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Miss USA is to keep her tiara, despite admitting that she has been boozing it up in New York, after pageant boss Donald Trump said Tuesday he would give her a second chance.
A tearful Tara Conner apologised to Miss Universe boss Trump at a press conference in New York and vowed not to let down the billionaire real estate magnate by again tarnishing the pageant's squeaky-clean image.
Trump said that the small-town Kentucky beauty queen had got caught up in what he called "the whirlwind of New York."
"She made some very, very bad choices, some foolish choices, and she will readily admit she made some mistakes," said Trump.
"I've always been a believer in second chances," he said, before revealing that the petite blonde would not be stripped of her crown as some had expected but would instead be going into rehab.
"I believe she can be a great example for troubled people" suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, said Trump.
A tearful Conner, her voice breaking with emotion, thanked Trump, saying: "I swear I will not let you down."
According to her entry on the Miss Universe website, Conner, who only became old enough to drink legally in New York -- 21 -- on Monday, enjoys playing basketball and golf and working with cancer charities.
But US tabloids have been full of reports that she has instead been hitting the town hard, alleging drug use, illegally drinking in the city's clubs and bars and even smooching with the Miss Teen USA in public.
Trump refused to address reports that Conner had failed a drugs test, saying only that some of the allegations about her recent behaviour were false. He also said she would be undergoing drugs testing.
Conner was crowned Miss USA in April and will be immediately stripped of her crown if found to be erring again, Trump said.
The Miss USA titleholder signs a contract detailing her duties during her year-long reign. Conner reportedly broke her contract by failing to show at appearances scheduled by pageant officials.
The scandal is the biggest to hit the US beauty pageant world since 2002, when Trump fired Miss Universe, the former Miss Russia Oxana Fedorova, in circumstances that remain unclear. Trump said Tuesday "she did a terrible job."
In 1984, then-Miss America Vanessa Williams was forced to step down two months before the end of her reign after nude photographs taken years before appeared in a magazine.
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AFPLifestyle-Universe-women-US-beauty-contest
AFP 192227 GMT 12 06
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