Miss Jamaica Update: Fall Off Stage Blamed on Beauty Queen According to Staff, Other Safety Issues Also Emerge

As Miss Universe 2025 continues to dominate headlines following its November finale in Bangkok, fresh allegations are emerging that paint a troubling picture of backstage safety, contestant welfare and how pageant leaders handled a series of high-profile incidents.

One of the most widely shared moments — Miss Jamaica Gabrielle Alexis Henry's dramatic fall from the stage — is now at the centre of a new dispute after contestants claimed staff privately blamed the beauty queen for the frightening accident.

READ MORE: Miss Universe 2025 Scandals: Full Breakdown of the Issues Stirring Up the Pageant

READ MORE: Miss Universe Jamaica to Spend 7 Days in ICU After Onstage Fall: Family Asks For Prayers

Miss Haiti Speaks up on 'Careless' Treatment

Contestant Melissa Sapini, who represented Haiti and spoke exclusively to PEOPLE, alleges that backstage staff suggested Henry was at fault moments after she tumbled from a raised platform during the competition. The fall, captured on global broadcasts, caused widespread concern, prompting Miss Universe officials to issue a statement saying Henry had received medical care and was recovering.

Sapini says she and others were shocked to learn how some personnel interpreted the fall. According to her account, the remarks were part of a pattern of what she describes as 'carelessness' regarding contestant wellbeing.

Contestants Report Multiple Hospitalisations

Sapini claims Henry's fall was only one example of potential safety issues contestants encountered during their three-week stay in Thailand. She alleges that several participants were hospitalised for what they believed were preventable illnesses. She recalls widespread flu symptoms, suspected food poisoning and an alleged lack of systemic response.

'They were just giving us these box lunches that were making people sick,' she told PEOPLE, adding that contestants complained through group chats as more women became ill. Despite on-site medical personnel and the option to go to hospital, Sapini claims the pageant did not alter food provisions, telling the magazine, 'That scared me.'

Sapini said competitors ultimately felt forced to attend rehearsals even while unwell, fearing they would jeopardise their ranking if they missed events. She added that she personally performed while sick to avoid losing her place on stage.

Leadership Scandal Overshadows Safety Concerns

Weeks before Mexico's Fátima Bosch was crowned Miss Universe, the event was already engulfed in controversy following the livestreamed confrontation between pageant executive Nawat Itsaragrisil and Bosch. The confrontation led to sanctions and a public announcement that he would be restricted from the pageant. Sapini alleges the executive continued to appear around contestants despite those sanctions.

Just three days before the finals, the pageant came under heightened scrutiny again when a judge, musician Omar Harfouch, resigned and alleged that finalists were pre-selected before the preliminary competition. Shortly after, former footballer Claude Makélélé and Princess Camilla di Borbone delle Due Sicilie also left the judging panel. The Miss Universe Organisation denied misconduct.

For Sapini, the resignations compounded the sense that contestants were not being granted a fair opportunity after extensive personal and financial sacrifices. Some, she said, had left children or quit jobs to compete, expecting an event based on merit.

'You are messing with our lives. You're messing with my future,' she said. 'If you can do that to me as a current contestant, what are you going to do to the next girls?'

Ongoing Questions for the Organisation

The Miss Universe Organisation has not publicly responded to the allegations raised by Sapini regarding safety, food illnesses or backstage responses to Henry's fall. Previous statements have denied that voting misconduct took place and assured the public that contestants' health was taken seriously.

The 2025 pageant ended with Bosch's victory and widespread celebration among her supporters, yet unanswered concerns now linger over conditions that competitors say were overshadowed by spectacle.

As fans continue to share the moment Miss Jamaica fell from the stage, contestants like Sapini are urging the industry to look beyond a viral clip and examine how the world's most watched beauty pageant protects — and listens to — the women who walk across it.