The Miss Universe Philippines (MUPH) organization has removed a contestant from the competition just before it's set to be held on 1 May 2026 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The announcement was made on the pageant org’s official social media pages.
In the post, MUPH maintained that they value each contestant’s individuality and agency to express their opinions, but that they’re also "committed to maintaining a positive and respectful environment for all, one that supports fellow delegates, honors our partners, and upholds the integrity of the organization.
With this, they announced that one participant will no longer be continuing her Miss Universe Philippines journey. The decision came after concerns about the undisclosed contestant’s behavior were raised to the organization.
In response, MUPH gave her "verbal and written guidance to help address the situation." However, the contestant failed to do so and continued to act "in ways that were not aligned with the standards" Miss Universe Philippines aims to uphold.
While the delegate was left anonymous, pageant fans raised their guesses in the comments section. Some speculation fell on Aklan representative Imelda Schweighart, whose photos can no longer be found on MUPH’s social media accounts.
A day before the announcement, the beauty queen reiterated in an Instagram post that she’s unaffected by the "noise" against her and that her "journey continues." She wrote, "Temporary noise is just a 24-hour cycle, but resiliency is a lifetime. I didn’t come this far just to be a headline. I am here to be remembered."
Imelda has yet to directly comment on the recent announcement by MUPH. Since the news came out, she's instead been reposting fanmade edits of herself on t-shirts with the text, "Am I the Drama?"
Imelda is of Filipino-German descent. She’s been competing in pageants for over a decade, and she was crowned Miss Philippines Earth in 2016. After failing to place in Miss Earth 2016, she stirred controversy following comments she made criticizing the appearance of the pageant’s winner, Ecuador’s Katherine Espin.
While talking to fans, she remarked that Katherine had surgery done, with her "fake nose, fake chin, and fake boobs." Imelda later on apologized for the remark and officially stepped down as Miss Earth Philippines 2016.
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