Philippines' Annabelle McDonnell claims she was sabotaged at the Miss Charm 2023 pageant

Philippine bet Annabelle McDonnell claimed that she got sabotaged during the Miss Charm 2023 pageant preliminaries. 

The beauty queen openly talked about how her evening gown was sabotaged ahead of the prelims in a Facebook video recently uploaded by local pageant page Pageanthology 101. 

Calling it “one of the worst days” of her life, McDonnell recalled how “nothing went well” during the Miss Charm International segment.

“The minute I put on my evening gown, I knew something was wrong. We had put so much time and effort in making it, in seeing to it that it was good. It was a perfect fit,” she said. 

“But what can you say? If someone wants to sabotage your gown, then you can’t do anything about it. It’s already beyond your control,” she added.

She was asked by her camp Aces & Queens to release a statement about the incident, but she decided to keep her focus on the tilt instead. “I said ‘No. You know what? It’s fine.’ At this point, I’d rather protect the organization that I would want to work with for the entirety of the year if I do become one of the winners,” she recalled.

“It’s okay if people don’t believe in me. I believe in myself and that is enough—and I think that’s what power is,” she said. 

The coronation night was held in February this year. Annabelle finished first runner-up, followed by Olivia Tan of Indonesia (second runner-up). Luma Russo of Brazil bagged the highly coveted Miss Charm 2023 crown.