Claiming to be forced to resign while sick, Helena O’Connor gives up the title of Miss Universe Iceland 2025

JAKARTA – Helena Hafþórsdóttir O’Connor officially resigned from her title as Miss Universe Iceland. The decision was made after she claimed to be forced to withdraw from the Miss Universe event without her consent while undergoing treatment for food poisoning.

Through a statement on her personal Instagram account on December 15, 2025, Helena stated that her contract with the Miss Universe Iceland organization was considered to have ended. He also made sure to release the Miss Universe Iceland 2025 title which he had held for only a few months.

Helena was previously elected Miss Universe Iceland on April 3, which gave her the right to represent Iceland at the Miss Universe pageant held in Thailand last November. However, her dream came to a sudden halt.

“Unfortunately, everything changed quickly when I had a severe food poisoning and was then withdrawn from the competition,” Helena wrote in her statement, quoted from People’s website.

He claimed that after falling ill, the national director of Miss Universe Iceland crossed his name off the list of Miss Universe participants without his consent. In fact, according to Helena, he had communicated with the Miss Universe Organization and had the opportunity to recover before returning to the competition.

“Even my family has begged me to be given time to recover so that I still have the opportunity to compete,” he wrote.

However, the Miss Universe Iceland party strongly denied the allegations. In its statement, the organization confirmed that Helena withdrew on her own decision.

“Helena O’Connor has unequivocally and clearly expressed her desire to resign, and we fully respect that decision. There has never been any coercion or unilateral withdrawal,” the organization said.

They also claim to have written communications that show Helena’s intention to resign, although the evidence has not been made public.

The controversy continued when Helena revealed that she was asked to pay a fine for not participating in Miss Universe Thailand. He said this was conveyed in a meeting after he returned to Iceland.

“I was told that if I wanted to continue my term as Miss Iceland, I had to pay a fine for not competing in Miss Universe,” he said.

Helena admitted that she was surprised because at that time she was struggling for her health and actually wanted to continue to compete.

According to Helena, the organization has violated the contract by revoking the opportunity she had fought for, as well as demanding payment which she considered unfounded.

In response to this, Miss Universe Iceland again provided clarification. They stated that there was no fine related to Helena’s absence at Miss Universe. However, there are still certain contractual obligations that apply to anyone who retains the Miss Iceland title.

“The obligation is standard, not punitive, and is not related to the decision to withdraw from Miss Universe,” the organization said.

Previously on November 8, Miss Universe Iceland released an official statement saying Helena withdrew from Miss Universe for personal reasons after being ill for several days. The statement also said that the decision to withdraw was made by Helena herself.

Helena then denied the narrative. He admitted that he was invited to consult about the statement, but felt that the contents of the release seemed to say that he had resigned voluntarily, something he did not agree with.

“At that time I was still very sick. I finally said they did what they thought was best, as long as it was mentioned that I was very sick,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, the Miss Universe Iceland party insisted that the statement was in line with Helena’s position at that time. They also denied claims that Helena was forbidden to speak about her health condition.

“There has never been a ban on Helena talking about her health in private. All we ask is that public communications are coordinated together, in accordance with standard procedures,” they said.

The organization also said it had asked for a face-to-face meeting before issuing a follow-up statement, but that was delayed because Helena was on vacation with her family and partner in Thailand.

Ending her statement on Instagram, Helena emphasized that she did not see the possibility of continuing to work in such a situation.

“I refuse to be silenced. I also cannot in good conscience crown the next Miss Iceland to experience the same thing,” she wrote. She also warned prospective beauty pageant contestants to be careful.

“The pageant world can provide many opportunities if it is run with respect. But this path can also hurt deeper than ever imagined, even from unexpected directions,” he said.

Helena’s resignation comes amid various controversies surrounding Miss Universe 2025, ranging from conflicts between contestants and executives, the withdrawal of a number of judges ahead of the event, to allegations of manipulation of the assessment. The contest was eventually won by the representative of Mexico, Fatima Bosch.

Helena is not the only beauty queen to lose her title in recent months. Olivia Yacé, who made it into the top five of Miss Universe 2025, also resigned from the Miss Universe Africa and Oceania title. Meanwhile, Miss Universe Estonia Brigitta Schaback also resigned with the excuse of differences in values and work ethics with her national director.

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