The Miss Ireland competition has come under fire from contestants and former winners who have blasted the rules banning mothers from entering.
Blue Scannell, 19, who was waiting to find out if she would represent Dublin in the Miss Ireland competition, took to Instagram to explain she had decided to withdraw because of the contest s outdated restrictions - including rules that state entrants should have never been married or had children.
She has since racked up almost 2,000 signatures on a petition in just two days arguing that Miss World, which sets the guidelines, should allow the competition to be inclusive of all women.
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Blue Scannell dropped out of the competition over a rule that doesn t allow mothers tot ake part
Holly, 29, admitted that she felt kind of lost after taking part in the pageant.
She said: I feel like once the pageant was over - now bear in mind that I was only 19 when I won.the support was just was not there. It caused me a lot of anxiety to feel like I was going off somewhere to represent my country and. so I kind of felt really lost after the thing. There were definitely points when my parents were like, What s going on? Who s helping you?
Former Miss Ireland Holly Carpenter blasts completely backwards beauty pageant dublinlive.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dublinlive.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.