Miss Universe Thailand head Nawat Itsaragrisil broke down in tears, he insisted he ‘did nothing wrong’ after he publicly confronted Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, over a sponsored shoot, which led the latter and other delegates to walk out of a sashing ceremony.
Itsaragrisil met with the international press on Wednesday, Nov. 5, to address the mounting criticism over his actions towards Miss Mexico.
In a clip posted on Missosology’s Facebook page, Itsaragrisil stressed his apology for the past incident as he clarified that he did not call Miss Mexico a ‘dumbhead.’
‘I said that today I would come to apologize. I didn’t do anything wrong,’ he said in tears. ‘For the international press, I didn’t say ‘dumbhead’ even for one second. I said, ‘damage.”
The Miss Grand International head vowed to do better in the coming pageant events, telling the press, ‘Do not worry, by the way, I will take care very well from now until the end of the 24th with you.’
Itsaragrisil had earlier apologized for the incident through a livestream on TikTok, explaining that he has been facing ‘daily problems’ since the pageant events commenced, including several delegates allegedly refusing to film videos for pageant sponsors.
During the sashing ceremony on Nov. 4 in Thailand, a livestreamed video shared by the Miss Universe Thailand organization showed some of the delegates walking out of the venue after Nawat confronted Bosch for allegedly refusing to participate in sponsor activities.
Reigning Miss Universe, Victoria Kjær Theilvig, was among the beauty queens who walked out of the sashing event to show support for Miss Mexico.
Miss Universe titleholders Sheynnis Palacios and Andrea Meza, and resigned Miss Grand International 2024 Rachel Gupta, also voiced their support for Bosch through their social media pages.
The walkout incident happened weeks before the Miss Universe finals night on Nov. 21 in Bangkok, Thailand, where Ahtisa Manalo is vying to bring home the fifth Miss Universe crown for the Philippines.