We don’t have bikini round in Miss Nepal. In the history of beauty contests, the only beauty contest to ever have a swimsuit round was Miss Kathmandu 2017 (Read more about Miss Kathmandu 2017 here). Not having such contest at home and participating in international beauty contest has a certain disadvantage. For example, the current Miss Asia Pacific Nepal, Sahara Basnet, wore bikini for the first time in Philippines, in the finale of Miss Asia Pacific International 2017. It is anybody’s guess how the self-consicous beauty might have performed at the contest.
I think, it is time to re-think the decision not to have bikini round in Miss Nepal. They should have the round just to prepare themselves for the international arena they will have to compete in.
Sahara Basnet bikini experience
The following text is what Sahara wrote about her experience in the swimsuit. In summary:
- Sahara has always been a shy and introvert girl
- Sahara had never worn a bikini before.
- While wearing bikini itself was awkward for her, doing a photoshoot in one was the thing she had never thought about. Doing bikini photoshoot and walking wearing them was not easy for her. (That was done in the finale of an international beauty contest)
Such experience is not something a representative of the whole country should have. She should have been prepared for everything including the bikini rounds.
The organizers should learn from the experiences of the participants and prepare themselves for those surprises. Even if there was no bikini round in Miss Nepal beauty contest, Sahara had enough time to practice wearing bikini at home and prepare herself to be comfortable in it.
Read the full statement of Sahara, in her Instagram post:
