AFTER A NINE-YEAR HIATUS, Barbados has a Miss Universe contestant.
Shannon Harris, a five-foot, nine-inch beauty, stood above 13 other candidates at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday night and walked away with over $115 000 in prizes.
Harris, 21, told the DAILY NATION she was happy to have won after 20 weeks of training.
“It’s a surreal moment . . . but I feel like the crown belongs to me; I am very, very happy,” she said.
But soon after being crowned, some commentators took to social media and ignited a debate over her race and colour.
In addition to her $10 000 winner’s prize, Harris will receive prizes including a custom-made gown by American designer Michael Costello, five gowns from Barbadian designer Wayne Smith, 15 pairs of shoes from Sole Addiction, over $3 000 worth of jewellery from the Royal Shop, a weekend for two at the Crane Resort, a max package from telecommunications company Flow, and a one-week all-expenses-paid trip to New York before she heads off to the Philippines for the Miss Universe show in January 2017, and two tickets on British Airways worth $4 000.
