Allegations of rigging in Miss USA

Miss Pennsylvania says the top five contestants were picked before the competition began. Photo / AP

While citizenship issues surround the Miss Universe NZ competition, there's a massive stir being raised in US with allegations of rigging in the beauty pageant.

Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012 has stepped down from her title, saying there's been foul play in this year's contest.

Sheena Monnin, who was crowned Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012 last year, said on her Facebook page that the Miss Universe Organization, which oversees the Miss USA pageant, is "fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy."

Soon later she released a second statement explaining her abrupt resignation, Huffington Post reported.

"I witnessed another contestant who said she saw the list of the Top 5 BEFORE THE SHOW EVER STARTED proceed to call out in order who the Top 5 were before they were announced on stage," Monnin wrote.

"Apparently the morning of June 3rd she saw a folder lying open to a page that said 'FINAL SHOW Telecast, June 3, 2012' and she saw the places for Top 5 already filled in.

"... After it was indeed the Top 5 I knew the show must be rigged; I decided at that moment to distance myself from an organization who did not allow fair play and whose morals did not match my own."

If the allegation is true, it will be one of the first "rigging" scandals the Miss USA pageant has seen, the Huffington Post reported.

The weekend's contest began with 51 women and was whittled down to the winner, Miss Rhode Island USA, Olivia Culpo. Check out all the pictures here.

Former US contestants have made headlines for other improprieties, including former Miss USA Rima Fakih's DUI charges last month.

The Miss Universe Organization has been asked for comment but is yet to respond to the allegations.

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- HERALD ONLINE