Fijian beauty queen, Torika Watters, stripped of title over age, not race

The ugly backlash over the winner of a Fijian beauty pageant culminated in the loss of her title over the weekend, but organizers insist it"s because of her age — not her looks.

Torika Watters, 16, won the Miss World Fiji contest last month amid controversy: While she"s reportedly of mixed European and Fijian heritage, some objected that she didn"t look native Fijian enough.

Locals complained that the brown-haired beauty didn"t have a "buiniga,” or thick, frizzy hairstyle typically wo by Fijians, said the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Pageant organizers were inundated by online criticisms. Some commenters also noted that Watters was crowned by some non-Fijian judges, including supermodel Rachel Hunter, the ex-wife of Rod Stewart.

"While we appreciate a healthy discussion/feedback on our page, violent or racist comments will not be tolerated,” organizers said in a statement.

But despite coming to Watters" defense, that didn"t stop the pageant from stripping her of her title. Organizers said she needed to be 17 in order to compete in this August"s Miss World pageant in Inner Mongolia, China.

Watters acknowledged that she doesn"t tu that age until next year.

She wrote on Facebook that she told organizers about her age before competing, and that it wasn"t going to be a problem.

"I had no intentions of doing anything sneaky or wrong and like the other contestants entered the competition for what I believed to be the right reasons — to be an Ambassador for Fiji and raise money for charitable causes,” Watters posted.

Koini Vakaloloma, the 24-year-old first runner-up, will represent the Pacific Island nation at Miss World.

Watter said she doesn"t plan to appeal the pageant"s decision, and that she was "proud of my identity as a Fijian and have never considered my people as racists.”