Miss USA, Crystle Stewart, Tripped During Evening Gown Competition

Crystle Stewart, 26, represented the USA at the Miss Universe pageant on July 13, 2008 in Nha Trang, Vietnam. She advanced to the top ten, where she became the second consecutive Miss USA, following Rachel Smith in 2007, to stumble and fall during the evening gown competition. During the 2007 Miss Universe competition in Mexico City, Miss USA Rachel Smith tumbled during the evening gown section and became an unintended star on YouTube, where the video was shown over and over again.

The beauty queen, Crystle Stewart, tripped on the train of her evening gown and crash landed on the runway. The reigning Miss USA took a tumble in front of a worldwide audience of 1billion people and shattered her hopes of winning Miss Universe 2008.

Before the show Stewart, from Texas, a motivational speaker and former track and field star said she felt very confident going into the show and couldn’t imagine experiencing the same calamity as her predecessor.
“All I can offer to the world and to America is to do my best. Nerves don’t play a part in this.”

The competition, which organisers claim was watched by almost a billion viewers, was compered by Mel B, a former member of the Spice Girls, but the honour of announcing the winner fell to Jerry Springer, the American television host.

The annual Miss Universe pageant was first held in Long Beach, California, in 1952. It was taken over in 1996 by Donald Trump, a US real estate mogul.