SPY: Top 10 Beauty Queen Scandals

Rachel Huljich in at number 4. Photo / New Zealand Woman's Weekly

Ria Van Dyke's mother Ruthie may make stage mum Dina Lohan look like Mother Teresa, if her embarrassing appearance on Campbell Live last night was anything to go by.

The way she has controlled and mismanaged the media has reflected badly on her daughter, who ultimately placed nowhere in the Miss Universe pageant.

Ria will return to New Zealand with her glitzy American-made national costume, the toothy grin wiped from her face. Still, the gorgeous brunette, who is described by her mother as a "princess" and a "perfectionist," can be satisfied in the knowledge that she hasn't brought shame on the crown. Which is more than can be said for these ravishing beauties. Check out the 10 worst beauty queen moments.

1. Carrie Prejean

Candid shots of Miss California Carrie Prejean posing on a beach hit the internet last year and she was dumped for breach of contract and lost her crown. Then came the sex tape, which really wasn't a good look for the devoted Christian, who caused a furore when she questioned gay marriage. She sued pageant organisers and they counter-sued, seeking profits from her blab-all book and the return of cash loaned for breast implants. Both sides dropped the case. Last month Prejean married her NFL quarterback boyfriend.

2. Leona Gage

In 1957, Leona Gage was crowned Miss USA but she lost her title when it was discovered she was 18 not 21, and had been married twice (the first at 14) and had two kids! She went on to become a Vegas showgirl and worked in a strip club. Gage reportedly divorced three times and now lives in California.

3. Vanessa Williams

The African American beauty resigned as Miss America in 1984 when nude photos of her with another female published in Penthouse magazine were revealed. The photos were sold without Williams' consent and she filed a US$500m lawsuit against the photographer and the publisher, but later dropped the case. The Ugly Betty star waved goodbye to the fake bakes and air kisses and went on to become an accomplished actress and singer.

4. Rachel Huljich

In 2002, Miss New Zealand Rachel Huljich caused an uproar when she chose to compete in the Miss World pageant in Nigeria as 31-year-old Nigerian woman Amina Lawal faced death by stoning for having a child out of wedlock. Beauty queens from France, Belgium, Norway, Ivory Coast, Switzerland and Kenya chose to boycott the competition. Even Prime Minister Helen Clark waded into the debate saying it was not a "good look" for Huljich to attend. But the schoolgirl heiress ignored the pleas. The pageant was later aborted amid riots and human rights concerns and was held in London. Huljich, who is now married with a child, hit the headlines in Australia in 2006 when she illegally parked her brother Jason's $126,000 Maserati sports car. A worker on a nearby construction site picked it up with a forklift and dropped it on its roof.

5. Tara Connor

The striking blonde was crowned Miss USA in 2006 but made headlines when news of her cocaine use and public smooching with Miss Teen USA were exposed. The beauty queen made a blubbering apology and pageant co-owner Donald Trump allowed her to keep her title if she checked herself into rehab for alcohol and drug abuse.

6. Caitlin Upton

While most dimwit pageant queens pray for world peace, check out what Miss South Carolina Caitlin Upton said at the Miss Teen USA pageant in 2007: "I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as in South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like, such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the US should help the US, uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our children." The clip generated more than 45 million views on You Tube and Upton went on to parody herself on Comedy Central and MTV.

7. Lindsey Evans

In 2008, Miss Teen Louisiana Lindsey Evans, 18, lost her crown when she was arrested after she skipped out on a bill with her pals, but left her purse - and a bag of pot.

8. Sharon Redmond

She was crowned Miss Savannah 2003, but four months later Sharon Redmond went on trial for the murder of her two-timing fiancé. She was charged with shooting and killing Kevin Shorter during an argument at the home of a woman who was also engaged to Shorter. Redmond claimed self-defence and said she was a victim of domestic abuse. The jury acquitted her. She went on to earn a master's degree and works in education in Atlanta, Georgia.

9. Anya Ayoung-Chee

Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2008 was caught in a sex scandal of the ménage a trois kind when a tape emerged of the beauty queen in a sordid threesome. Rumours surfaced that Miss Japan Hiroko Mima was the other woman in the tape with Anya Ayoung-Chee and her boyfriend Wyatt Gallery, but this was denied.

10. Elizabeth Ward

Former Miss America Elizabeth Ward (now Elizabeth Gracen) may have been crowned Miss Arkansas in 1981, but it was her fling with Bill Clinton in 1982, when he was Arkansas governor, that later made headlines. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who was investigating Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit, issued a subpoena to get the former beauty queen to testify in court, but she refused saying she was overseas filming Highlander: The Raven.