A 45-YEAR-OLD contestant in an ATV beauty pageant was disqualified just hours before the show after a newspaper carried nude photographs of her.
Rita Lau Yuet-ho, the oldest contestant in the Miss Asia Pageant, was told she was disqualified from the contest yesterday afternoon after a Chinese-language paper printed the four topless pictures.
A member of the pageant committee said Ms Lau had broken the rules as the nude photographs had brought the show into disrepute.
Ms Lau said: 'I was encouraged by a friend who is a photographer to take the pictures last October when I was very upset about my love affairs. The pictures are meant for my own memory only.
'I was so upset at that time that I attempted to commit suicide. My friends encouraged me to join the beauty pageant this year as a new turning point.
'But now my life is ruined. How can I face the rest of my life? I am not a teenager, I am 45 years old now and many people recognised me.' She accused her friend of betraying her as she was told the negatives of the pictures had been thrown away.