Carlina Duran Stripped Of Miss Dominican Crown: Why?

Carlina Duran is no longer Miss Dominican Republic, after it transpired that she's not actually a 'Miss' at all. The rules of the competition state that those competing for the crown must be single, though it was discovered that Duran had married in 2009, reports E! Online.

During a press conference on Wednesday (April 25,2012), Duran was forced to hand over her Miss Dominican Republic crown to the runner-up Dulcita Lieggi, putting the misunderstanding down to "the fruit of my inexperience". While the model doesn't deny she tied the knot, she maintains that she never thought of herself as "materially nor spiritually married", adding, "I remained like a single woman". She's not the first beauty queen to cause headlines this year - last month, a transgender Miss Universe Canada contestant named Jenna Talackova was disqualified when pageant officials discovered she was not born a woman. Two weeks later, the Donald Trump owned organization reverted its decision and changed the rules to allow transgender models to compete in future competitions.

Duran, 25, initially beat 37 hopefuls to win the Miss Dominican Republic crown on April 17, 2012. Fans have already begun voicing their disgust at the decision to the model's Facebook page, with one saying, "You're a queen and I believe in you".