The fallout continues from the Miss World Cayman Islands organisation as another former contestant of the pageant has come forward with a statement expressing “disappointment” with the recent announcement of a new titleholder, Jada Ramoon.
The organisation on Tuesday announced the early departures of its 2024 titleholder Latecia Bush and first runner-up Estefania McDermot, saying the decision had come “after careful consideration and in adherence to contractual obligations that govern our pageant”.
In a statement posted on Instagram Friday afternoon, McDermot noted she “publicly and legally obtained” the title of first runner-up of the pageant, “but until today, I have never been summoned to any event, meeting, photo shoot, activity, social work, visits, interviews, etc.”
She said, “Those are commitments that came with my title, unlike the second runner-up. Nor did I receive any congratulations from the director for my work and my performance after so many weeks of preparation.”
McDermot, who was announced as the first runner-up at the pageant held in October 2024, told the Cayman Compass, “I felt it was my responsibility to address the controversy. Too many people have been asking what happened, so it was time to share my experience. To stand with the other contestants and any young woman who has faced bullying in pageantry locally and abroad.”
McDermot said she didn’t receive her contract as first runner-up from the Miss World Cayman Islands organisation until four months after the pageant. She added she should’ve received the contract “immediately after the [pageant] per the global Miss World contractual agreement. The contract is supposedly standard, however, mine was completely altered and did not state that I would attend the international pageant if the Miss World/Supranational titleholders cannot fulfill her commitments.”
McDermot said signing the contract also meant giving up “full sovereignty of my personal brand and any opportunities to an organisation I felt did not have my best interests in mind.”
The statement also noted that on 31 March, “the organisation published a decision behind closed doors, saying that I did not fulfill my contractual obligations. This is a false statement since I was never called to fulfill any responsibilities that my title required.”
‘I chose to advocate’
McDermot expressed “disappointment” in the way young women have been treated, “[especially] by an organisation that promotes to uplift and empower women”.
During her time as a contestant, McDermot said, “I witnessed firsthand the challenges young women face in pageantry [with] many feeling unsupported, unheard, or unsafe. I chose to advocate, not only for myself but also for others who felt silenced. Sadly, my decision to speak up was often met with dismissal and I was labeled as ‘problematic’ for standing up for fairness and accountability.”
McDermot urged young women entering pageantry to “focus on your personal growth, and never be afraid to use your voice. To the organisation, I urge you, when contestants speak up about mistreatment and bullying, listen. It is your responsibility to create a safe and respectful space for all participants.”
She added, “Pageantry can be a meaningful and transformative journey, but only when rooted in integrity and care. I will always advocate for that.”
Support on social media
Bush, the 2024 titleholder, released a statement on Tuesday, noting the move to strip her of the Miss World Cayman Islands title was “a decision made without fairness, transparency or the opportunity for meaningful discussion”.
Bush told Compass TV, she was “in awe by all the support” she received since her statement was released, which also included a call to action to support her message by posting on social media with the hashtag she created, #Istandwithbinki. It was shared across social media by young women, including past titleholders.
Bush said she believes Ramoon is “a beautiful representative”, and wants people to understand the intention of her statement was “in no way meant to shame or hate on her at all”.
“This is about empowering women, and we can’t empower women by bringing down someone else, so I just needed to highlight she’s an amazing person and if she goes off, she will do well. This has nothing to do with her, but rather with the lack of due process led by the organisation that she is now employed by. She’s just doing her job, and I think we need to give her the benefit of the doubt and empower her just how they hoped to empower me,” she said.
‘We have a very strict contract’
Cayman Compass reached out to pageant director Pamela Ebanks-Small on Friday for comment on McDermot’s recent statement. In an interview shot earlier for Compass TV, she said, “Unfortunately, there were a lot of breaches to her contract”.
Ebanks-Small said there are rules when it comes to contracts and pageantry.
“Our contracts are very strict because our winners are going off to represent a whole country, so that’s very important. And our contracts are explained to our girls. We sit and meet with them. We meet with our lawyers, with them,” she said.
“Unfortunately, a lot of the clauses in the contract were breached by our former queen. And, you know, we never really wanted to be in this position to say all this, but unfortunately, she’s now come on air and gone publicly with the information, and that’s why, I guess our press release was so vague, right? We purposely, in that press release, did not want to say too much to tarnish her reputation, right? And it’s unfortunate that this is where we are, but here we are.”
She said it was not an issue that was prompted abruptly but rather had occurred for months, citing breaches in relation to photo shoots without the organisation’s knowledge, physical upkeep and training for makeup.
“There was also a talent segment that she wanted to do in Miss World, which is voluntary. You don’t have to do it, and we don’t. We don’t get our girls to do it, because unless you’re a professional, you’re not really going to place really well in that segment.
“She wanted to do it. We agreed. She trained on it. She had five sessions on it, and then all of a sudden, in March, she says, ‘Oh, I’m not gonna do the talent.’ She made that decision on her own,” Ebanks-Small said.
“There was also some things that she did where we had an international trainer that was training her from India, and we had meetings with him early in the morning, sometimes later at night, because of the time change. She didn’t show up to those meetings. …
“They’re an ambassador, so we need to ensure that what they do we know about and we agree with. She’s an international ambassador for the Cayman Islands, so that’s a very important role for her, and we want to make sure that anytime she’s involved in anything, that we know what’s happening and that we agree with it.
Ebanks-Small said pageantry is all about teaching young women and making them better versions of themselves.
“That’s all we’re trying to do here. Pageantry changed my life. That year that I was Miss Cayman wasn’t just a regular year. It changed my whole life, right? It brought me to where I am, you know, here today, but I think, you know, I think, as a volunteer committee, as a director, we all need to be respected, right? We respect her. She needs to respect us. It just goes hand in hand,” she said.
She added that it was an “unfortunate situation”, saying, “We were trying to work with her. We were trying to make the relationship better and trying to give her that, you know, that chance. We were kind of hoping that things would improve. It never happened.
“We didn’t want to do this. We didn’t want to end up here. And here we are, and it’s very unfortunate, and I do wish her the best again.”
