Yvonne Clarke stripped of title in Miss Universe drama

LAURA DOWRICH-PHILLIPS CREATED : 31 OCTOBER 2017 ENTERTAINMENT

In a surprising move on Tuesday morning, the Miss Universe franchise holder, Jenny Douglas, issued a statement advising that Clarke has been disqualified.

"The Miss Universe T&T committee has voted unanimously to disqualify Miss Yvonne Clarke from representing Trinidad and Tobago in this year's Miss Universe 2017 Pageant competition," the statement said.

The statement said the decision was made because Clarke violated a contract she signed under the local leg of the Miss Universe T&T franchise.

"We are saddened by this turn of events however we have to maintain our strict contractual agreements. We will, however, make sure another suitable representative will go and who will abide by the Miss Universe T&T rules and regulations under their contractual agreement," the statement said.

Clarke was notified of her dismissal via email this morning.

Clarke's disqualification comes on the heels of news that the beauty queen was left on her own to prepare for the Miss Universe pageant in Los Angeles.

She was introduced to soca artist Fay-Ann Lyons while seeking assistance to prepare for the event.

Loop spoke to Lyons who said when she met Clarke, she said she needed assistance to purchase her ticket to fly to LA.

"So in talking to her, I asked if she was prepped and ready and she started to cry and said she has nothing. We had to give her the money for her visa…nothing was organised for this girl," said Lyons.

Lyons said she and her husband, Bunji Garlin, arranged sponsorship from some of their friends, including Dwayne Bravo and arranged for celebrity hairstylist Neal Farinah to do her hair.

She said media and transportation were arranged for Clarke when she arrived in LA.

Lyons said when she asked Douglas for Clarke's contract she was called a gangster.

Lyons held a press conference on Tuesday with Clarke to shed further light on the situation.

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