Beauty queen's jaw-dropping World War II gaffe
Beauty queens have been known to drop some interesting responses in their question and answer sessions, and it’s not just the English speaking world that sees some foot-in-mouth moments.
A competitor for the Miss Italia (Miss Italy) crown left mouths agape when she was asked to tell the crowd in which period of history she would have liked to live.
Her answer: World War II.
The gaffe definitely proved a show stopper but it was not enough to cruel 18-year-old Alice Sabatini’s chances.
She went on to win the crown regardless.
Italy has a fraught relationship with its World War II history. While it initially fought on the side of the Nazi-led Axis Powers, it switched sides after Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was overthrown midway through the conflict.
For her part, Miss Sabatini appeared to prefer the pre-coup era, telling the panel she would like, specifically, to live in 1942.
Pressed on the response, she said she had read a lot about the period and would like to “live it”.
Almost half a million Italians are believed to have died during the war, which killed more than 60 million soldiers and civilians around the world.
Miss Sabatini's gaffe is not the first eyebrow-raising moment in the storied history of beauty pageants. We are sure it won't be the last.
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