Miss USA said the toxic pageant culture that forced her to resign also caused her hair to fall out.
Noelia Voigt, 24, resigned as the title holder on Monday over the damage the competition had done to her mental health.
Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, 17, also relinquished her crown on Wednesday.
Leaked details from Ms Voigt’s resignation letter say the stress she suffered in the months since her competition win seven months ago put a strain on her physical and mental health.
‘Full body shakes’
According to the letter, seen by NBC News, Ms Voigt cited flare-ups of a pre-existing condition that resulted in her experiencing “heart palpitations, full body shakes, loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, loss of sleep, loss of hair, and more”.
Ms Voigt blamed Laylah Rose, the pageant’s chief executive and president, for a “toxic work environment” that had aggravated her condition.
“I am now diagnosed with anxiety and have to take two medications daily to manage the symptoms due to consistently being on edge, worrying about what Laylah will pop up with and choose to harass me about daily,” the letter said.
Ms Voigt, who became the first title holder in the pageant’s 72-year history to voluntarily step down, claimed Ms Rose consistently failed to communicate and when she did, she was “often cold and unnecessarily aggressive”.
Her letter added: “It’s incredibly jarring to be trying to do my job and constantly be threatened with disciplinary action, including taking away my salary, for things that were never discussed with me.”
‘I am silenced’
Ms Voigt’s announcement on Instagram appeared initially restrained until her keen-eyed fans said it contained a hidden message. Taking the first letter of each sentence, they said the message spelt out “I am silenced”.
On Wednesday, Ms Srivastava followed Ms Voigt’s lead and quit the junior version of the contest, claiming her personal values “no longer fully align with the direction of the organisation”.
The resignations came shortly after Claudia Michelle, the Miss USA social media manager, also quit her job, denouncing the “unprofessional and inappropriate” way management speakers about its titleholders.
Ms Voigt claimed an alleged incident of sexual harassment was not taken seriously enough by the organisation.
Recalling a Christmas event in Florida, the Venezuelan-American model said she was left alone in a car with a man who “made several inappropriate statements to me about his desire to enter into a relationship with me”.
‘Preserve integrity’
After making Ms Rose aware of the issue, Ms Voigt claims she was told: “We cannot prevent people saying things to you at public appearances, it is, unfortunately, part of the role you’re in as a public figure.”
Ms Rose said in a statement Wednesday that “the well-being of all individuals associated with Miss USA is my top priority”.
“All along, my personal goal as the head of this organization has been to inspire women to always create new dreams, have the courage to explore it all, and continue to preserve integrity along the way. I hold myself to these same high standards and I take these allegations seriously,” she said.
Miss Hawaii, Savannah Gankiewicz, 28, who finished runner-up to Ms Voigt in last September’s pageant, was announced as her successor on Thursday.
She will be officially crowned as Miss USA in her home state of Hawaii next week.
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