Miss Ireland judge Aisling O’Loughlin has insisted they didn’t stop one of the contestants from winning after she claimed not to have been fed.
The Xpose star was one of the panel who picked Jessica Hayes as the newest Miss Ireland.
However Miss Louth, Fionnuala Short, claimed she was told she “could have won” if she hadn’t said on stage she was hungry after getting no food all day.
But Aisling said: “That wasn’t the case at all. We had nine judges in total and it was a very fair system.
Claims: Fionnuala had said she could have won before on stage gaffe | BRIAN MCEVOY
“We started the day at about 10am and the interviews went on throughout the day, and we marked the girls on everything.
“By the time the live event started at about 7 or 8pm, we already had the girls whittled down to 16 and then to eight.
“We didn’t even talk to each other about our marks. There was none of that, ‘I think this girl should win’.”
Winner: Jessica Hayes took home the crown | BRIAN MCEVOY
And Aisling said that Miss Bucks Whaleys Jessica – not Miss Louth – deserved to be the winner.
“You could see that she was quite healthy and eats well and exercises,” she told the Herald.
“She had glowing skin, glowing hair and the fact that she entered the contest last year clearly stood to her as well.”
