Forty minutes after being crowned Miss Universe, Miss Puerto Rico Zuleyka Rivera Mendoza fainted onstage during the post-pageant news conference in L.A. Sunday night, Reuters reports.
 
Tottering on high, spiky heels, the lithe 5’9”, 18-year-old beauty collapsed in the arms of pageant assistants. She was rushed off the Shrine Auditorium stage while the conference organizer called for help.
 
“Is there a nurse in the house? Can a nurse come to the stage?” the announcer asked.
 
“She’s OK. She’s fine,” pageant representative Lark Anton told Reuters. “She got dizzy. Its very hot up here. Her dress is tight – as you could see it was beaded and heavy. She passed out.”
 
Anton said Mendoza “had plenty to eat” that day, putting anorexia theories to rest. She’s the 55th Miss Universe crowned to date.