Former Miss Delaware Amanda Longacre is not backing down. As previously reported, just two weeks after being crowned Miss Delaware in her state's pageant on June 14, the beauty queen lost her title because of an age dispute and she isn't having it. (To compete in the Miss America pageant one must be 17 to 24 years old; Longacre will turn 25 in October, a month after the competition this September.)
After breaking down in a teary interview on the TODAY Show on Friday, June 27, the beauty queen returned to the NBC morning show on Monday, June 30, to reiterate she won't be backing down and even plans to sue if her title isn't reinstated.
"I won the title of Miss Delaware. I am Miss Delaware, and I was nothing but honest from the beginning," Longacre said on Monday's news show. "I did not know that rule [about age] at all, and they reiterated to me since the beginning that I was eligible to compete. I asked from the beginning, 'Am I eligible?' They asked for my contract. I gave them my birth certificate. I gave them everything."
The Bear, Del. resident, whose title and crown have now been granted to runner-up Brittany Lewis, was joined by her lawyer, Mark Billion.
"What we want to see is to have Amanda compete in Miss America and serve as Miss Delaware, and in our mind that's what's fair. And if we have to sue to do it we will, but our goal here is that she be allowed to enjoy the title that she's earned," Billion said.
Tell Us: Does Longacre deserve her crown back?