Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Miss Universe 2023 competition concluded on January 15 in the United States, but it provided one candidate with some negative experiences in addition to healthy competition.
Miss Russia, Anna Linnikova, claims she was "avoided" and "shunned" by competitors in the Miss Universe pageant and that the competition was biased in favour of the US and Ukrainian candidates, reports NDTV.
Miss Russia stated in an interview with Evening Moscow that she received "negative comments from the acquaintances at the event."
"It was very difficult. From the very beginning, I faced a continuous stream of insults and threats from Ukrainian social media users. Especially unpleasant were the negative comments from longtime acquaintances from Ukraine," she told the publication.
She claimed that some contestants shunned her simply because of her nationality.
"Many others avoided me and shunned me simply after learning about my origins. And the girls from Ukraine and Switzerland generally ran from me like fire," she added.
When asked which girl had the biggest impact on her, she cited Miss Venezuela because of her warmth.
Linnikova said: "It is difficult to single out one person, but let it be a girl from Venezuela - she was especially kind and sensitive to others. Perhaps it was this energy and charisma that helped her take second place."
Miss Russia is an active social media user, and she has approximately 90,000 followers on Instagram. She had posted an image of herself with Miss Universe 2021, India's Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu, on her Instagram page.
Linnikova said it was a "pity" that her Ukrainian counterpart, Viktoria Apanasenko, didn't want to speak to her, appearing to ignore her country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
