‘No sabotage, No manipulation’: MUB Executive Director Speaks Out

Miss Universe Belize National Director Destiny Wagner took to Facebook last night to address the pageant’s recent public backlash over the Top Five controversy.

“Was everything perfect? No! We are learning. We are growing. We are adapting. This has been a tremendous learning experience for me personally,” Wagner said in a late Monday statement. 

She added that the decision to announce six finalists instead of five was a production error and confirmed Caleigh-Rose West had legitimately secured a place in the Top Five. 

“It should not have happened, and I sincerely apologize to the delegates and everyone watching who was understandably confused. There was NO sabotage, manipulation, predetermined result, or alteration of scores,” she said. 

According to Wagner, she chose to keep all six delegates in the competition rather than publicly embarrass another contestant over an error that was not her fault. 

Wagner attributed the errors to the compressed seven-week timeline since Miss Universe Belize came under ownership of an El Salvador-based company, stating, “coordinating a national production across countries, teams, and time zones — particularly within such a short timeframe — created miscommunications that could have been handled better.” 

She added, “I am human. My team is human. Mistakes were made, and we will learn from them.” 

Meanwhile, several online users were quick to point out that Wagner left one of the major controversies untouched. “Part 2 now. What’s up with the tikal background??” one commented on Facebook. Wagner’s statement made no mention of the segment, or why a celebration of Belizean heritage leaned on a Guatemalan monument.