Sao, Paulo, Feb 07: Miss Brazil Joseane de Oliveira effectively traded in her crown for a wedding ring this week, after she was forced to give up her title because she had tied the knot.
"She lost her crown for being married, which is against contest rules," a contest official told AFP Thursday.
The 21-year-old Oliveira, voted Miss Brazil 2002, had also competed on Brazil's version of the reality television show "Big Brother." But she starred in a different sort of reality show on Sunday, when she confessed to a popular TV program that she was married.
Contest officials reacted immediately, stripping Oliveira of her crown and coronating 19-year-old runner-up Taiza Thomsen.
"Receiving the title makes me sad on one hand, after everything I've been through with Joseane," Thomsen told local media, "but it also makes me happy, because I think it's important to follow the rules."
Oliveira is no stranger to controversy. She was voted off "Big Brother" after only two weeks, and was harshly criticized by her predecessors for appearing on the show.
Thomsen will hold the title of Miss Brazil until the end of Oliveira's reign, in April.
