SA's first Miss World missed Rolene Strauss' big moment because of rugby!

Rolene Strauss made South Africa proud when she was crowned as Miss World.

Rolene, a fourth year medical student at the University of the Free State, became the third Miss SA to take the Miss World crown. This was no doubt a big moment for the nation, but sadly, our first Miss World, Penny Coelen-Rey, missed it. An annoyed Penny told Beeld that she couldn't watch most of the competition because the men in her house were watching rugby.

She said: "I live in a household full of men and they wanted to watch the sevens rugby. Suddenly I heard my cellphone ring in my room and it's a friend saying I should immediately switch over to the Miss World broadcast."  Penny, 74, told the paper that she had to run to find a TV that didn't have rugby on.

"Rolene is very, very pretty! I am quite annoyed with the men and their sevens rugby. I hope the competition gets broadcast again so that I can watch from the start."

*Picture: Elite