Miss USA resigns title on mental health grounds

Reigning Miss USA Noelia Voigt has resigned her title, citing intelligence wellness challenges.

Ms Voigt, who won the yearly contention successful September, said she believed successful making decisions "that consciousness champion for you and your intelligence health".

"Never compromise your carnal and intelligence wellbeing," she wrote connected Instagram. "Our wellness is our wealth."

The Miss USA organisation said it supported her determination and would denote a successor.

The 24-year-old Venezuelan-American, of Utah, said that she hoped to "continue to animate others" arsenic she started "a caller chapter" successful life.

"Prioritise your intelligence health, advocator for yourself and others by utilizing your dependable and ne'er beryllium acrophobic of what the aboriginal holds, adjacent if it feels uncertain," she said.

She expressed her gratitude for her 7 months arsenic Miss USA, which she said gave her a "platform ... to marque a difference" arsenic good arsenic realise a "lifelong dream" and gathering "people each implicit the world."

Miss USA thanked Ms Voigt and said connected Instagram that "the well-being of our titleholders is simply a apical priority".

The organisation said it was reviewing plans for the "transition of responsibilities to a successor".

Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii came 2nd to Ms Voigt successful past year's competition. The New York Times reported Ms Gankiewicz has already been offered the title.

While wellness professionals praised the determination to measurement down, fans person speculated astir her information to renounce her crown small implicit 7 months into the role.

"When intelligence unwellness gets successful the mode of someone's quality to spell astir not conscionable their day-to-day activities, but to really bash their job, it is arsenic life-threatening and arsenic terrible arsenic untreated diabetes [and] uncontrolled precocious humor pressure," Dr Jen Ashton, an American wellness correspondent, told Good Morning America successful absorption to the news.

Ms Voigt's resignation came 3 days aft Miss USA's societal media director, Claudia Michelle, announced her ain resignation from the brand, citing alleged "workplace toxicity and bullying" and saying that titleholders "should beryllium heard and not silenced".

"I person had the privilege of getting to enactment with Noelia intimately and unluckily seen a diminution successful her intelligence wellness since we archetypal met," Ms Michelle wrote successful a statement.

Ms Voigt's "ability to stock her communicative and her level person been diminished", she claimed.

Miss USA told USA Today that Ms Michelle's connection contained "false accusations", and said the organisation was "committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and supportive environment, and we instrumentality these allegations seriously.

"Indeed, we person and volition proceed to prioritize the well-being of each individuals progressive with Miss USA."

But fans connected societal media noticed that the archetypal missive of each condemnation of Ms Voigt's lengthy resignation connection spelled retired "I AM SILENCED" - though the last 3 sentences spelled "HIP". Beneath her resignation connection posted to Instagram, dozens of fans commented connected the evident connection.

The BBC has approached Miss USA for further comment.

Miss USA has antecedently courted contention implicit the attraction of contestants. The twelvemonth earlier Ms Voigt was crowned, the pageant faced allegations of rigging the 2022 contention successful favour of victor B'Roney Gabriel, who had ties to sponsors - including 1 owned by the then-president Crystle Stewart.

Ms Stewart was suspended from her role, though she, Miss USA and Ms Gabriel denied the rigging claims. It was aboriginal revealed that Ms Stewart's husband, Max Sebrechts, a Miss USA vice-president, resigned his relation aft aggregate contestants alleged helium had sexually harassed them successful 2021.