Organisers of the Mrs Russia beauty pageant have been forced to defend their winner, blaming a photograph taken at a bad angle after she was mercilessly mocked online.
Images of Natalya Oskar, from Khabarovsk, who won the contest on Tuesday, became an object of vitriol as social media users – many of them from Ukraine – ridiculed her looks.
Some made derisive remarks about her short stature, full lips and heavy makeup. Others suggested she had too much plastic surgery.
The Mrs Russia competition, where contestants have to be married and have children, became more inclusive this year to welcome shorter women and plus-size models.
Previously, only women taller than 175cm (5.7ft) and those of clothes size S and XS were allowed to compete.
“We’ve decided to ditch those requirements this year and accept the women in the shape they are,” said Irina Kirsanova, the pageant’s organiser.
“This is not a modelling competition after all but a competition of married women and mothers.”
Widely shared photos from the competition showed Mrs Oskar’s somewhat greasy forehead and creases underneath the cheeks that were not visible in apparently digitally altered images on her official Instagram account.
Organisers were forced to blame a bad photo angle and defend the 34-year-old mother of a toddler from the online hate.
“She looks really beautiful in our official photos,” Ms Kirsanova told the Podyem media outlet.
“I was quite taken aback by the public reaction. It was a bad photo, taken from a bad, low angle. She’s very different. Everyone in the jury saw her and loved her.”
Mrs Oskar teaches English and lives in Russia’s Far East with her husband, daughter, and a dog.
The Mrs Russia winner told the Star Hit tabloid on Wednesday she did not care about the online bullying and denied claims that she had resorted to plastic surgery.
“I know that I worked hard for the competition,” she said. “You spend the whole day in heels, snatch a few hours of sleep and then spend morning till night in rehearsals.”
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