Miss Universe Jamaica exits pageant on stretcher after shocking fall off stage
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Miss Jamaica Gabrielle Henry was walking on stage when fell completely off the stage.
PHOTOS: SCRENGRAB FROM MEEKII MODEZ/INSTAGRAM
Follow topic:
A Miss Universe contestant was taken away on a stretcher after a shocking fall from the stage during the preliminary evening gown round in Thailand on Nov 19.
Social media videos show Dr Gabrielle Henry, representing Jamaica, walking in an orange evening gown and high heels when she missteps and falls completely off the stage.
Additional videos later captured her being removed from the venue on a stretcher.
Mr Raul Rocha, owner of the Miss Universe pageant, shared an update on Instagram shortly after the incident.
“I would like to share with the Miss Universe family concerned for the health of our Miss Universe Jamaica that at 12am Bangkok time, I have just left the hospital where she is being treated,” he wrote over a black screen.
“I was there with her family and, thankfully, there are no broken bones, and she is under good care,” he said.
The Miss Universe Jamaica organisation also released a statement confirming that Dr Henry, 28, had an accident, but that her injuries were not life-threatening.
Dr Henry is an ophthalmologist and founder of the See Me Foundation, a charity advocating for the visually impaired across Jamaica.
Her fall off the stage is the latest in a series of snafus that has bedevilled what has been an exceptionally chaotic edition of the Miss Universe pageant.
In the days leading up to the glittering coronation in Bangkok on Nov 21, contestants alleging mistreatment walked out, and two judges resigned with one claiming the contest is rigged.
On Nov 4, Mr Nawat Itsaragrasil, a Thai media mogul who holds the licence to stage the 2025 Miss Universe pageant, publicly reprimanded Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch in front of dozens of contestants for failing to post promotional content.
When Ms Bosch objected, Mr Nawat summoned security and threatened to disqualify contestants who supported her. She left the room, followed by several others in solidarity.
The Miss Universe Organization later denounced Mr Nawat’s conduct as “malicious”, and Mr Rocha, appearing by video from Mexico, urged his Thai business partner to “stop”.
Mr Nawat subsequently apologised
Tensions escalated a week later when two judges resigned, one of them publicly accusing organisers of manipulating the selection process.
Mr Omar Harfouch, a Lebanese-French musician, said in an Instagram post that an “impromptu jury” had preselected finalists ahead of the Nov 21 event.
Hours afterward, former French football star Claude Makelele also withdrew, citing “unforeseen personal reasons”.
The Miss Universe Organization rejected Mr Harfouch’s allegations, insisting that “no external group has been authorised to evaluate delegates or select finalists”.
It suggested that Mr Harfouch may have been referring instead to Beyond the Crown, a social-impact initiative that operates independently of the main pageant and is overseen by a separate selection committee.
