Fifteen-year-old Olivia O’Neil was recently crowned Miss Teen Wanganui – a crown that she says was taken away because she dyed her dark blond hair brown. According to the New Zealand Herald, pageant organizer Barbabra Osborne was incensed when she caught a glimpse of pictures of Olivia’s newly brunette locks on Facebook. ”Is that a wig?” Osborne wrote. “I hope it is, don’t give me heart failure.”
When Olivia spoke to Osborne about the change, she apparently said that if she wasn’t allowed to change her hair color then pageant life might not be for her. Osborne then reportedly told her:
“Well you better decide, miss. Hand over your crown with an attitude like that. I’m sure someone will step into your place with manners,” said Osborne, adding that O’Neil “would not go far in this world.”
Olivia wasn’t one to be intimidated. She gave up her crown and went to the press. “I don’t think you can tell a 15-year-old that they aren’t going to go very far in life,” she said. “It’s hurtful. She was always really harsh on the girls. And when she says things like ‘present yourself better,’ ‘wear lots of makeup,’ ‘do 20 sit-ups,’ it gets to you after a while.”
Though a pageant spokesperson confirmed to the Herald that the crown had been stripped from the teenager because she had changed her image from the one the pageant had originally awarded, he later attempted to put blame for the incident on Olivia’s attitude, not on her hair color.
