, Russel screened for the Miss Universe United Arab Emirates (UAE) pageant. But what would be the emirates’ first-ever competition for a Miss Universe representative did not push through.
Russell also shared that she had screened for the Miss New Zealand pageant 10 years ago at the age of 19, but she did not make it as an official candidate. The nation has produced only one Miss Universe titleholder so far, Lorraine Downes who won in 1983.
The Miss Universe Organization had earlier hinted that it is expecting more than 100 delegates for this year’s competition, the biggest haul ever for the international pageant. The Philippines will be represented by model Chelsea Manalo, who will try to become the fifth Filipino woman to win the title.