Miss TT Queen stripped of crown

Soca artiste Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez called a press conference yesterday to clear the air. Not on any controversial new song but rather her involvement with assisting recently crowned Miss TT/Universe Queen Yvonne Clarke.

Both are demanding an explanation from local Miss Universe franchise holder Jennifer Douglas as to why Clarke was stripped of her crown and the opportunity to represent this country at the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas on November 26. As things stand, first runner-up Martrecia Alleyne will now represent TT.

A letter from the Miss Universe T&T, sent to Clarke, was shared on Facebook yesterday. The letter said Clarke was disqualified due to a breach of her contract with Miss Universe T&T. Past local franchise holder Peter Elias expressed sadness at the latest turn of events. TT has not had a representative, since 2014, at the international pageant.

At a press conference yesterday at her office at Panka Street in St James, Alvarez-Lyons said, “I have only been familiar with Miss Clarke for less than two weeks.” She said this went against a claim during a radio interview, that she (Lyons-Alvarez) was involved in prepping Clarke for the past five months.

“She (Clarke) was brought to my office by a mutual friend. She (Clarke) had requested assistance for sponsorship in terms of a plane ticket to go to the US, to enter the Miss Universe competition. I agreed and told my friend to bring Miss Clarke to the office to let me see who she is,” Fay-Ann explained. She said said Clarke visited and they spoke.

Asked how preparations were going, Clarke told Alvarez-Lyons that nothing was prepared. “She had no costumes, no structure...nothing,” the soca diva said. Alvarez-Lyons, after realising Clarke was ill-prepared to represent TT at the Miss Universe, pulled together a team to get her ready for the November 26 pageant.

Alvarez-Lyons took Clarke to last Saturday’s Caribbean Strong-The Relief Concert since she, as TT’s representative, is required to be filmed doing something humanitarian as part of documents and documentation that must be submitted to the Miss Universe pageant organisers.

Alvarez-Lyons and her husband, soca star Ian ‘Bunji Garlin’ Alvarez, hired a crew to record Clarke so that a video could be prepared showcasing the Miss TT Queen doing humanitarian work. Photo shoots at Maracas, the look-out in Lady Young, Morvant and several other photo shoots - all paid by Alvarez-Lyons and Bunji - followed. Alvarez-Lyons said she also got American pop diva Beyonce’s hairstylist Neal Farinah to come on board to do Clarke’s hair.

Fay-Ann said she also sent a letter from her company to the US Embassy in Port of Spain seeking help to expedite Clarke’s visa application. Yesterday, however, Clarke’s dreams of representing TT came to an end. Alvarez-Lyons said she got a call from Clarke who said she received an email at 2 am, informing her that she was disqualified.

Clarke, who was at the press conference, began to weep as she described how she supported Douglas when others were against her. Clarke said she auditioned at the beginning of August. Clarke said her disqualification hurt her deeply. Clarke said when she won the Miss TT crown, she claimed Douglas told her that the local organising team did not have the resources to outfit Clarke for the Miss Universe and she (Clarke) would have to solicit corporate and/or private sponsorship. Clarke said all she got from Douglas was a black dress. Clarke said she did nothing without the authorization of the franchise holder. Efforts by Newsday to reach Douglas for a comment yesterday proved futile. In a report on CNC 3’s 7 pm newscast, Douglas claimed that Clarke was disqualified for breaching parts of her contract by making public statements in the media without her (Douglas) expressed permission.

“She was all on tv, all on social media...she is talking and she is not supposed to do that. She is not allowed to make public comments without my permission,” Douglas said. On a replacement, Douglas said, the local franchise is considering sending first runner-up Martrecia Alleyne as TT’s representative to the Miss Universe.

“We are thinking of sending Martrecia. She is Miss Universe polished and ready to go. She understands social protocol, she understands etiquette, she understands the do’s and don’t of this business which obviously Yvonne Clarke does not,” Douglas said. She insisted that Clarke has a copy of the contract signed with the local franchise holder, but Lyons-Alvarez yesterday said both she and Clarke did not know what rule Clarke breached.