Selection of participants
Contestants from 112 countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Six of them are runners-up after the withdrawal of the original contestant in their respective countries and territories.
Replacements
Due to the media attention following the allegations against her, Rachel Christie decided to withdraw from the and relinquish her Miss England crown. [3] She was replaced by Katrina Hodge. [4] Alessandra Alores of Germany was disqualified due to several nude pictures of her on the Internet. She was replaced by Stefanie Peeck. [5] [6] [7] Sofia Rudieva of Russia was allowed to compete in Miss Universe 2009 by the Miss Universe Organization, but the Miss World Organization did not accept her as a contestant due several nude pictures of her on the Internet. She was replaced by Ksenia Shipilova. [8] Cinthia D'Ottone of Uruguay was replaced at the last minute by Claudia Vanrell due to D'Ottone's health related issues. [9] Trần Thị Hương Giang was appointed to represent Vietnam at Miss World 2009. She is the 2nd runner-up of Miss Vietnam Global 2009.
Ris Low, Miss Singapore World 2009, backed out of the finals at Miss World 2009. Her decision came after a slew of negative media reports in which she incurred the ire of the public for her poor English. [10] Later, news of her conviction for credit card fraud in May also surfaced, after she stole credit cards worth $6000. [11] She was sentenced to two years' probation for credit card fraud. There was a national petition for her to step down. Then, Ris Low was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. [12] The first runner-up Claire Lee, declined to represent Singapore due to a back injury which prevents her from standing for long periods of time, and also as Ris Low accused her of backstabbing her, [13] and she withdrew from the pageant immediately. Claire Lee also rebutted Ris Low's allegations on her blog. [14] On 9 October, ERM World Marketing announced Pilar Carmelita Arlando as the new Miss Singapore World 2009, who represented Singapore at the Miss World contest. She was criticised by many netizens for not knowing who's the first president of Singapore, not knowing how many years Singapore has been independent, and claiming that the Merlion, a symbol of Singapore, became extinct in 1965, unaware that the Merlion is a fictitious animal. [15] [16]
Returns, and, withdrawals
This edition saw the return of Côte d'Ivoire, French Polynesia, Liberia, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Nepal, Panama, Romania, Slovenia and Suriname; Côte d'Ivoire, which last competed in 1985, Luxembourg in 1990, French Polynesia (as Tahiti) and Liberia in 2006 and Macedonia, Nepal, Panama, Romania, Slovenia and Suriname in 2007.
Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Saint Lucia and Seychelles and Taiwan, withdrew from the competition. [17]
