Beauty pageants aren't always pretty—just ask former Miss Delaware 2014 Amanda Longacre! The 24-year-old was stripped of her title Tuesday when pageant officials determined she was too old to compete in the pageant (The Miss America Organization has a rule stating that contestants must be 17 to 24 years old, and Amanda will turn 25 in October.)
First runner-up Brittany Lewis, 24, was crowned Miss Delaware Thursday, and will go on to compete in the Miss America pageant on Sept. 14. And while Amanda has learned she will get to keep the $9,000 in scholarship money she originally won (this amount will also be awarded to Brittany), she appeared on Today Monday and told Savannah Guthrie she wants "the title I rightfully won" back.
VIDEO: Ex-Miss Delaware tearfully breaks down on Today over lost title
"I am Miss Delaware. I was nothing but honest from the beginning. I did not know that rule, I did not know that rule at all, and they reiterated to me since they beginning that I was eligible to compete," she said. "I asked from the beginning, 'Am I eligible?' They said yes, they signed off on my contract, they had my birth certificate. I gave them everything." Her lawyer explained to Today, "What we want is to see Amanda compete at Miss America and serve as Miss Delaware, and to our mind, that's what's fair. If we have to sue to do it, we will, but our goal really here is that she be allowed to enjoy the title that she's earned."
