Imagine being crowned the winner of your home state in the Miss America pageant only to lose the title less than 2 weeks later.
That's exactly what happened to Amanda Longacre, AKA the former Miss Delaware, and it's not that she was caught partying or doing anything illegal. It's because at 24, she's too old, according to officials. The Miss America Organization says contestants must be between 17 and 24 years old, and Amanda turns 25 in October.
But since the competition is in September, we don't see the issue. And to add insult to injury, after she got stripped of the crown, the title was given to runner-up Brittany Lewis, who's also 24.
Amanda made a tearful appearance on The Today Show this morning to plead her case, claiming she put her real age and birthday on the application and members of the board signed off on local, state and national levels. It wasn't until Tuesday that she was notified her age was an issue. Then, her photo was promptly removed from the Miss Delaware website.
Amanda also loses the $11,000 scholarship that came with the title. The situation seems pretty unfair to us. Do you think she should be allowed to compete?
![Miss America Corwns Its First Indian-American Winner]()
That's exactly what happened to Amanda Longacre, AKA the former Miss Delaware, and it's not that she was caught partying or doing anything illegal. It's because at 24, she's too old, according to officials. The Miss America Organization says contestants must be between 17 and 24 years old, and Amanda turns 25 in October.
But since the competition is in September, we don't see the issue. And to add insult to injury, after she got stripped of the crown, the title was given to runner-up Brittany Lewis, who's also 24.
Amanda made a tearful appearance on The Today Show this morning to plead her case, claiming she put her real age and birthday on the application and members of the board signed off on local, state and national levels. It wasn't until Tuesday that she was notified her age was an issue. Then, her photo was promptly removed from the Miss Delaware website.
Amanda also loses the $11,000 scholarship that came with the title. The situation seems pretty unfair to us. Do you think she should be allowed to compete?
