Thai beauty pageant contestant Kamolwan Chanago has given a masterclass in how to manage a monumental mishap with style and a toothy smile.
In a moment that has since gone viral around the world, Chanago had just begun making a speech on stage during the Miss Grand Thailand competition last week when her teeth – or rather, veneers – began to fall out.
A video from the livestreamed event shows the 18-year-old quickly turning around to fix them, before once more flashing a huge smile and confidently walking down the runway in her sparkly pink gown and feathered wrap.
Even more impressive, at the pageant’s finale on the weekend Chanago playfully re-created the embarrassing incident by putting her retainer in on stage and winking at the cameras.
While some social media users mocked the original blooper with comments such as “Temu teeth” and “OMG, this is like watching a horror movie”, others reckoned that Chanago’s smooth reaction deserved respect.
“She handled this better than most of us handle a bad hair day,” one spectator commented, according to AP. “Is this the most iconic pageant moment ever?”
Miss Grand International organisers agreed, with a spokesperson telling People: “She handled the situation with professionalism and composure, and the event continued smoothly without disruption.”
The national Miss Grand Thailand competition – which was won this year by Pattama Jitsawat – was founded alongside the international event in 2013 by a Thai TV producer and host, and claims to have “redefined the global beauty pageant industry”.
Like other pageants forced to justify their relevance in the 21st century, it insists that its definition of beauty is not based only on physical appearance.
“An MCI beauty queen is not only beautiful – she is wise, articulate and visionary”, says the event’s website, which also boasts of a long-standing campaign to “stop the war and violence” (it’s not clear exactly which war and violence).
The much longer-running Miss Universe franchise – once owned by Donald Trump and now jointly owned by companies in Thailand and Mexico – has garnered more publicity in the past few decades for its controversies, mishaps and viral moments than for the official competition itself.
Last year, Miss Universe contestants staged a mass walkout after the Mexican contestant was berated by an official, while the 2025 Miss Finland, Sarah Dzafce, was stripped of her crown after a photo of her pulling up the corners of her eyes sparked backlash in Asia.
Other viral beauty pageant moments:
And the winner is … not you
One of the biggest live bloopers on the Miss Universe stage occurred when host Steve Harvey announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, as the 2015 winner. Audience members cheered and clapped as Gutierrez was presented with the crown and a large bouquet of flowers. Only problem was, she wasn’t the actual winner.
While Miss Colombia was still waving to the audience and wiping away tears of joy behind him, Harvey declared that he had to apologise for misreading the card.
“The first runner-up is Colombia,” he explained. “Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines!”
Harvey later tweeted an apology to both Gutierrez and Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, for his “huge mistake”. I feel terrible,” he said in a post that was retweeted more than 70,000 times.
Source: AP
A grand gaffe
There was a similar blooper during the 2025 Miss Grand International in Thailand when the host announced the final 22 contestants and Miss Grand Panama – 31-year-old Isamar Herrera – sashayed to the front of the stage with a large smile on her face.
Her joy quickly turned to embarrassment when, after an excruciatingly long pause as the camera zoomed in on Herrera, the host clarified that she had misheard him amid the “noise” in the venue.
After he clarified that the name he had actually called out was “Miss Grand Paraguay”, poor Herrera had to re-join the other non-finalists, passing the Paraguay contestant on the way.
Source: @beautypovph / TikTok
Miss Jamaica’s rough tumble
A far more serious accident occurred in November last year at the Miss Universe pageant – also held in Thailand – where Miss Jamaica, Gabrielle Henry, had to be taken away on a stretcher after missing a step and falling off the stage.
Henry ended up spending four months in hospital with a fracture and intracranial haemorrhage. She still faces a long recovery after returning home this month.
In an update on Instagram, Henry was upbeat, declaring she was still committed to “making my country proud” and that this unexpected chapter of her life was “a testament to resilience and resolve”.
Lost in translation
It is all too easy to make fun of the answers contestants give to questions they’re asked in an attempt to convince viewers that what we are watching is not just a “beauty” pageant, but also a battle of brains and personality. So full credit to Serbia and Montenegro’s entrant in the 2003 Miss Universe contest, who gave a refreshingly honest response when asked: “Would you rather be water or fire?”
“Well, I’m a human being and I don’t know how is it to be fire or water, and for that reason I really don’t have [an] answer on this question… I’m a girl which has an emotion, and fire and water doesn’t,” Sanja Papic sensibly explained. Touché.
Wardrobe malfunction
This infamous slip-up didn’t happen on the beauty pageant stage, but it did involve Australia’s 2004 Miss Universe winner Jennifer Hawkins. The same year she won the international title, the Sydney model also made headlines for a wardrobe malfunction during a fashion parade at a Westfield shopping centre.
Hawkins stepped on her skirt while walking the runway, and as the bottom came off she had to scurry off the stage wearing only a red G-string and with her hands covering her rear. It may have left her red-faced at the time, but – just like Kamolwan Chanago – she ultimately handled the incident like a queen.
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